BOB FITZSIMMONS W KO 14 JAMES J CORBETT
MARCH 17,1897. CARSON CITY, NEVADA
CORBETT laughed off the idea of fighting Fitzsimmons after it was put to him. ‘Gentleman Jim’ had little regard for his boxing or manners and thought there would no interest in a match against the former middleweight champion.
Fitzsimmons, who left Cornwall when he was three years old for New Zealand (so, admittedly, calling him a Brit abroad is a stretch), was considered too small to give him any trouble.
As it turned out, the public did want to see the fight and a crowd of around 6,000 headed to Carson City to see if the 157lbs Fitsimmons could dethrone a champion who had weighed in 26lbs heavier.
The crowd included several Cornish miners based in nearby Virginia City and Fitzsimmons’ wife, Rose. The story goes, Rose implored her husband to “hit him in the slats”, meaning stomach, to turn the fight his way.
Dropped for nine in the sixth, Fitzsimmons also had his nose bloodied and bottom lip cut before Corbett started to slow – and in the 14th round, Fitsimmons did as he was told.
He turned southpaw to drive all the breath out of the champion with a
