Freddie Steele-Why is he forgotten today?

Because for many boxing fans, boxing only began in the 80's...if a fighter's life work came before that time, many are too lazy to resarch him..because their interest in boxing only involves the "latest and greatest" or those stars that were active in the 80's at the earliest. A grainy, bllack and white film of a 30's or 40's fighter isn't as easy to endure as a modern color film. Also, failure to realize that filming technology, as primitive as it was back then, is more times than not going to fail to give justice to a fighter, like looking at one's reflection in a poor mirror..and unfairly oftentimes, a conclusion is jumped to as to the relative worth of a fighter in question.

 

Thanks burt!

 

I am not so certain he is underrated. He is in the Hall of Fame. How good was he exactly.

1. He was awesome between 1935 and 1937, but few top fighters had shorter stints at the top. A glance at the yearly Ring ratings shows he pops at #9 in 1934, moves to the top in 1935, 36, & 37, and is gone by 1938.

2. There is no doubt that at his peak Steele defeated a lot of top men in a very short time--with ko's of Ceferino Garcia, Fred Apostoli, Vince Dundee, Gus Lesnevich and Ken Overlin, plus wins over Gorilla Jones, Babe Risko, and Solly Kreiger.

3. That said, statistically that 5 defeats in 142 fights is somewhat bloated by a whole bunch of tomato-cans early in his career.

5. Was Steele the best puncher of his time and weight? Probably, but it is interesting to note that Al Hostak has a better ko percentage (42 of 84 against 60 of 142) despite fighting to a much older age. Hostak also ko'd Babe Risko and Solly Kreiger, each of whom went the distance with Steele, as well as Steele himself in one round. Hostak's ko's of Steele, Risko, and Kreiger are probably as impressive as Steele's ko's of Lesnevich and Dundee, but are they on film?

6. How does Steele's record compare to his contemporaries--Well, he certainly doesn't blow them away. Welterweight champion Young Corbett III lost only 4 fights from 1928 to the end of his career in 1940, all to champions, McLarnin, Broulliard, Conn, and Apostoli, while defeating Young Jack Thompson, Jackie Fields, Ceferino Garcia, Mickey Walker, Gus Lesnevich, Billy Conn, and Fred Apostoli. He defeated Apostoli shortly after Apostoli destroyed Steele. I would rate his record above Steele's. He endured longer and his very best wins are over better men.
Teddy Yarosz also endured longer and beat more good men than Steele--Yarosz fought 11 world champions and defeated 10 of them--Tommy Freeman, Ben Jeby, Pete Latzo, Vince Dundee, Babe Risko, Solly Kreiger, Lou Broulliard, Billy Conn, Ken Overlin, and Archie Moore--as well as contenders Sammy Slaughter, Oscar Rankin, Al Gainer, Nate Bolden, and Lloyd Marshall. I would consider his record more impressive than Steele's.

7. Steele's run at the top came to an abrupt end in 1938 with the Apostoli fight, followed a few months later by the crushing ko loss to Hostak. It is maintained that he broke his sternum against Apostoli. I am skeptical. He came back a month later to score two wins. A broken sternum would make it difficult to even breathe let alone throw hard punches and take them. The only evidence of a broken sternum I have been able to find is a statement by a sparring partner, hardly the most reliable source. I will be interested in someone googling up a better source.

8. Steele was completely washed up at 25.

9. At best, Steele is somewhat along the lines of a Joe Namath. He had great potential and was great for a short while, but it all came apart pretty quick. Injury? Perhaps, but he still didn't stay up there long enough nor defeat enough top men to justify a top 10 or perhaps even top 15 placement in my judgement, and the jury is out about the real extent of his alleged injury.

 

As an addendum--one reason Steele has perhaps been overlooked over the years is that he spent most of his career fighting in a backwater, and when he did come to New York, the boxing capital in those days, he lost badly to Apostoli.

 

There are excerpts of the Steele-Apostoli fight on youtube and Steele seems to be moving about well and throwing punches with no difficulty. It is kind of hard for me to believe that if he broke his sternum in January, his management would have had him fight two fights in February. I am not certain that would even be physically possible, so I am skeptical about this injury. If anyone has more evidence, I would like to see it.

 

This book quotes Gorilla Jones as stating Freddie Steele was the best all around fighter I fought. Its one hell of a complement!

John Dennis McCallum
The encyclopedia of world boxing champions since 1882

 

IMO, he rates in the top 10 & potentially as high as #6, behind only Srr, Greb, Monzon, Hagler, & Hopkins. IMO, the only factor that keeps him out of the top 5 is his lack of longevity @ the top. h2h, he would've been @ least a match for any mw in history & probably favored against any1 outside of my top 5 IMO.

His injury appears to have been a costochondral separation, "an injury that occurs when one or more of your ribs separates from this cartilage." It was initially suffered in preparation for the Apostoli rematch, which led to a postponement from its initially scheduled date, & then was re-aggravated in the fight itself & continued to plague him for what remained of his career. Here's an excerpt from an AP article published in the Santa Ana Journal that confirms the existence of the injury prior to the Apostoli fight.
"The scheduled 12-round non-title fight between Freddie Steele, middleweight champion, and Fred Apostoli, San Francisco, Nov. 12 has been postponed indefinitely because of injuries to Steele. Steele appeared before the New York State Athletic Commission yesterday and was examined by Dr. George Edson, who reported he found definite evidence of injured cartillages on Steele’s sixth, seventh and eighth ribs. Dr. Edson recommended a three weeks’ rest for the champion."

I don't think it's inconceivable that Hostak was a bigger hitter w/ 1 punch. However, Steele was regarded as an all-around faster & classier fighter prior to their fight. It's also worth noting that Kreiger was likely spent from making weight & Risko may have been just starting his decline @ the time Hostak KO'd each of them.

 

Steelwho?

I suppose I forgot about him, all right.

 

He's an easy Top Ten middle (I have him at 6) and in prime version he's a head to head monster.

 

Steele turned pro at the age of 13... at 105 pounds! Blows my mind that just a few years later he would morph into a world champion and all time great puncher at middleweight.. was the only man ever to stop the great Vince Dundee too .. in a one-sided beat down.. hes easily in my top 10 MWs.

 

****ing miss Burt

 

He is also one of only two fighters to kayo Ken Overlin whose other kayo loss came in his third pro fight when a left hook to the body caused him to be counted out seconds before the bell for the sixth and final round was to ring.