So, how would Fitzsimmons do as a modern day...

Corbett doesn't look like a light hitter when he decided to plant his feet and throw some bombs. Obviously Gentleman Jim patterned his style on movement and quickness but I don't think he was a powderpuff puncher by any stretch.

 

i don't think there was any doubt that fitz was a freak.for most of his career he was barely a super middleweight.he fought a lot of his fights below 158pounds because that's what the middlweight limit was then.fair enough he wasn't fighting guys like todays super heavies,but reguralarily fighting guys 20 pounds or so heavier.also his stamina was unbelievable,sure he took a shellacking from corbett for 6 or 7 rounds or so but got stronger as the fight went on,was outlasting corbett before knocking him out with the famous body shot.i don't think that there's any doubt that if he was brought through the modern way,he would be a formidable proposition for anyone from 160 to 175 pounds,simply with his freakish power alone.

 

What footage?

The only footage of him that I find usefull in asesing his style is Fitzsimmons Lang when he was in his 40s.

This is a shell of Fitz but it dose show all the subtlties of his method described by the contemporary press in his prime.

 

Well, ignore the music, but based on footage of his fight with Corbett, he doesn't exactly seem to have skills that would work in the more modern era. That is just being truthful.

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Forgett the Corbett fight the film quality is so poor that it might as well be a magic lantern show.

The only Fitzsimmons footage that is any kind of indicator of his style is the Lang fight when he is in his 40s. While his reflexes have been dulled by time he clearly looks much better than in the Corbett fight which was filmed at his peak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5clfV1gZV0A

 

He would knock Kelly Pavlicks ass out.

 

And to truly apprecite that fight you must see Tommy Burns annihilate Lang in 2 min with Jeffries as the Ref...

 

Fitzsimmons is an old old man there. We are lucky to have this film to give an idea of his style.

Of course it might just be like having Foreman Morrison.

 

Fitz would need to update his boxing technique in order to be competitive in the modern era. His hands would have to come up closer to his chin and he would have to tuck his chin in and not hold it up like a lantern. If he could do that then he would do well in the modern era as he was very durable and could hit like a mule. If he does'nt then he gets koed by a modern style fighter due to his straight up hands by his waist semi-prehistoric style of boxing which is no longer taught because as time went by, boxing evolved and improved stylewise over the years.