Bob Fitzsimmon vs. Jim Corbett (speed corrected / HD)

Really awesome seeing more Gans in clear footage

His rights on the incoming Nelson and right uppercuts to the body are perfect, Gans was so damn accurate and straight punching

Great seeing much clearer film of Fitz-Corbett too

 

Excellent info that gives us some more pieces of the jig saw.

 

Gans is a revelation in that film. Much more modern than given credit for. But, I will say, this wasn't a one sided affair. This is just an early round where Gans was much more dominant. Nelson is willing to take punches to land and he does but he also dishes out his share of punishment and by the end Gans is tiring badly and vomits in his corner two or three times in later rounds. Both guys would have been hell today utilizing their unique styles. This was the prototypical classic boxer/brawler matchup.

 

Corbett like Ali had fantastic speed with their hands and feet, good punch anticipation, and Jimmy Young like head movement. Corbett was also skilled at intercepting punches by extending his arms.

I'm not sure if Corbett could throw punches going backward as well as Ali did

Neither Ali or Corbett had textbook technique, but when your very fast you can get away with it at most distances. Gentleman Jim was also flexible in terms of quickly bending at the waist and retracting. Rarely was Corbett off balance.

I would say Ali was slightly faster, but Corbett retained his speed longer in distance fights. Fighters in Corbett's time often fought outdoors in the sun, or in non-air-conditioned arena's.

 

Gans was a great admirer of Fitzsimmons and would go out of his way to watch him spar.

 

I think the story about Gans' admiration of Fitz' skills is blown out of proportion. He probably did see Fitz when the latter was in Baltimore in late March 1893, when Gans was a very green novice (and quite possibly still a feathweight). I think Gans' hitting technique was very different from that of Fitz, and I don't know what else he could learn from Bob.

 

I don't know of anyone who fought like Fitzsimmons. His entire style was a one-off experiment that developed when people were still working out how to best fight with gloves.

 

This 1000000%

That's why Fitz fails the eye test because his style is totally unique and is nothing like modern boxing stances or evasive movements.

No idea how he made it work for so long against such a variety of opponents.

 

I've always rated Gans on the eye test because I gave slight benefits of the doubt when the camera stutters assuming he was dodging flawlessly. Great to see that benefit confirmed.

Please someone do the same with Jimmy Wilde!

 

Corbett does look good and looks more modern than Fitz. He's quick on his feet and clearly has good accuracy and a good jab. It's hard to imagine, based on early footage of this fight, that Fitz could ever beat him.

Criticisms of Corbett are, for me, low punch output, questionable punch selection and questionable power but he looks good at what he does. Not especially elite though, I mean does his jab look any better than Nathan Cleveleys? Or Ovil McEnzie?

 

Gans is amazing to watch. He truly stands out for his era.