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

Ive already done it. Wilde looks awesome.

 

Thank god for that.

He's another one where when the jittery camera makes it hard to distinguish punch or slip, I assumed he was slipping and countering.

Glad to know that's the case.

 

Wilde's films are usually pretty good since they were so much later than these. The Tancy Lee and Joe Symonds fights which both exist complete are especially interesting.

 

Who do you reckon is the earliest fighter to pass the eye test?

 

I can understand how high definition technology can be applied to television or modern photography, but it really baffles me how it can be applied to old films or photographs. It would seem that modern HD technicians would be stuck with the circumstances in which the old films were shot or the old photographs were taken.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Many early films were actually filmed with very high quality resolution and frame rate. Even by todays standards. I think they were the equivalent to 2k or 4k resolutions!

 

You cant improve the quality of the orginal image but you can retain the photographic level of detail. Those frames from motion picture were designed to be cast on large screens meaning they have a very high level of detail. If you took an individual frame from the Corbett-Fitz film and developed in a photographic process just like a photo you would be surprised at the detail it contains. Particularly since this film was originally shot in 63mm. By transferring this film in HD you would preserve that photographic quality. The image would be much sharper, clearer, and retain much more detail. They are transferring old movies from 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, and on up all the time that were originally shot in 35mm to a digital HD format and the results are astounding. There are tons of websites dedicated to putting out news on these transfers and they often have side by side comparisons with previous DVD or VHS releases of the same film allowing you to see just how much better the image looks when viewed in HD despite never having been filmed with an HD camera.

 

Kid McCoy duplicated Fitz's hitting technique, combining it with some of Corbett, some of Tommy Ryan, and several lesser stars.

 

Well said Klompton! And thanks again for these uploads. We really appreciate it. :good

 

I'm not sure we can judge Corbett's punch output as he was in there with a deadly puncher. If he had less to fear, he's likely more active. In his film vs Courtney, Corbett would tee off on the overmatched man whenever he wanted to.

The lesson here is films pre 1908 can make anyone look bad because they are so old and don't run at the correct speed.

However with the aid of modern technology, the films can be easier on the eyes, and run closer to what would be a normal speed. All of a sudden the crude man doesn't look so crude.

The ultimate would be " zooming in " on the fighters to pick up the nuances of their game.

 

Wilde looks awesome without any clean up. Thanks for this good work Klompton.

 

Well said. This round 1 is similar to Liston Ali 1. Corbett being the counterpart of Ali, just moving around the ring, showing his reflexes, speed, agility, and swiftness.

When corbett buckles his right knee back and forth before ducking Fitz' left hook, it's genius. Ali does something very similar in Round 1 of the Liston fight when the commentator says "Clay is very slippery!" Both Liston and Fitz fall towards the ropes after missing big left hooks!

And yeah, if the film quality was even better, we would see the subtleties of head movement and feinting. We would be able to "feel" their power, which would help us sympathize with the distance they keep and the respect they have for one another by doing nothing foolish.

 

Jimmy DeForrest, having worked with both men was a big part of this. Of course he later admitted to loading their gloves/ wraps as well.

 

I once saw an astounding documentary-style fight film of Mike Gibbons and Mike O'Dowd. In addition to the incredible fight footage, the film also showed quite a bit of high-quality footage of Gibbons and O'Dowd training . The quality of the production, photography, camera angles and editing in the film seemed to be at a highly professional level. It was the best fight film that I have seen from that era by a considerable margin.

- Chuck Johnston

 

McCoy studied Fitz's and Ryan's techniques before he had DeForest helping him. Among the lesser stars he learned from were Shadow Maber (some of his defensive moves and footwork) and Steve O'Donnell (improving his feinting/anti-feinting ability beside what he had learned in Ryan's camp).