Bob Fitzsimmons KO6 Gus Ruhlin

Thanks for the posts McGrain...Fascinating info. The damage Fitz could do was really amazing the more you hear about it.

 

This fight was filmed. It came out very clear by the standards of the time. Some say this film exists today.

 

Good thread, Mr. McGrain. Very interesting.

Two thoughts on it.

1. I don´t think age is such a disadvantage as it is often made out to be, at least not stamina-wise. When you look at the marathons the average age will be often 35+. I know it´s a different sport but I don´t think younger people have necessarily an advantage in the stamina area just due to age.

2. I think both - Marquez and Fitz - did change their style when moving up because they knew they wouldn´t have the same success with their old style. Of course they have the skill but think about it. If they would have boxed their younger, bigger opponents while they would swarm all over them - style-advantage! - who would take the bigger toll? The boxer or the swarmer? Who would be in control of the fight more? The swarmer or the boxer? IMO the answer on both accounts is: the swarmer. So, by fighting them, they made sure that they can act instead of react AND to make their opponent pay a higher price for their attacks. IMO they needed to change their style to be able to beat their younger, bigger, swarmer opponents. They would not have beaten them if they would have boxed them, I guess.

 

Some of Pac´s bodypunches look like a Oi-Zuki or Gyaku-Zuki. Ever noticed that?

Never read the manual, thanks for the link. :good

 

Nat Fleischer said Fitz was the best KO puncher of all time. Even better than Louis or Dempsey. While Nat might have been wrong or right, to put Fitz in the top zip code of punchers shows how deadly he was. Fitz killed three men in the ring, two from real fights, one from a sparring match. Yes--he had lethal type of power, and stuck with uncanny accuracy to the weaker points of the body.

 

thanks for this thread mcgrain.

 

I have an account of this fight in an old pulp Fight Stories issue, as told by the great trainer Billy Roche. I'll dig it out.
He pretty much concurs the contemporary reports. The description of the sheer violence and ferocity of the final punches is chilling.

Credit to Ruhlin for actually recovering and going on to beat some good fighters. That type of KO is usually a recipe for a steep downward spiral, a gun-shy or shell-shocked fighter.

 

Ruhlin was that fighter that comes by every era. Who has all the physical tools but just needs something more. The unidentified missing component was self-belief

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7KPCcSy2qo[/ame]

www.youtube.com/eslubin

 

Ive always wondered if Bob Fitzsimmons could be considered the Godfather of Swarming at Heavyweight? He precedes Jack Dempsey by about two decades but I havent seen enough film to make that bold statement.

Would you consider him a pure swarmer?

 

Is that for real? He killed 3 people? Because looking at his face on McGrain's profile, he does have the face of a killer, stone cold eyes. He's also got that wirey-strength looking long armed awkward body type

 

Fitz was a puncher. A very intelligent one. He would make you do things you don´t want to do, make you move where you don´t want to be at, would feint you and when he has you where he wants you to be he would land a vicious punch or combination. Despite beeing so small, he was one of the desdliest punchers the division ever saw.

 

Fitz looks much bigger than a middleweight in some pictures.
The ones in his manual for instance. He must have had no weight in his legs if he weighed 165, because his upperbody is more like a 190 pounder.
(assuming he's just short of 6 foot).

 

Yes, Fitz killed three men who died shortly after the fought him. Fitz was a feared puncher, who took unusual please in watching his man fall. Some say Fitzsimmons is credited with coining the phrase, " The bigger they are, the harder than fall "

 

What manual?

I've read that that's about right on the upper body/lowe body mismatch, though - supposedly he wore the big trunks to try and hide how spindly his legs were.