Bob Fitzsimmons

[cbaldwinjr]

This sounds like myth exceeding reality...something that often occurs with athletes before the advent of movies. I'm sure Fitzsimmons could punch in the way a Kelly Pavlik could punch. But like someone like that, you have to be able to hit your target. I HARDLY think his caliber of opponent would even REMOTELY compare to anything modern day. I love the hyperbole though. Sounds like the people who say Mike Tyson would knock out Jesus of Nazareth himself...if Rooney was in his corner still. SMDH

[jhs1958]

@cbaldwinjr - Yo is full of more shit than a Christmas turkey. In fact, YO is the turkey. Fitz would kill Ray Rob (who could not last against Maxim , the non-puncher).

[cbaldwinjr]

@jhs1958

Are you retarded? First off, I know you're not even old enough to have been alive in 1951. For two, it wasn't MAXIM who beat him, it was the 104 degree heat that caused the ref to collapse. Give Maxim credit for being in the shape of a Kenyan marathoner, but SRR was boxing his ears off when he ran out of steam in a literal steambath. To use THAT as your logic for a 19th century fighter who laid down like a dog against Jack Johnson to beat the GOAT...your sir, are an idiot.

[jhs1958]

@cbaldwinjr - Oh, I was alive and saw the fight. SRR didn't meet Maxim in a rematch, did he? Why not ? Fitz would whip SRR. SRR was 31 when he fought Maxim, a light-heavy. Fitz was 44 when he fought Johnson, a heavy. Fitz fought light-heavies and heavies most of his career (as a middleweight). SRR lost to Maxim, a non-puncher. Why no rematch if he was that much better? He fought mostly welters and middies.

[jhs1958]

@cbaldwinjr - Tyson is another joke. Squeekie looked great against pushovers but against the truly good ones - he farted out.

[cbaldwinjr]

@jhs1958

Well if you had reading comprehension, you'd see that I said that BEFORE YOU pal. I acknowledged that people that love Tyson have no sense of reason or logic when arguing for him. I didn't say he was great.

[lee1990lee]

they say there was no man under 200 pounds that hit harder than fittzsimmons

[jhs1958]

Fitz deserves to be on any all-time greats list. Modern writers rarely research back too far, rarely past the 1940s. Even when they do, they downgrade the skills of the past. Personally, I think boxing and baseball was better many years ago, even before the 1940s. Football and basketball is likely better. But, rules change so things like this are difficult to analyze or prove. Fitz would beat Sugar Ray.

[cbaldwinjr]

@jhs1958

HAHAHAHA! Bob Fitzsimmons would be Ray Robinson...wow, I have heard it all. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! Even if his wife implored him to 'hit him in the slats' like his wife allegedly said (and what a woman she was for it...) against Corbett...Fitzy would've gotten the hell beaten out of him by the GOAT, Sugar Ray Robinson.

[theInfamousQB]

@jhs1958 I completely agree. In football and basketball, size is everything. People think its incredible when a "short" guy like Iverson (whos 6 foot) can be competitive. In baseball and boxing, experience and skill will always beat size, and that is something that the old schoolers had leaps and bounds more of than modern guys. Hundreds of fights worth of experience > 20 extra lbs of bulky muscle. Period.

[expressivechild]

I am no a Brit. So correct me. Everytime I look on lists of the greatest British fighters of all time, names like Naseem Hamed (whom I personally think it's totally undeserving), Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton, Ken Buchanan etc. But I rarely see Fitzsimmons' name! But he is considered by expects as one the greatest boxer ever, a freak of nature and the only man to ever beat John L Sullivan who was a ducker after all, despite being the first gloved champion of boxing. Opinions?

[1899sharkey]

Bob is in my top three middleweights of all time. He is also in my top ten p4p rankings. Bob had freakish strength and power. Put him in a 20 ft. ring with 6 ounce gloves and 15 rounds at 160 and I'll take Bob over just about anyone. Bone breaking power!

[tmotleygoldstein]

greatest middleweight of all time anyone? who the fuck is going to beat him at that weight? 

[1899sharkey]

@tmotleygoldstein -He's definitely number one or two. Harry Greb was also unbeievable with the way he handled Tunney in their first fight and also did well in their second fight. I'm not sure I wouldn't go with Bob in that fight.

[SteppinNZ]

@tmotleygoldstein I agree, how can one middleweight beat another middleweight that knocks out heavyweights! Not Greb, not Ketchel, not Walker, not even Sugar Ray Robinson! Bob Fitzsimmons would of never lost a middleweight fight, well maybe at the end of his career when he was 46

[bcibibcibcpCB]

@SteppinNZ Sugar Ray would beat him. You guys don't undertstand that boxing was old school then. The heavyweights if that time would be light heavyweights today. Fitszimmons lost against the big heavyweights.

About him beating sugar ray. No way, he was flat on his feet, had that old school boxing stance, and his chin wasn't as good as sugar ray's. With that style he couldn't never deal with the speed, power and suplesse of Sugar Ray.

[SteppinNZ]

@bcibibcibcpCB I do understand, you need to look at his record again. Did Sugar Ray ever face a Heavyweight? He never tested his chin against a heavyweight. Bob was knocked out by jack Johnson an all time great heavyweight at age 44!!, Jim Jefferies twice, another all time great heavyweight and one of the hardest hitting, Bill Lang at age 46!! and early in his career by Jim Hall. In no way would Sugar Ray be able to hurt Bob

[bcibibcibcpCB]

@SteppinNZ Offcourse the guy was great, I agree on that. But you can't compare the heavyweights of those day with the heavyweights in Sugar Ray's day. I don't think I know the record of Fitszimmons as well as you do. But I heard his chin wasn't so great like you claim. Also, he would have to fight Ray at middleweight.

You have to understand that a lot of the things they say about those old school fighers are myth. There were no camera's to prove what they did, the reporting was not objective.

[SteppinNZ]

@bcibibcibcpCB Actually i'll think you find you can, Jim Jeffries, Jack Johnson and Jim Corbet are still rated within the top 10-15 of all time heavyweight greats by any boxing historian. That wouldn't be a problem Bob usually weighed in around 160.

I use to think the same way as you did but if you think about it there wasn't any camera footage of the American civil war or the rise and fall of the roman empire but we have to trust that these things happened.

[bcibibcibcpCB]

there'll always be some romance putt in to it. And like I said, those famous fighters' history and record maybe pretty correct, but the guys they fought were mostly unknown. For all we know they could have been bums. I'm not saying that it is, but I prefer to stick to the fighters who I can see on tape. That's the only way I can judge a fighter.

This said, I understand that there had to be a reason why guys like Fitszimmons were famous. They certainly lust have been the best around.

[SteppinNZ]

@bcibibcibcpCB I realise that some old timers exaggerate and with no video evidence and hazy records it is hard to believe but for some reason i do. It is hard to judge fighters from different eras and everybody is going to have a different opinion.

I might go watch some Sugar Ray videos now haha good talking man

[bcibibcibcpCB]

@SteppinNZ Nice talking to you 2. You have an open mind, I like that. Most guys on youtube stick to there narrowed views without listening to reason. You understand the point I made. You don't have to agree but you should be open for different views.

[beatlejim64]

Ring Magazine has Fitz # 8 on the list of all time punchers...

[kelloggcerealxoxo]

one night, seven men...hmmm...that's pretty gay

[hypnomindpower]

In his fight versus Corbett, he did what is known as the Fitzsimmons' Shift and took out Corbett.

[aylabell1]

OKay when u read this u wont belive me but he is my great great great great grandpa, I can prove it plllllllllzzzzzzzzz belive me I know him I come from nz I am his great great great great granddaughter

[TheMissMelle]

i am related to him also

[chadfitzy]

thats my great great grandad! or uncle. or something down that line

[MrGranthill33]

Bob Fitzsimmons is a New Zealander!!

[kelloggcerealxoxo]

@MrGranthill33 white ozzy pride!

[NikkiMarie81]

I am also related to Bob Fitzsimmons! :)

[philthroughfire29]

i never knew he was british.i should have known because all great sportstars are british

[Jim1671]

ruby rob !!! we need a fighter like him today. as the GREAT John L. Sullivan once dubbed him '' a fighting machine on stilts''. developed his punching power as a blacksmith in australia. we need REAL fighters today!!! like Corbett , jim jeffries , SULLIVAN, choynski, peter jackson(in my opinoin the first REAL ''negro'' champion. ) i'm a devoted sullivan fan but for sullivan to deny a damn good fighter like peter jackson a shot at the title by saying he wont cross the color line was wrong

[RockDempsey]

I heard he once faced a guy who weighed over 300 lbs. Bob rocked him with a few body shots and nailed him with a left hook to the chin to knock him out inside 2 rounds. I bet Fitzsimmons would have demolished the fat slobs in the heavyweight division today.

[expressivechild]

@RockDempsey - If he is fighting today, I think no one would want to have any part of him! Knowing he is a freak of nature who can destroy a man twice his size..

[fitz068]

Thats my Grate, grate, grate, grate, grate, Grandad Bob Fitzsimmons

[kcthatsawinner]

Fitzsimmons can whip Mike Tyson's arse 24/7/365 until Iron Mike is a bloody mess! If Fitzsimmons took on one of today's boxers,he'd win in less than 5 rounds! All hail Fitzsimmons,king of boxing!

[bcibibcibcpCB]

@kcthatsawinner Wow, you are getting a little caries away in nostalgia. He was a great man. But by no means a match for modern all time great heavyweights. Fitszimmons got knocked out by modern sized heavyweights already in his time. Maybe start putting him in the ring against modern middleweights, cause he actualy was a middleweight. With modern training I'm sure he would be champ, even today.

[SteppinNZ]

@bcibibcibcpCB You really need to read The Arc of Boxing by Mike Silverman and then you will understand

[bcibibcibcpCB]

@SteppinNZ I'v boxed since I was 12 years old, even was a pro for a few years, I don't need to read that book to understand. By the way, I can imagine there are a lot of books and artikels you can read that say Ray Robbinson was the best ever.

[SteppinNZ]

@bcibibcibcpCB I realise that Sugar Ray is considered P4P the best ever and i do not have a problem with that, I love Sugar Ray. But if you do your research about Bob you'll find that he really was something else.

[bcibibcibcpCB]

@SteppinNZ He was a middleweight that could bang like a heavyweight. I know he was great. But the thing with those guys is, it's hard to judge their compition. There were no camera's, you can't realy trust the records. But I know he was a bad ass. He kayoed 7 fighters on one night at one time. One of them weight at 250 pounds.

[SteppinNZ]

@bcibibcibcpCB You are entitled to your opinion and thats fine. Sugar ray may have decisioned Bob but in no way would he KO him, but Bob could KO Sugar Ray

[bcibibcibcpCB]

@SteppinNZ Your also entilted to your opinion. He had the power of a heavyweight, maybe he could ko Sugar. But nobody in over 200 fights ever could knock Ray out. I wouldn't bet my money on it.

[IgnatzKolisch]

@bcibibcibcpCB

That's the same point I always make. Fitzsimmons may very well have been p4p best of all time, but it's just so impossible to tell, at least in my opinion. Certainly, even with the scant material to review, he has to be considered one of the top ever, but it's hard to come right out and say. Some people I respect very much do rate him as the best ever, of all time, and I can't really argue with them except to hedge my bets in view of the limited information to study on him.

[mikeyz1995]

im realted to Bob Fitzsimmons

[fillyerboots1]

I imagine people assume that Bob Fitzsimmons was an American - WRONG! He was a Cornishman, born in the town of Helston, which is famous these days for the Furry Dance on 8th May each year. There's a plaque over the door of the house where Bob was born in Wendron Street, and a pub called the Fitzsimmons Arms in Coinagehall Street, known to all around as the 'Fitz'.

[andrewr62]

I've read that Fitz became and naturalized American citizen. Cornishman by heritage American by choice.

[fillyerboots1]

No doubt America paid better than Cornwall!

[tekena7]

Lava, interesting fact i didnt know about... thanks for sharing. Pope - yeah, the quality could be better I agree. But just to be able to WATCH these fights today is a special treat. Thanks

[jhs1958]

Bothered what ?

[popemalevolent]

thanks for putting this up, but it makes you wonder why they bothered before the quality was up to scratch. even Dempsey v Willard is pretty poor.

[LightsOut305]

no shit, back then cameras quality were not advanced like it is today

[MrGranthill33]

its better to have than not have it you faggot

[Lava1964]

Fitzsimmons and Jack Johnson are buried in the same cemetery.

[hhhhdmt]

nice work