I've read it, as that book is part of my library as well. Check out the footage though, starting at 1:50: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOFdL5VkcQM[/ame]
Fitzsimmons was really hurt in my opinion. Corbett started to unload some combinations and Fitzsimmons went down. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU_sT_FvyWU[/ame] Watch from 1:30 onwards.
Corbett arguably got cheated out of victory. Fitz grabbed on to corbett as he went down, delaying the count by several seconds..enabling fitz to clear his head plus get a longer count.
Fitzsimmons destroys Louis, and it isn't even close. Louis just wasn't in Fitzy's league. He's fighting with a whopping 40 pound weight disadvantage, since he's carrying forty more pounds of useless muscle than Fitz's ideal 167.
Except for possibly a prime Dempsey, I cant visualize in my mind, any fighter in history beating a Joe Louis circa Max Baer. in a 15 round bout... Just look at the triple left hooks prime Louis landed on Baer..Awesome.... My favorite description of a peak Joe Loui someone coined, " Louis was a coil spring unwinding "...And that he was.....b.b.
Sometimes overlooked is the fact that those were the final three hooks of a five hook combination. As far as I'm concerned, this was the peak performance instant of his career. Even in missing the first two hooks, he retained balance and positioning.
Corbett appeared to briefly rock Fitz with a right hand to the head ,just before the kd,I think the film is inconclusive to be honest. Thanks for posting this,it's been a while since I viewed it.
Still inconclusive imo, though it is somewhat less shadowy.I am being honest ,if I thought Corbett clearly landed a clean kd blow I would say so.
Corbett is not often given credit for his power, but he was verry destructive against smaller fighters like Mitchell and McCoy. On a side note, Jack McAuliffe argued that Gene Tunney would have beaten Fitz simply because he hit harder than Corbett and took a punch better.
I think Tunney outboxes Fitz too ,I see him as an improved Corbett ,with better power and durability.
I would have expected Fitz to bounce up immediately if the fall was caused by anything other than the impact of punches. Siler was in position to make the call, as I saw it. As Janitor mentioned, Corbett did carry fair power, and took out Mitchell with a single right when Charley had managed to **** him off.
Louis by KO,probably early.Fitz had a legendary career,but in his most famous fight,he was quite lucky,and the fact he didn't give Corbett a rematch,tells me he also thought that.