Bob Fitzsimmons - P4P the best fighter ever, here are a few excerpts on the great "fighting blacksmith"
Some critics, but few experts, argue that Fitz was too light to be a bonafide heavyweight. He may have been lanky with thin legs but his upper torso was equal to that of a well-developed two-hundred pound man. He may have looked like a joke but no one who fought him laughed
Gilbert Odd (1974) also called Fitz a physical freak and fistic phenomenon. He comments that the magnificent shoulders and deep chest perched on spindly legs looked grotesque but had astonishing punching power.
Fitz fought for thirty-four years and, during his career, held three world championship titles – middleweight, heavyweight, and light heavyweight. In 1893, he knocked out seven men in one evening and required only nineteen rounds to do so. All men weighed over 200 pounds. One stood 6-7 and weighed in at 240 pounds
John L. Sullivan called him a "fighting machine on stilts". Jim Corbett said "for his weight and inches, he was the greatest fighter that ever drew on a glove". Jim Jeffries said he was "the trickiest man who ever fought in the heavyweight division and he could hit like hell. A guy could make just one mistake against old Fitz"
Jack Johnson rated Fitzsimmons better than Jim Jeffries or Sam Langford as a puncher
Edgar Lee Masters said "I could put up a good argument to the effect that Fitzsimmons, all things considered, was the greatest fighter who ever lived …"
Some critics, but few experts, argue that Fitz was too light to be a bonafide heavyweight. He may have been lanky with thin legs but his upper torso was equal to that of a well-developed two-hundred pound man. He may have looked like a joke but no one who fought him laughed
Gilbert Odd (1974) also called Fitz a physical freak and fistic phenomenon. He comments that the magnificent shoulders and deep chest perched on spindly legs looked grotesque but had astonishing punching power.
Fitz fought for thirty-four years and, during his career, held three world championship titles – middleweight, heavyweight, and light heavyweight. In 1893, he knocked out seven men in one evening and required only nineteen rounds to do so. All men weighed over 200 pounds. One stood 6-7 and weighed in at 240 pounds
John L. Sullivan called him a "fighting machine on stilts". Jim Corbett said "for his weight and inches, he was the greatest fighter that ever drew on a glove". Jim Jeffries said he was "the trickiest man who ever fought in the heavyweight division and he could hit like hell. A guy could make just one mistake against old Fitz"
Jack Johnson rated Fitzsimmons better than Jim Jeffries or Sam Langford as a puncher
Edgar Lee Masters said "I could put up a good argument to the effect that Fitzsimmons, all things considered, was the greatest fighter who ever lived …"
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