Bob Fitzsimmons

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Bob Fitzsimmons
Heavyweight boxing world champion
boxer
Robert Fitzsimmons.jpg
Data
Birth Name Robert James Fitzsimmons
Weight class Heavyweight
nationality British
birthday May 26, 1863
place of birth Helston
Date of death October 22, 1917
Place of death Chicago
style Left delivery
size 1.82 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles 82
Victories 51
Knockout victories 44
Defeats 8th
draw 5
No value 18th

Bob Fitzsimmons , origin. Robert James Fitzsimmons , (born May 26, 1863 in Helston , Cornwall , † October 22, 1917 in Chicago , Cook County , Illinois ) was a British boxer and world champion in middle, light and heavyweight.

Life

The family of the then nine-year-old Fitzsimmons emigrated to New Zealand and settled in Timaru . He learned the blacksmith's trade in his brother's business , which gave him an extremely strong upper body, but his legs are said to have been spindly by comparison.

His first world title won Fitzsimmons on January 14, 1891 middleweight in a fight in New Orleans against the Irish Jack Dempsey . He won by knockout in the thirteenth round.

He won the heavyweight title on March 17, 1897 against Jim Corbett in Carson City , Nevada by knockout in the fourteenth round. The encounter with Corbett is one of the earliest boxing matches on film. By today's standards, Fitzsimmons was a super middleweight weighing 76 kg and often won his fights by body hits.

On June 9, 1899, in Brooklyn , New York , he lost the World Championship in the first defense of the title to Jim Jeffries when he went down in the eleventh round and was tallied.

As the first boxer, he managed to win the light heavyweight title on November 25, 1903 in San Francisco by beating George Gardiner on points. Fitzsimmons was now forty years old.

He played his last big fight at the age of 46 on December 27, 1909 against Bill Lang in Sydney for the Australian heavyweight title, but was knocked out in the twelfth round.

In 1990 Fitzsimmons was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

See also

Web links

predecessor Office successor
? Oldest boxer to ever win a world title
(aged 40)
November 25, 1903 - November 5, 1994 		George Foreman
? Oldest boxing world champion of all time
(at the age of 42 he was still world champion)
November 25, 1903 - November 5, 1994 		Archie Moore
personal data
SURNAME Fitzsimmons, Bob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fitzsimmons, Robert James (full name); Ruby Robert; Speckled Bob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British boxer, world heavyweight champion (1897–1899)
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1863
PLACE OF BIRTH Helston , Cornwall
DATE OF DEATH October 22, 1917
Place of death Chicago , Cook County , Illinois