He is a forgotten athlete in Poland. Few articles have been devoted to him. And it is a pity, because Tadeusz "Teddy" Jarosz, known in the USA as Teddy Yarosz, was one of the most underrated middleweight champions of the 1930s.

He was born in Pittsburgh in 1910 , to a family of Polish immigrants and all his life he emphasised where he came from. In letters he wrote: "my mother misses her country, and I would like to return there one day". He grew up in poverty, among five siblings. When his father died, 17-year-old Teddy left school and started working in a factory, which he combined with his first training sessions. As he recalled: "I was on fire for fisting. It was the only thing I really wanted to do" .

In 1929 he made his debut in the professional ring. He quickly gained recognition for his technique and reflexes. The press wrote that "Jarosz in the ring thinks faster than he punches" and his evasions were compared to Jack Dempsey's style. The years 1931-33 saw a string of victories over increasingly strong opponents: Kid Wolfe, Tony D'Alessandro, Ben Jeby. It was during this period that American newspapers began to call him the "Polish Panther".

On 11 September 1934 in Pittsburgh, at Forbes Field , he defeated Vince Dundee and won the world middleweight title. He had won Dundee twice before in sparring, but it was not until this official fifteen-round battle that he became a Polish hero. The Polish immigrants cheered him on in a fantastic way. He himself recalled that he had never heard such noise.

A year later, he lost his belt after a defeat to Bab Risko. As he revealed years later, he came into the fight weakened and with a knee injury: "The worst thing for a boxer is to be cold or congested. And I was both". The rematch years later - a victorious one - did not restore his title, but it proved his class.

"Teddy" continued his career at middleweight and welterweight, with wins over the likes of Lou Brouillard, Solly Krieger, Ken Overlin and a young Billy Conn. Editors stressed that he was "one of the toughest technicians in American rings". He fought more than a hundred fights, but knockouts were rare. Jarosz's style was based on defensive, counter and intelligence, not punching power.

After his career ended in 1942, he returned to Pittsburgh, where he ran a bar and worked in a steel mill. He died in 1974. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006.