Bob Fitzsimmons vs. Cleveland Williams

Williams, Fitzsimmons was better for his time, but by the time of Cleveland Williams, boxing footwork, balance, set ups, hand positioning, defence etc had evolved massively

 

I think I’ll just sit & watch this one with my popcorn sans prediction, if you don’t mind.

 

Fitz is way to small. Can we please be fr?

 

Hi Guys.
In the words of the immortal Marvin Gaye " what's going on " Williams, Williams, seems that's all the forum has been about over the last 2 weeks or so, have I missed something ? feels like the forum is like a dog with a bone, whats next Williams v Wilde , I wouldn't discount it ,
enough please....
stay safe guys.

 

Williams lost every big fight in his career...Fitz is one of boxing greatest punchers...

 

If Fitz weighs in at 166 or 168, he will be hospitalised and retired.

If, however, Fitz hits the crucial 167lbs, then Cleveland Williams will be telling grandkids that getting shot in the stomach was a lovely summer drive in the countryside singing lullabies compared to the whirlwind and decapitation that was Ruby Robert.

 

If he's at 158, I'm gonna assume pneumonia's kicked in and

Dun dun dun ....

 

Yes he was...... at 168 pounds which today would be supper middleweight. Stop being silly.

 

I would favor Fitzsimmons, despite the weight disparity.

Frankly we don't really know how big Fitzsimmons was, because his reported weights are all over the place.

I once devoted an entire thread to his weight at the Corbett fight.

Now even if Fitzsimmons weighed 140lbs, he still got the results that he did, and Williams still got the results that he did.

You could make a reasonable case for Fitzsimons as a top twenty all time heavyweight based on his record.

Williams for contrast would undoubtedly make the top twenty for his own era.

This is a dangerous call to get drawn on, but my instinct is that the Fitzsimmons of the Ruhlin fight probably prevails.

 

There is plenty of overlap, between the weights of the best men of Fitzsimmons era, and the best men of Williams era.

Not that the former are very reliably constrained.