The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-10-23

dangerous men Jc0 left and several
whom the latter did not meet
II Fftz doesn't change his mind
about going to Australia in the mean
time. il will be his first visit to the
old home and firesidc In approximate
~ 20 years He left sydney In the
spring Of 1890 and 1910 will not be far
distant when he again sets foot on the
old stamping grounds Immediately
before sailing for San Francisco he
was beaten by Jim Hall In four
rounds This bout has since been dis
cussed thousands OF times by the box
Ing enthusiasts Of this country, Some
have hinted it was pre-arranged af-
fair, others that Fitz stopped" and
II has even been claimed that FitZ-
simmons admitted that he laid
down because he needed the money.
BE that as IL may, none Of his fights
in this country would give grounds
Tor any such charges. He has surely
fought on the level every time he
could. and as for gameness, few men
have given more convincing proofs
that they possessed truer fighting
courage than he.
In New Orleans the first time he
fought Maher, PaythuT hung hay
maker on his chin carly In the fight
that almost made Maher tickets worth
100 cents on the dollar Fitz had an
imaginary view OF every star in the
heavens and foxy Joe Choynsld. who
with Jimmy Carroll and Alex Greg
gains was behind him, did a lot of
Scheming and quick thinking TO stave
of defeat for his man. He succeeded.
Tired and groggy as Fitz was, he
came back and won To win after be
ing almost out required two things.
generalShip and Gameness. in gencr-
Gus plentitude. The following year
In the same town Fitz hooked up with
jim Hall. For three rounds Hall gave
him as artistic a trimming as one
man could give another. Martin jul
Ian. who was managing him, admit
ted at the time that 1T looked aw-
fully bad for Bob in the third and
early In the fourth Hall seemed to
have his number and was peppeing
him at will" And yet. although he
was being severely punished, Fitz
made a game rally in the fourth and
put right swing TO Halls chin that
sent him to the Ostermoor as cold as
wedge A man with a faint heart
never could have done II. Hall was
not a novice by any means. and be-
sides being clever hard-hltting box
er of the first flight, he had scored
one victory over FitZ. They say that
once YOU knock a man out 1t is easy
to do It the second time. That Is once
the theory broke in the middle and
wouldn't stand up Hall had stopped
Fitz In Australia in four rounds, so,
not to be outdone for politeness by
his fellow countrymen. Fftz returned
the compliment at New Orleans, and
In the same number of rounds.
A year later in Boston Fltz'S cOur-
age was put to even a. more severe
test, He was boxing Joe Choynski at
the Boston thcater There are many
who believe to this day that Choynski
could hit as hard as anybody in ring
history; Jeffrics. Maher Fitzsimmons
or anybody else noted for hard punch
Ing, Fitz himself is one who enter
tains this belief, and it Is not with
out grounds. Joe had an awkward
punch that was used by few boxers.
hard to block and of terrible force.
He had the inack of dropping ii down
when least expected, and IL generally
had the label, turn OF the gas. past
cd on 1t when Il landed fairly. II was
a full sAm downward swing with
the right for the nose or jaw. general
" a counter He would wait for you
to lead for his face with straight
left or a left hook. preferably the lat
ter He would let YOU go along few
times, when suddenly, down 1t would
come with all his strength, plumb
over your left lead and the right,
which YOU might have crooked on
Your chest using as a guard. As the
blow descended and with great speed
the guard was of no avail The only
drawback TO the punch was that he
couldn't time il we'll or judge dis
tanoe carefully with 1t. because 1t
was what would be called a wild"
punch Oftentimes It landed on the
forehead or on top Of the head. and its
effectiveness was lost He dropped
one on Fits Jaw in the first round
and 1t almost finished him. This was
the time Bob said he thought the roof
of the building caved in on him. He
weathered the storm. and by the time
the NTH round rolled around. when
the police interfered. Fit2 was win
ming. The decision given by Referee
Captain Bill DAILY was draw. At Car
son City Corbett had Fitz in bad
way several times, hut he won out in
the 1ith Nobody who saw Fitz box
Rubin at the Garden ever will forget
the first round. Gus hammered him
all around the ring and had him so
bad at bell time that Bob couldn't
protect himself Both arms were
hanging helplessly at his side. He
looked a so to ] shot in this round.
In the second Bob came UP smiling
added awhile and then put a left
shift to Ruhlin's stomach that drop
ped him and practically won the fight
In the third. fourth and fifth he had
everything his own way. and In the
sixth he knocked Gus out Anybody
who says Fitz wasn't thoroughly game
doesn't know what he is talking about
He proved his gameneess too often
TO leave any doubt.