Teddy Yarosz

Thaddeus Jarosz (June 24, 1910 – March 29, 1974) was an American boxer.

Yarosz became a professional boxer in 1929.

He would eventually be trained by the legendary Ray Arcel and managed by Ray Fouts.

On August 21, 1933, Yarosz won the Pennsylvania version of the world middleweight title from Vince Dundee in ten rounds before 15,000 at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.

Yarosz annoyed Dundee with frequent left jabs to the face and scored repeatedly with rights to the jaw.

In the second, Yarosz had Dundee against the ropes for over a half minute, and scored with lefts and rights to both the head and face with little return.

In the ninth, Dundee took a strong offensive stand, but was too exhausted to do much damage to Yarosz.

He held the world middleweight boxing championship from 1934 to 1935.

Yarosz was born the second of eight children on the North side of Pittsburgh, but when he was ten, his family moved to Monaca, Pennsylvania, a suburb twenty-six miles away.

His father died when he was only sixteen, putting economic pressure on him and his brothers.

As a result, he quit school at the age of seventeen in order to train for a boxing career to earn wages for his family.

His older brother, Ed Yarosz, also helped the family financially.

Their brothers, Tommy and Victor, were also boxers; older brother Ed became an amateur boxer before Teddy, who first put on a pair of gloves at roughly the age of twelve.

Their brother Joe won an all-service welterweight tournament during his time in the military.

Yarosz defended the Pennsylvania version of the middleweight title against Jimmy Smith on February 12, 1934, winning in a fifteen-round unanimous decision before a crowd of 5,000 in Pittsburgh.

Yarosz took the offense through most of the long bout, and there were no knockdowns by either competitor.

Yarosz dominated the fighting in the eleventh and twelfth.

Smith forced the fighting in the thirteenth through fifteenth rounds, but was ineffective against the left of Yarosz.

The United Press gave Yarosz all but the first, second, ninth, and thirteenth.

The blows of Smith were well defended by Yarosz with his gloves and elbows, while Yarosz continuously shot through his left and connected nearly every time.

As a rising star, Yarosz was featured on the cover of the January 1934 issue of The Ring magazine.

He took the NYSAC World Middleweight Title and National Boxing Association World Middleweight Title with a fifteen-round decision over Vince Dundee before a crowd of 28,000 at Forbes Field, on 11 September 1934 in his native Pittsburgh.

The bout was close but somewhat dull due to too much wrestling and clinching, though Yarosz seemed to hold the lead in all but the late rounds when he looked visibly exhausted.

Yarosz was awarded eight rounds to Dundee's four, with three even.

He scored well with long range blows to the head of Dundee, who seemed to focus more on Yarosz's midsection.

Dundee was down three times during the bout, once falling out of the ropes in round three.

Yarosz defended the Pennsylvania version of the middleweight title on April 6, 1934, against former world middleweight champion Ben Jeby, winning in a twelve-round points decision in Pittsburgh.

Yarosz was most effective with right hand smashes to the jaw and body of Jeby, who was never given the chance to fight inside where he usually excelled.

The Pittsburgh Press gave Yarosz nine rounds, with one to Jeby and two even.

Teddy Yarosz ultimately became known as a strong defensive boxer; although he never recorded many knockouts, he lost only one bout by knockout against Babe Risko in January 1935.

Yarosz lost both the NBA and NYSAC middleweight title to Eddie Babe Risko who defeated him on September 19, 1935, in Pittsburgh in fifteen rounds before a crowd of 25,000.

Risko knocked Yarosz to the mat twice for counts of nine in the sixth and seventh rounds, and several judges gave Yarosz only the first round.

Yarosz made his best showing in the eighth but did not appear to win any other round on points.

In the ninth, Yarosz was stunned by a blow beneath his heart which caused him to clinch, and after the third had received frequent pounding to his midsection.

Yarosz injured his right knee in the fourth round or possibly earlier, and had surgery two months later to repair it.

After his loss to Risko, the legendary trainer Ray Arcel worked with Yarosz for months to rehabilitate his knee, heating and massaging it, and supervising his work with weights.

On September 21, 1936, Yarosz defeated Risko for the first time in a close ten round split decision, demonstrating the skills of his trainer and the depths of his recovery from his knee injury.

Yarosz showed a definite advantage from the first round, scoring with roundhouse swings, and shining in the seventh where he pummeled the slower moving Risko.

Unfazed by his loss of the title, Yarosz scored an impressive victory over future world middleweight champion Solly Krieger on January 13, 1937, in a ten-round unanimous decision in New York.

Yarosz took seven rounds to three for Krieger.