Albert (Al) Paul Hostak (January 7, 1916 – August 13, 2006), nicknamed "the Savage Slav," was an American middleweight boxer who fought from 1932-1949. Hostak twice held the National Boxing Association Middleweight title between 1938 and 1940. He was known as a hard puncher and had a record of 64 wins (41 knockouts), 9 losses (3 knockouts), and 11 draws. In 2003, Hostak made The Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Early career and life
Hostak was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Slovak immigrants who eventually moved to Seattle, Washington when Hostak was two, settling in South Seattle's Georgetown District. Having developed a stutter in his youth, Hostak was drawn to boxing after fighting several of his tormentors. He would begin his boxing career as a 16-year-old in 1932, fighting many of his bouts in nearby White Center. Hostak would go unbeaten for his first 27 bouts in the Seattle area, all four and six-rounders, before losing a decision to Jimmy Best. He would continue to fight preliminary matches through the end of 1936, while he worked as a sparring partner for 1936 middleweight title holder Freddie Steele of Tacoma, Washington.
In August, he knocked out Allen Matthews in nine rounds. With three more knockouts in 1937, he stretching his streak to eleven. At the end of 1937, Ring Magazine ranked Hostak the #3 Middleweight in the world.
Losing the NBA world middleweight title to Solly Krieger, November, 1938
He made his first title defense against Brooklyn's Solly Krieger on November 1, 1938, losing a fifteen round decision before a crowd of 10,000, in Seattle. Hostak broke both of his hands early in the bout. Krieger fought inside against Hostak, pounding his body. In the 14th round, Krieger sealed a majority decision victory, when he knocked down a tired Hostak for the first time in his career. With terrific body blows, and savage and effective infighting, Krieger wrested the championship from Hostak. Krieger employed a successful bob and weave strategy, which puzzled Hostak, and which he could not successfully defend, particularly in later rounds.
Retaking the world middleweight championship, Solly Krieger, June, 1939
After his hands had healed, Hostak returned with a third-round knockout of Johnny Erjavec in Seattle, before facing Krieger before a huge crowd of 22,000 in a world middleweight championship rematch in Seattle on June 27, 1939. In the seven and a half months between their two bouts, Krieger boxed as a light heavyweight having a very difficult time making the 160-pound middleweight limit. Krieger was a shadow of his former self in the rematch, forcing himself to lose weight too quickly, and Hostak knocked him down four times. Hostak forced Krieger to take the lead, but when he took a defensive crouch, Hostak opened him up with blows to the midsection. In the fourth Hostak knocked Krieger to the canvas with a flurry of lefts and rights for a count of nine. On his second trip to the canvas, the referee called a fourth-round TKO. Hostak became the first boxer to regain the middleweight title since Stanley Ketchel in 1908.
After an October 1939 non-title knockout over Charley Coates, Hostak signed for his first bout ever outside of the state of Washington, facing German-Jewish refugee Eric Seelig in Cleveland on December 11, 1939. On December 11, 1935 Seelig fought an NBA world middleweight title match against Al Hostak before an enthusiastic crowd of 10,000 at the Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, losing in a first round knockout of a scheduled fifteen rounds. Seelig sparred cautiously in the opening of the round, but was sent to the canvas from a crushing left hook to the right side of his jaw, and could not resume the bout until a count of nine was completed. A left and right put him to the canvas for the count 1:21 into the first round.
Losing the NBA world middleweight title with injured hands to Tony Zale, July, 1940
Nate Druxman rematched Hostak and Zale for the middleweight title on July 19, 1940, before a crowd of 16,000, at Civic Stadium in Seattle. Once again Hostak injured his hands in the bout, while Zale wore him down with a devastating body attack. Before badly injuring his hands, Hostak had his best round in the fifth when he dished out his heaviest punches, and left Zale groggy. With both of his eyes swollen, and his left hand apparently injured, Hostak was dropped in the 12th for a count of nine and again in 13th rounds, before the bout was stopped 1:20 in the thirteenth by referee Benny Leonard and Zale took the title from Hostak. Zale's rushing attack with left hooks to the head, and occasional uppercuts to the chin, proved too much for Hostak, particularly in the second half of the bout.
Earlier on January 29, 1940, Hostak had unsuccessfully fought a non-title match before a crowd of 11,112 in Chicago against middleweight contender Zale at Chicago Stadium. It may be important to note that Hostak knocked Zale down in the 1st round, breaking two fingers in his left hand in the 5th round. As a result, Zale swept the last five rounds to take a unanimous decision.
He made his post-war return in June 1946, with four more knockouts against modest opposition. He took on middleweight contender Steve Belloise in Houston in January 1947. He sent Belloise to the mat in the 1st, but was knocked out in the 4th. After a 5th-round TKO over Anton Raadik in August 1947 in Chicago, Hostak avenged his loss to Belloise by winning a decision in Seattle before a crowd of 7,000 on August 26. Hostak put Belloise down for a seven count in the second, and had an edge in eight of the ten rounds with only one to Belloise and one even. With the win, the 31-year-old Hostak again earned a rating and wide recognition as a middleweight contender. He then lost a split decision in Portland, Oregon, to Jack Snapp, followed by a draw to Paul Perkins. In December 1948, Hostak decisioned Perkins in a rematch, before finishing his career on his 33rd birthday by stopping Snapp in nine rounds in Seattle.