| Fred Apostoli | |
| Realname: | Alfredo Apostoli |
| Nickname: | The Boxing Bell Hop |
| Weight: | Middleweight |
| Height: | 5feet |
| Reach: | 700NaN0 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Birth Date: | February 2, 1913 |
| Birth Place: | San Francisco |
| Death Place: | San Francisco |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 72 |
| Wins: | 61 |
| Losses: | 10 |
| Draws: | 1 |
| Ko: | 31 |
Alfredo "Fred" Apostoli (February 2, 1913 – November 29, 1973) was a rugged, accomplished body punching middleweight, who was recognized as the world champion when he defeated Marcel Thil on September 23, 1937. Statistical boxing website BoxRec lists Apostoli as the #8 ranked middleweight of all time. He was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1978, the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1988, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003.
Freddie Apostoli was born in San Francisco and lived in North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf as a young child. His father worked as both a fisherman and laborer in the San Francisco area but had grown up in a farming community near Gibbstown, NJ in the late 19th century.
The Apostoli family immigrated to NYC in the 1880s from the city San Benedetto del Tronto in the Ascoli Piceno Province in the Marche region of Italy. Apostoli's mother died in child birth in the early 1920s and his father sent his other younger children back to live with relatives on the East coast and placed Freddy in the care of a Catholic orphanage in San Francisco. Apostoli attended grade school and high school in North Beach and was a lifelong friend of classmate Joe Dimaggio.
Apostoli's father was one of the workers killed in 1928 while working on a construction detail trying to access the damaged portion of a dam which had failed in Los Angeles County. During his time in the orphanage, Apostoli and the other teens were encouraged by the nuns of the parish to work their disputes out through boxing. Freddie quickly became a master of said technique and showed such promise that the parish arranged for him to receive more formal training. These lessons at a local YMCA gym were partially funded thru the donations the parish had received over the years from his family back East. Apostoli, who won the Pacific Coast Junior Welterweight championship, Golden Gloves Middleweight championship, and the National AAU middleweight championship in 1934, turned pro later that year.
He quickly moved up the ladder and fought future middleweight champion Freddie Steele within his first seven months as a professional. Although the more experienced Steele stopped him in 10 rounds, Apostoli went on to defeat top fighters such as Swede Berglund, Babe Marino, Babe Risko, Solly Krieger and Lou Brouillard to become the leading contender for the world championship.
Eventually, Apostoli was matched with title claimant Marcel Thil; he defeated the Frenchman via a 10th-round TKO. The New York Boxing Commission, however, still recognized Freddie Steele as champion. In 1938, Apostoli fought Steele in a non-title rematch and avenged his earlier defeat with a 9th-round KO. On November 18, 1938, Apostoli won by TKO in the 8th round against Young Corbett III and was officially recognized by the NYSAC as absolute middleweight world champion.Apostoli also fought as a light heavyweight. Although he dropped two close decisions to Hall of Famer Billy Conn, Conn always credited Apostoli as a great fighter who hurt him in both matches. On October 2, 1939, Apostoli's title reign ended when he lost the middleweight crown to Ceferino Garcia.
Apostoli served in the United States Navy during World War II as a gunner aboard the light cruiser in the Pacific theater. Wounded in battle, he received a Bronze Star and returned to San Francisco in 1946. He rehabilitated from injuries sustained in the Battle of Midway at Letterman Army Hospital located in the Presidio of San Francisco. He retired from the ring in 1948 and served as a member of the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | Loss | 61–10–1 | Earl Turner | UD | 10 | Dec 1, 1948 | ||
| 71 | Win | 61–9–1 | Georgie Abrams | MD | 10 | Nov 17, 1947 | ||
| 70 | Win | 60–9–1 | Reuben Shank | UD | 10 | Aug 25, 1947 | ||
| 69 | Win | 59–9–1 | Reuben Shank | RTD | 8 (10) | Jul 14, 1947 | ||
| 68 | Win | 58–9–1 | Bobby Volk | SD | 10 | May 21, 1947 | ||
| 67 | Win | 57–9–1 | George Duke | PTS | 10 | May 2, 1947 | ||
| 66 | Win | 56–9–1 | Bobby Volk | KO | 3 (10) | Apr 7, 1947 | ||
| 65 | Loss | 55–9–1 | Bobby Volk | TKO | 1 (10) | Feb 28, 1947 | ||
| 64 | Win | 55–8–1 | Paul Lewis | UD | 10 | Dec 11, 1946 | ||
| 63 | Win | 54–8–1 | Frankie Angustain | MD | 10 | Nov 18, 1946 | ||
| 62 | Win | 53–8–1 | Tommy Egan | PTS | 10 | Oct 21, 1946 | ||
| 61 | Win | 52–8–1 | George Duke | KO | 9 (10) | Sep 20, 1946 | ||
| 60 | Win | 51–8–1 | Sheik Rangel | PTS | 10 | Aug 27, 1946 | ||
| 59 | Win | 50–8–1 | Dencio Cabanela Jr | TKO | 7 (10) | Sep 9, 1946 | ||
| 58 | Win | 49–8–1 | Pedro Jimenez | TKO | 4 (10) | Aug 12, 1946 | ||
| 57 | Win | 48–8–1 | Saverio Turiello | PTS | 10 | Aug 24, 1942 | ||
| 56 | Draw | 47–8–1 | Ken Overlin | PTS | 10 | Jun 26, 1942 | ||
| 55 | Win | 47–8 | Joe Mulli | TKO | 2 (8) | Apr 4, 1942 | ||
| 54 | Win | 46–8 | Augie Arellano | TKO | 5 (8) | Mar 7, 1942 | ||
| 53 | Win | 45–8 | El Brookman | TKO | 6 (10) | Oct 14, 1941 | ||
| 52 | Win | 44–8 | Joey Spangler | TKO | 5 (10) | Sep 15, 1941 | ||
| 51 | Win | 43–8 | Bill McDowell | TKO | 2 (10) | Aug 21, 1941 | ||
| 50 | Loss | 42–8 | Tony Zale | PTS | 10 | Nov 19, 1940 | ||
| 49 | Win | 42–7 | Bobby Pacho | PTS | 10 | Sep 16, 1940 | ||
| 48 | Win | 41–7 | Big Boy Hogue | PTS | 10 | Aug 19, 1940 | ||
| 47 | Win | 40–7 | Dale Sparr | KO | 5 (10) | Jul 22, 1940 | ||
| 46 | Loss | 39–7 | Melio Bettina | RTD | 12 (15) | Feb 2, 1940 | ||
| 45 | Win | 39–6 | Melio Bettina | MD | 12 | Jan 5, 1940 | ||
| 44 | Loss | 38–6 | Ceferino Garcia | KO | 7 (15) | Oct 2, 1939 | ||
| 43 | Win | 38–5 | Glen Lee | MD | 10 | Aug 28, 1939 | ||
| 42 | Win | 37–5 | Mohamed Fahmy | TKO | 3 (10) | Aug 7, 1939 | ||
| 41 | Win | 36–5 | Eric Seelig | SD | 10 | May 1, 1939 | ||
| 40 | Win | 35–5 | George Nichols | KO | 2 (10) | Apr 17, 1939 | ||
| 39 | Loss | 34–5 | Billy Conn | UD | 15 | Feb 10, 1939 | ||
| 38 | Loss | 34–4 | Billy Conn | UD | 10 | Jan 6, 1939 | ||
| 37 | Win | 34–3 | Al Cocozza | TKO | 4 (10) | Dec 20, 1938 | ||
| 36 | Win | 33–3 | Young Corbett III | TKO | 8 (15) | Nov 18, 1938 | ||
| 35 | Win | 32–3 | Butch Lynch | TKO | 2 (10) | Sep 16, 1938 | ||
| 34 | Win | 31–3 | Mike Payan | KO | 2 (10) | Sep 6, 1938 | ||
| 33 | Win | 30–3 | Glen Lee | PTS | 10 | Apr 1, 1938 | ||
| 32 | Loss | 29–3 | Young Corbett III | PTS | 10 | Feb 22, 1938 | ||
| 31 | Win | 29–2 | Glen Lee | SD | 12 | Feb 4, 1938 | ||
| 30 | Win | 28–2 | Freddie Steele | TKO | 9 (12) | Jan 7, 1938 | ||
| 29 | Win | 27–2 | Tony Celli | TKO | 2 (10) | Oct 25, 1937 | ||
| 28 | Win | 26–2 | Marcel Thil | TKO | 10 (15) | Sep 23, 1937 | ||
| 27 | Win | 25–2 | Tommy Jones | KO | 2 (10) | Jun 22, 1937 | ||
| 26 | Win | 24–2 | Dale Sparr | PTS | 10 | Jun 11, 1937 | ||
| 25 | Win | 23–2 | Solly Krieger | TKO | 5 (12) | Apr 14, 1937 | ||
| 24 | Win | 22–2 | Butch Lynch | TKO | 9 (10) | Mar 15, 1937 | ||
| 23 | Win | 21–2 | Solly Krieger | UD | 10 | Feb 17, 1937 | ||
| 22 | Loss | 20–2 | Ken Overlin | MD | 10 | Jan 27, 1937 | ||
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | Babe Marino | PTS | 10 | Dec 14, 1936 | ||
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | Lou Brouillard | PTS | 10 | Oct 9, 1936 | ||
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | Marty Simmons | PTS | 10 | Aug 21, 1936 | ||
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | Eddie Babe Risko | PTS | 10 | May 8, 1936 | ||
| 17 | Win | 16–1 | Young Stuhley | PTS | 10 | Apr 6, 1936 | ||
| 16 | Win | 15–1 | Paul Pirrone | RTD | 7 (10) | Feb 28, 1936 | ||
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | Frankie Britt | PTS | 10 | Jan 20, 1936 | ||
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | Swede Berglund | PTS | 10 | Nov 27, 1935 | ||
| 13 | Win | 12–1 | Babe Marino | PTS | 10 | Oct 25, 1935 | ||
| 12 | Win | 11–1 | Young Stuhley | PTS | 10 | Oct 4, 1935 | ||
| 11 | Win | 10–1 | Rudy Mendez | PTS | 8 | Aug 14, 1935 | ||
| 10 | Win | 9–1 | Dick Foster | TKO | 6 (8) | Jul 31, 1935 | ||
| 9 | Win | 8–1 | Eddie Schneider | KO | 1 (8) | Jul 17, 1935 | ||
| 8 | Win | 7–1 | Mike Payan | PTS | 10 | May 31, 1935 | ||
| 7 | Loss | 6–1 | Freddie Steele | TKO | 10 (10) | Apr 1, 1935 | ||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Newsboy Millich | TKO | 4 (6) | Feb 22, 1935 | ||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Andy DiVodi | PTS | 6 | Jan 28, 1935 | ||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Eddie Fox | TKO | 5 (6) | Jan 7, 1935 | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Eddie Daniels | TKO | 2 (6) | Nov 30, 1934 | ||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Jack Riley | KO | 1 (6) | Nov 12, 1934 | ||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Gilbert Attell | TKO | 3 (6) | Oct 8, 1934 | ||