Richard Steele

Who is Richard Steele?

Richard Steele is a retired boxing referee who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

A former member of the United States Marine Corps, Steele was a teammate of future world Heavyweight champion Ken Norton in the Marines. He began his career as an amateur boxer while with the Marines, compiling a record of 12 wins and 3 losses before launching a professional career. He had 16 wins and 4 defeats as a professional fighter.

Steele began referring fights in the 1970s, and he went on to referee in 167 world title fights around the world. In 1983, he referred his first major fight, when Aaron Pryor knocked out Alexis Argüello in ten rounds in their rematch. Other fights Steele refereed included Mike Tyson's defeat of Donovan Ruddock in 1991, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns' 1985 middleweight championship bout, Hagler's 1987 loss to Sugar Ray Leonard, and the first of two fights between Julio César Chávez and Meldrick Taylor.