The Ipswich Express Top 100 Fighters of All Time List

Correct enough for rock 'n' roll Leon.

...I think in the very early days they weren't even allowed by law to put on pro fights. So the bouts were known as 'exhibitions'.

But money was certainly waged on results. So somehow there were judgements passed on who won & who lost the matches.

Perhaps the sportswriter's decision helped decide the bets? If so I bet they got handed the odd brown paper bag for their 'impartiality'!

 

so if a fight went the distance there was no judges to score it? just who the journalists thought won? was this when fights kept going until there was a knock out?

that is ****ing bizzare

 

**** list.

















j/k. looking good so far. great to read a lot of this older stuff. good doing further research online too about the different aspects being discussed.

 

Good to see a consensus.

For those that dont know, he won the world Middleweight championship in 1891 when he defeated the legendary Jack Dempsey (the non pareil). The next year (as a middleweight), he kod top Heavyweight contender Peter Maher. That same year he had about 10 middleweight fights, which ended by KO before the third round! The next year he did the same, though the great Jim Hall did last 4 rounds before succumbing and one other fighter did last the distance of a massive 4 rounds to earn a "draw". Also, on June 3rd, he knocked out 7 opponents in 19 total rounds, all of whom were more than 200lbs! Again, as a middleweight.

IN 1894 he knocked out top heavyweight contender and light heavyweight all time great JOe Choynski in the 5th, but police intervened with Choynski out cold. The other 2 or 3 middleweight fights he had ended with KOs in less than 2 rounds.

In 1895, there were more fights and still no one would go more than 2 or 3 rounds. In 1896, the legendary Jim Corbett had retired and Peter Maher claimed the vacant World Heavyweight title. Fitzsimmons (as a middleweight) knocked him out in the first round!

Then the next year, fitzsimmons fought the legendary Gentleman Jim corbett (again, as a middleweight) for the world heavyweight championship, and Fitzsimmons again knocked him out.

This signalled the end of his middleweight reign, because he vacated the title, but there was not a middleweight alive who could get near him. And the light heavy title did not exist or he would have held the three belts simultaneously (not to mention all those in between if they had ever existed).

Now that is a dominant reign. But it goes further. When Fitzsimmons finally left the heavyweight scene (after two close fights to one of the Best ever Jim Jeffries) and with KOs of every other top heavy contender of the time on his resume, he fought for the Light heavyweight championship in 1903 against the legendary George Gardner. He beat him, weighing below the modern supermiddleweight title. This means that for probably 12 years, he was probably the best middleweight / light heavyweight fighter in the world and for a large percentage of this, he was also the best heavyweight fighter in the world.

That is only the tip of the iceberg, the more you study his career, the more unbelievable it becomes.

By the sounds of all that, I certainly think he sounds more Australian than English!

 

Sorry but I doubt Maxie would make my 100. He doesn't make my top 15 Light Heavys from memory (Charles, Moore, Tunney, Langford, Greb, Foster, Spinks, Fitz, Conn, Johnson, Loughran, Gibbons, Jones are all definites, I could come up with few but I'm tired and slightly drunk and my notes are on another PC).

 

Good to see Tunney ranked so highly. I feel he is highly underrated on ESB.

 

can someone please explain

"newspaper decision"

 

Did you not read this Marcus.

 

nope, i missed it, thanks for quoting it for me :good

 

I thought my explanation on newspaper decisions was much betterer.