Freddie Steele vs. Carmen Barth

Freddie Steele 159 lbs beat Carmen Barth 159 lbs by TKO at 2:19 in round 7 of 15

• Date: 1938-02-19
• Location: Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
• Referee: Jim Braddock

"Freddie Steele, world middleweight champion, scored a TKO last night over Carmen Barth in the 7th round of their scheduled 15 round bout in Cleveland Auditorium. Steele's hand was raised in victory late in the 7th round after he had floored the Cleveland challenger twice with a flurry of rights and lefts, before Barth's handlers threw in the towel. A hard right to the head scored the second knockdown and victory. Groggy from the hard pounding dealt out by the champion in the previous round, Barth came out for the 7th with a weak defense. Steele put over several jabs to the head and Barth retaliated with a light right. A hard exchange of blows set the stage for Barth's downfall. He protected himself helplessly as Steele waded in with solid blows. Barth got up. He weaved back and forth and Steele smashed a right to Barth's head that sent him down a second time. Barth's seconds threw in the towel and the fight was over." -Coshocton Tribune

• Barth was also down 3 times in the 6th round.
• The AP and UPI scored the bout through 7 rounds (although the 7th hadn't ended) and had it 3-2-1 Steele and 3-3-1 even, respectively (rounds only).
• Steele was guaranteed a $20,000 purse
• Former heavyweight champ Jim Braddock, who refereed the bout, did not accept a fee for this bout, as part of the proceeds were going to a Catholic charity.
• On April 8th, following this bout, Steele had a battery of X-Rays taken due to a nagging pain that he said was causing his arms and legs to be sluggish. It was discovered at this time he had a broken breast-bone, which he claimed he had since before the Apostoli fight.
• Steele had tentatively been lining up a defense against Young Corbett III, which didn't materialize after the diagnosis and shelved Steele for several months.