On this day, the 26 May, 1863, British professional boxer, Robert James Fitzsimmons, was born in Helston, Cornwall. The youngest of seven boys and five girls, in 1873, the family for Lyttelton, New Zealand, where they settled in the town of Timaru.

In the early 1880s, the famous English bare-knuckle boxer, Jem Mace, travelled to New Zealand, and Timaru hosted both his boxing school, and the first boxing championships held in New Zealand. Fitzsimmons entered the tournament, and knocked out four opponents on his way to winning the competition.

Boxing records show Fitzsimmons began boxing professionally in 1883, in Australia. He was nicknamed ‘Ruby Robert’ and ‘The Freckled Wonder’, and progressed to achieve international fame after beating the heavyweight world champion, Gentleman Jim Corbett.

Bob Fitzsimmons is considered one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. He took great pride in his appearance and lack of scars, often appearing in the ring wearing heavy woolen underwear to conceal the poor development of his trunk and leg-muscles.

In November 1894, At a public sparring performance at Jacob’s Opera House, Syracuse, New York, Fitzsimmons knocked out his sparring partner Con Riordan, who sadly died several hours later. Fitzsimmons was later charged with manslaughter, but was later acquitted.

On 17 March 1897, in Carson City, Nevada, Bob knocked out the American Corbett, generally recognised as the legitimate World Heavyweight Champion. Although Corbett out-boxed Fitzsimmons for several of the opening rounds, in the 14th he collapsed in agony, after Fitzsimmons floored him with his infamous ‘solar plexus’ punch, to win the title .

Fitzsimmons married four times and had six children, but with a gambling habit and his susceptibility to confidence tricksters, he did not hold on to his money. He died in 1917 in Chicago of pneumonia aged 54.

26 May, 2019