Do you feel that Jim Corbett gets underrated?

Whether the Corbett Vs McCoy fight was fixed, we really cannot know. Despite rumours before hand many of the next day reporters thought it was legit, and a lot of the stories claiming it was fixed don't make a lot of sense. I'd looked for every report I could find of it, and most either say it wasn't a fix, or make no explicit comment.

There were rumours and claims about tons of early fights being fixed, I think some probably were and some probably weren't, but I really don't get why people act like one like this is a known fix (when there's plenty of reason to think it was on the level), and ignore claims that other fights were fixed.

 

I think we need extraoridinary evidences to conclude that a fight was a fix - especially with no footage. I don't think that's the case here.

 

I don't think we can reach a firm conclusion on most claimed fixes. I think it's ok to admit doubt either way. I don't see the need to claim levels of certainty that aren't there.

I think it probably wasn't a fix, but there is legitmate arguments that it was fixed.

 

I have a principle that I never assume a fix without very solid evidences. It doesn't mean that it's impossible that this fight was fixed, but arguments aren't strong enough to call it that way.

Otherwise, I could call any fight a fix. Why not?

 

There's Gans Vs McGovern where I think the evidence is good enough to say it's probably a fix, there there are arguments that it was on the level. I don't think you can really say there's extraordinary evidence, but I think there's enough that I'm not going to consider it on the level when evaluating the fighters.

 

Yeah, that is one of the most obvious examples. We don't have a lot of them though and I wouldn't say that Corbett vs McCoy is comparable to that.

 

I put up a thread on the question of whether the fight was fixed, a couple of years back.

On balance I think that it was probably not, but I keep an open mind.

 

Sure, I didn’t intend to mean that it was a 100% fix, just that there were some scribes and fans? at the time who believed it to be a fix or suspicious at the least.

The analogy I made to the film I linked was of course light hearted.

Anyway, that’s not to exclude suggestions of other fixes - this is a thread re Corbett after all, not on thread re rumoured fixes in general.

Of course there is also the controversy surrounding the Corbett vs Sharkey fight.

As to rumoured fights NOT involving Jim - there’s the Fitz vs Sharkey too and several fights of Jack Dempsey’s upon which doubts were cast.

There was even a suggestion at the time that Fitz took a dive in the return match vs Jeffries - which on balanced reading I do not believe.

As time rolled by that allegation wasn’t mentioned in boxing history books - unlike Corbett vs McCoy which was often footnoted as doubtful.

That’s not evidence that the latter fight was fixed, just an example how mud can stick re some fights and others not so much.

But it is true, the cry of fix wasn’t uncommon, some with more reason behind them than others, and some involving more more significant fighters of the day.

Without film, we’re at the mercy of the scribes, and mud can stick from just one writer’s claim if a fix - that’s why we read multiple reports to average out the perceptions in order to arrive at the more likely truth.

Unfortunately the all important vision for these fights isn’t available - Johnson’s own claim of dive might’ve held strongly to this day IF the films that clearly belie his claim hadn’t turned back up.

So true, there is almost no fight that can be proven as a 100% fix - even as strongly as many people feel about the vision suggesting a definite fix in Ali vs Liston II, it has never actually been proven and never will be.

Finally, I agree, due balance needs to be exercised, even if it’s more compelling to attach to one or several claims of a fix, reports arguing against same or not even dignifying any such claims have to be duly taken on board.

 

Bro Corbett gets ****ing BODIED in these threads, underrated is an understatement at this point and that’s saying a lot considering how overrated Corbett was back in the day. With context it makes a lot of sense why he fought like he did on film.