Bob Fitzsimmons Vs Modern Boxers?

[Spartacus Sully]

Whats the over all opinion of Bob Fitzsimmons in mordern day boxing?

A force to be reckoned with? or would his old time skill not hold up?

From the past 40 years who would you have liked to see him fight and is there any one that you think would have definitely beat him at 155-180 Lbs?

Personally i would have really liked to see him fight hearns both having a very similar build and punch strength i think it would make for an interesting fight.

[JAB5239]

Whats the over all opinion of Bob Fitzsimmons in mordern day boxing?

A force to be reckoned with? or would his old time skill not hold up?

From the past 40 years who would you have liked to see him fight and is there any one that you think would have definitely beat him at 155-180 Lbs?

Personally i would have really liked to see him fight hearns both having a very similar build and punch strength i think it would make for an interesting fight.

I've been saying for weeks that Im going to dig deeper into the history of Fitzsimmons but just haven't gotten around to it. That said, Im not one of those people who think the old timers were just crude lumbering fighters. I do believe any man who could bust up Jeffries (albeit in a losing effort) could hold his own with the best at 160 and 175 through out history. Im not knowledgeable enough on Fitz to say who he would or wouldn't beat, but I believe he would hold his own in most fights based on what I do know.

[Spartacus Sully]

I've been saying for weeks that Im going to dig deeper into the history of Fitzsimmons but just haven't gotten around to it. That said, Im not one of those people who think the old timers were just crude lumbering fighters. I do believe any man who could bust up Jeffries (albeit in a losing effort) could hold his own with the best at 160 and 175 through out history. Im not knowledgeable enough on Fitz to say who he would or wouldn't beat, but I believe he would hold his own in most fights based on what I do know.

really the guy seems like he was pretty awesome and ive been reading up on him alot more but i dont know much about his style and toughness of chin so im hoping to learn some from this thread. also i consider his frame and mine very similar having a large torso and lanky arms/legs so id like to incorporate some of his style in to mine.

[StarshipTrooper]

Whats the over all opinion of Bob Fitzsimmons in mordern day boxing?

A force to be reckoned with? or would his old time skill not hold up?

From the past 40 years who would you have liked to see him fight and is there any one that you think would have definitely beat him at 155-180 Lbs?

Personally i would have really liked to see him fight hearns both having a very similar build and punch strength i think it would make for an interesting fight.

Great fighter, one of my all-time favorites. I rank him #2 all-time at Middleweight. A murderous puncher who when past his prime was destroying Jeffries in both fights before running out of gas in one and breaking both hands in the other. In a newspaper account of one of the fights it said Fitzsimmons had hardly a mark on him while Jeffries looked like he caught the bad end of a chainsaw.....not bad for someone who was both old in boxing terms and weighed only a bit over the Middleweight limit!

Poet

[sonnyboyx2]

a case can be made for Fitzsimmons being the greatest of all times

[Southpaw Great]

Fitz has a strong case 4 being the G.O.A.T

[Miburo]

It doesn't even make sense to discuss such match-ups because it's all in the details. Under what rules? Using what size gloves? Ex: if modern larger gloves are used then the hands down guard utilized by Fitzsimmons would lose effectiveness, and he has no experience with a high guard to adapt. I don't think comparisons can even begin to be made until the general adoption of modern rules in the 20s. And if we're talking about taking his raw physicality and athleticism (whatever degree they were at) into the modern fight game and having him train to adapt to the modern developments of the sport, then it's even more speculative.

[Joeyzagz]

a case can be made for Fitzsimmons being the greatest of all times

That is like the first thing I ever agreed with you on.

Its difficult to rank the early fighters amongst the modern guys, but Fitz was a Supermiddleweight knocking out 230 lb men.

Hed contend in any era he fought in.

[Spartacus Sully]

It doesn't even make sense to discuss such match-ups because it's all in the details. Under what rules? Using what size gloves? Ex: if modern larger gloves are used then the hands down guard utilized by Fitzsimmons would lose effectiveness, and he has no experience with a high guard to adapt. I don't think comparisons can even begin to be made until the general adoption of modern rules in the 20s. And if we're talking about taking his raw physicality and athleticism (whatever degree they were at) into the modern fight game and having him train to adapt to the modern developments of the sport, then it's even more speculative.

He wouldnt adapt to anything he would train the same way he always did and use the same classical stance of the old masters. if the gloves were heavier the he would be only slightly slower but as would the person punching so glove size makes no difference really and thist time around he be only fighting people his own weight.

he would have faster feet and better head movement then ali plus blocking hands faster then joe louis with fitzsimmons semi retreated stance putting most of the weight on the back foot and only being 170 lbs

[Miburo]

He wouldnt adapt to anything he would train the same way he always did and use the same classical stance of the old masters. if the gloves were heavier the he would be only slightly slower but as would the person punching so glove size makes no difference really and thist time around he be only fighting people his own weight.

he would have faster feet and better head movement then ali plus blocking hands faster then joe louis with fitzsimmons semi retreated stance putting most of the weight on the back foot and only being 170 lbs

I was speaking about glove SIZE, not weight (his power would be reduced as well though as the gloves would also be heavier).

If he fought the exact same way without adapting at all he would lose to top opposition plain and simple. Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit? His head movement would be inferior because guys back then utilized the clinch constantly with no penalty, it was the bread and butter of any defensive fighter (which he absolutely was not so it's a moot point in any case).

Yes, there are advantages to the waist-level guard - under the rules and with the gloves of the time, otherwise you would still see everyone employing it (it was largely a holdover from bareknuckle to be quite frank under whose rules it was much more sensible). He was able win against such larger men because A. he was a superlative athlete for the time and B. the average athleticism of opposition was lower. I'm not saying if you took his talent and body and had him utilize modern training techniques he couldn't compete, but it was literally a different sport back then based strongly on endurance and toughness over technique.