“I’ve met both these men and I want the first chance to fight the winner,” Sharkey said.Sharkey exited the ring to a chorus of boos and jeers no doubt a reminder of the Earp debacle in San Francisco.Crowd noise died down as the two fighters reached the center of the ring; after going over his instructions to each man referee George Siler ordered, “Shake hands, gents.” Corbett reached his arm out to oblige but was ignored as Fitz walked to his corner.When the opening bell sounded the early exchanges were cautionary though it was later discovered that Fitz suffered a dislocated thumb on the impact of one of the first punches thrown. For Jeffries, his Fate had been determined. In “The fight of the century” Fitzsimmons earned a purse of $15,000, took Corbett’s stake money of $10,000 and pocketed $13,000 from the Edison Picture Company, which filmed the fight. It should be noted that, throughout the entire fight he gave no indication of any problem at all.The punch output increased in the second round with Corbett landing several punches to Fitz’s face, the challenger looked up smiling. The streamlined build of Corbett with his raven black hair struck a direct contrast to the spindly legged bald man across the ring with the heavily muscled shoulders. “I underestimated Frazier,” Ali would later say. By mid February of 1897 both Fitzsimmons’ and Corbett’s training camps relocated to Carson City to round off their preparations for the highly anticipated fight. --John Feinstein"The Fight of the Century just floats like a…

While his stature was considered a handicap for a heavyweight, according to some in the boxing media, with his limitless courage and power of endurance Fitzsimmons over came any physical limitations.Fitzsimmons had a 71 ¾ inch arm reach, but made little use of this abnormality. On the other hand, George Foreman seemed invincible. The 16 pound weight difference was obvious to even casual observers.Earlier that day Tom Sharkey entered the ring and challenged the winner of the fight for $5000 a side, $500 of which he announced had been deposited. The handlers and seconds from both camps stepped in to cool things down when both men seemed determined to do battle right then and there.Bob Fitzsimmons was born in Helston, England and at a young age along with his family moved 12,000 miles to a small town called Timaru on the South Island of New Zealand. All Rights Reserved. Finally at the count of nine Fitz sprang to his feet and battled out the remainder of the round.Through the ninth, tenth and eleventh rounds Corbett grew more and more careless. Throughout the next couple rounds a determined Corbett continued to land punches to the head and neck of his challenger usually ending each round with a flurry of punches that drew cheers of approval from the crowd. . Fitzsimmons biggest accomplishment as a prize fighter was the fact that he was the first triple title holder in boxing history. On Independence Day, 1910, race riots ignited across America. Joe owned the seventh, eighth and ninth, had Ali in big trouble in the Terrible 11th. ‎Advance Praise"The Fight of the Century brings back memories of a different and troubled time both in sports and in our country. “Just listen to the roar of this crowd!” thundered Burt Lancaster, the play-by-play man. A right to the jaw put Fitzsimmons to his knees where he stayed while referee Siler began counting…to slow for Corbett’s liking as he snarled at the referee to speed it up. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Thanks for contacting us. 279 Days: The Inside Story of Akeem Ennis-Brown and Philip BowesDavid Benavidez 2.8 pounds overweight, loses WBC title for Roamer Angulo fight The champ was decked out in a brown eiderdown dressing gown as he made his way into the ring. Apparently a verbal battle broke out when Corbett refused Fitz’s offer to shake hands. My mind told me what to do, but my body couldn’t do it.” Amazingly, Ali spent rounds 12, 13 and 14 dancing, throwing pistons, scoring heavily, closing Frazier’s eyes. After arriving at 11AM Fitz changed into a pair of tights that he regularly wore in the ring along with an American flag belt. . The combinations Ali unleashed! It was a chance meeting that occurred when both men were doing their roadwork. Even though he tried hard not to show it, Fitz despised receiving punches in the head and neck area of his body; Corbett was more than happy to exploit the situation.By the fourth round Corbett was comfortably ahead in the fight. But first he would absorb obscene punishment: four or five of Ali’s head-snapping, cobra-like whips to the face for every one he landed. He won the world middleweight, heavyweight and light heavyweight championships over a 27 year career. “Muhammad Ali, crazily enough, is not trying to make use of the ring,” observed announcer Don Dunphy in that first round. Carson City, named after the famous frontiersman Kit Carson, is 4000 feet up in the Sierras Mountains and the higher altitude necessitated a lengthy period of acclimatization by the fighters.Fitzsimmons training was said to have gone well while in Carson.