Fitzsimmons Dislocated His Thumb In1st Rd v Corbett

That is really good footage. Certainly the best i have ever seen.

This probably has to be the most unorthodox World Heavyweight title fight i have seen.

I dont think there are any clones (during their time or after) of either of these styles. Quite amazing when you consider how highly rated they all were at the time (by contemporaries) and how many people bragged on how fitz taught them to punch.

 

Certainly nothing close to Fitzsimmons before or since. Corbett at least had some semi-comparable successors (Jack O'Brien for example), but Fitz is clearly one of kind.

That's why I don't get it why people use him as the proof of how bad boxing was during this era and I don't understand why people call him crude. He wasn't crude at all - he was doing some odd things because it worked for him.

 

Fitz doesn't look crude in the Lang fight, and he was 46 when that one happened. To a point the clearer the film, the better the person looks.

 

I hope someone tries using those HQ AI upscalers on these old videos. I'd love to see the results.

 

In two rounds I've seen, he doesn't look crude but he looks tired and old.

 

No they were not. Early Ko's over Sharkey and Ruhlin prior to the re-match with Jeffries prove Fitz hands were good enough to deliver his thunder.

Post Jeffries 2, Fitz killed a man in the ring, floored a good Gardiner 3 times, and had Jack O'brien out.

 

To be honest, his hands were in poor condition in Gardner and O'Brien fights. It's the reason why he couldn't stop Gardner.

 

i would have to relook at O Brien, but i dont remember him being similar to Corbett. Corbett inentionally seems to fight with hands down at his knees almost presumably to get balance as he circles with great footwork and to throw a looping 'jab', like i havent seen before. He also seems to wrist punch more than any fighter on film. I think he is as one of a kind as Fitz.I don t think anyone replicated the style.

Fitz has great punching technique, but his stance and movement is as unconventional as it gets, certainly his stomack looks so open to me, and he might be a sucker for the famous Jack Dempsey shot to the balls attack some think he used on Jack Sharkey.

 

One thing is sure - Fitzsimmons would punish Dempsey for a low blow!

 

Hardly Hagler/Hearns !!!!