Fitzsimmons vs. Joe Jeannette, both at their best. Fitzsimmons has literally deadly power, tactical intelligence with traps and feints and surprises, excellent timing and distance calculation. Jeannette had good defense, good inside punching, stamina and conditioning which make him very durable. The fight is set on 45 rounds, old school rules and equipment. Who wins and why?
Fitz TKO, Jeannette goes down plenty but his heart is too big to keep him there. Either he takes the beating and sees the final bell or the ref shows mercy\towel gets thrown in
Jeannette has lost only two fights by Ko in 166 fights: 1) one in the third fight, when he was very green: 2) one with the great Sam Langford. Yet, with Langford he fought 15 times. With McVea, Jeannette won after being put down 21 times. The victory came in the 49th round, to exhaustion of McVea. Fitzsimmons, however, may be the worst hitter, the most powerful and accurate, ever encountered by Jeanette. Fitzsimmons can win by knockout, but it wouldn't be easy.
It's up to the ref or Joe's corner to stop the fight, I think Fitz' power will shut Jeannette down offensively, similarly to how Langford did in their filmed fight. That being said, Jeannette has incredible heart and I can't see Fitz keeping him down
It's possible, I'm not sure, but many of the Langford-Jeannette bouts may have been prolonged just to get the crowd its money's worth. After all, both guys had trouble getting matches. The number of rounds was not specified in the OP opening post. With a contest at 20 rounds or more, I see Jeannette winning by decision.
I see Fitsimmons winning the decision. But Jeanette was certainly the winner financially in their post retirement years whereas Fitzsimmons lost most of his finances for a variety of reasons, Jeanette however invested his ring earnings in successful business ventures
