Bob Fitzsimmons so badly beat Gus Ruhlin that Gus did not know where or who he was until the next day, he did not come fully to his senses for 24hrs and lapsed into unconsciousness that night as he slept on a make shift cot in MSG with Doctors in attendance because he was too poorly to be moved. He was bleeding from the eyes,nose , mouth and ears and so badly injured about the face he could not talk. Fitzsimmons administered the same kind of beating to Jim Jeffries in their rematch, inflicting cuts above and below both eyes ,breaking his nose and causing it to swell and bleed rivulets of gore.Yet Jeffries walked through it all and knocked him out he must truly have been made of iron.
Kind of wish someone would've took pics but, I doubt I could look at them. If they were as busted up as claimed.
Fitz actually killed three men from boxing. He was a deadly hitter with a sense of timing and accuracy. It's too bad there is so little film on him. The gloves back then were not very padded either for the most part. Nat Fleischer felt Fitz was the best KO artists of all time, ahead of Louis or Dempsey. To sum up Jeffries durability, the press says Fitz landed his best body shot in the first fight, Jeffries didn't even blink.
Some of pre 20 fighters were the toughest men who ever lived given the conditions that they fought and trained under no mouthpieces headgear small gloves and 25 to 45 rounds.... I believe that Jeffries was the toughest heavy ever and nelson toughest ever p 4p... Not exactly a stretch here...but later on there were also some incredible tough. Guys in the 20s and 30s whom could barely be knocked down or stopped
