Richard Steele is a former member of the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 and famous boxing referee

Referee (boxing)

The referee in the boxing is the individual charged with enforcing the rules of that sport during a match.-The role of the referee:Referees have the following roles:*Gives instructions to both boxers before the fight...

. Steele was a teammate of future world Heavyweight champion Ken Norton

Ken Norton

Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. is a former heavyweight boxer. He is best known for his 12-round victory over a peak Muhammad Ali where he famously broke Ali's jaw, on March 31, 1973, becoming only the second man to defeat Ali as a professional .He and Ali...

 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

Aaron Pryor

Aaron Pryor is a former boxer from Cincinnati, Ohio, and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He is the former world Junior Welterweight champion, and regarded as one of the greatest fighters in the history of the weight class.-Amateur career:Pryor, nicknamed The Hawk, had a record of...

 knocked out Alexis Argüello

Alexis Argüello

Alexis Argüello , also known by the stage name El Flaco Explosivo , was a Nicaraguan professional boxer and politician...

 in ten rounds in their rematch. Other fights Steele refereed included Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...

's defeat of Donovan Ruddock

Donovan Ruddock

Donovan Ruddock , also known as Razor Ruddock, is a retired Canadian heavyweight boxer. He was a promising Heavyweight of the late 1980s and early 1990s...

 in 1991, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns

The War (boxing)

The War, also known as Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns or Hagler-Hearns, was a world middleweight championship boxing match between Undisputed Champion Marvin Hagler and challenger Thomas Hearns, who was himself the world's junior middleweight champion...

, Julio César Chávez vs. Meldrick Taylor I

Thunder Meets Lightning

The boxing world championship fight held on March 17, 1990 between WBC Jr Welterweight world champion Julio César Chávez of Mexico and IBF world champion Meldrick Taylor of the United States in Las Vegas, Nevada was a historic boxing match...

, and the fight where Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...

 made his comeback after a three year lay-off in 1987 to beat Hagler.

Chavez vs. Taylor controversy

Steele was sometimes involved in controversy, but none bigger than the one that happened after Julio Caesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor

Meldrick Taylor

Meldrick Taylor is a former Olympic gold medalist and world boxing champion in two weight classes.-Amateur career:...

 I. With Taylor ahead on the scorecards and seconds away from inflicting Chavez his first defeat, he was dropped by a Chavez punch to the chin. He got up on the five count, but Steele decided to stop the fight with two seconds left in the last round, Taylor was clearly shaken and did not respond when Steele asked Taylor, "Are you ok? Are you ok?" This defeat affected Taylor greatly, and it proved to be the beginning of the end as a professional boxer for him. Many fans that saw the fight still argue as to whether the fight should have been stopped or not, considering the very short time left in the bout. Steele defended himself by declaring he just tried to protect Taylor from more punishment and did not know how much time was left in the fight, claiming "no fight is worth a man's life". Also, what many forget is that Taylor had taken a severe battering during the fight. Doctor Flip Homansky of the Nevada State Athletic Commission examined the young fighter and said Taylor had a facial fracture and was urinating pure blood and his face was grotesquely swollen.

See also: Julio Caesar Chavez#Chávez vs Taylor

Outside of boxing

Outside the boxing rings, Steele has made a name for himself as a community conscious person, opening a gym, the Richard Steele Boxing Center in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, and helping out with Salvation Army

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....

 charities. In 1999, he was given an award by South African president Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...

 for refusing to referee fights in South Africa while the Apartheid laws were still in use there.