The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-12-27

I .t wf"|N wa .'.. &atfhTt fNFFAf Rt.tt hf#
career NJ Boo FIt1simmaus Few
men knew IEitz az Corbett know him
8Hi @r these stories reveal some iu-
etdeuts lu the M. Of Fltzslmnons
that never before have been printed
ths next chapter will appear tomor-
row)
Bob Fitzajmmous was nearing his
fortleth birthday when he went down
TO defeat the second time before The
onslaught OF Jim Jeffries. That is an
a-e far beyond the prime of so active
AN athlete ar "a boxer. S~inety-niue
per cent Of the pugjlIsts before rea a.
ing such an age have been content 70
call II quits and 20 settle do#u - D
life far removed from the Eea5m o.
padded mitt. But not sq<wlth lob
F1tzsjmmons.
Bob was a lighting man. tie loved
nothing more than 10 pit his strength
and SKIN against an opponent SIC
never was go happy as when he vas
in the ring. In practically every one
OF his contests against stellar per
formers he had been forced to take
a terrible beating before ultimate vic
tory or defeat came TO him. He GER
fainly absorbed ore punishment than
any hrHt-class ring warrior that the
game has produced. Yet, despite all
the batterinE by such men as Peter
Maher. Gus Rubin. Jim JefYries, Tam
Sharkey and the others, his splencid
physique and endurance powers re-
NAMED. There still burned within
his breast the fire Of battle. And SO
Bob Fitzsimmons ignored the fact hat
he was an old man. as boxers OF forty
are considered.
A few months less than a year after
ne was defeated tho second time hy
Jefries, Bob took on CON CoughIin in
Philadelphia. He showed In that hght
that he still retained his old time
punching power by knocking ont
Coughlin In the first round p%o
weeks after he met Joe Grimm In
Philadelphia and for perhaps the first
time in his career Bob FitzSimmous
found n man who was lmpervlous 10
his most terrific blows.
Grimm always win be remembered
So a man without equal in absorbing
punishment. II seemed that even a
sledge-hammer couldn't fell him for
the fun count. Grimm knew nothing
about the science OF boxing but ne had
"A stout heart and seemed insensi-
bic to pain. Many men could knock
him down but htey couldn't keep him
there for ten seconds. Bob Fltzsluu-
mons found no difficulty in landing en-
Grimm. Bob hit the Italian with every
thing he had. lie sent vollevs ar
blows 70 his tew 80 his stomach, e
his heart. Hut somehow or other
Grimm refused 10 TAKE tho count.
And when tbs sixth round was oyer
Grimm was stllI on his feet.
Then followed Bob FItzstmnvoun'
fight with George Gardner IN San
Francisco. That WAS fought on No
vember -. 1903. Gardner was 4 fast,
gfay-a~ Fallru- ard rartuFpIgr n1f Fgu .
great fight but he was no match for
the Australian. Bob Jed ON points
by the proverbiai mile and wasan Gays
winner o. the decision after tWent!
rounds Of fast milling
on July IS. 1905. Rob met Phils
deIphte Jack O'Rrten ia the Quaker
city In p s~ix-round no~deausion hoGt
That was another fast set-to II optG-
ion was divided At ten end as % WHO
was the real winner The arguments
between the Fit2 and O'Frien faCtt9U
became so heated that promoters IN
San Francisco recognized a financial
opportunity In bringing the two men
together. So a match was made aAd
the second battle between the two men
was fought in san Francisco DeCem-
her 20, 1905.
And Jack O'Brien knocked out Bob
Fit1simmons IN the thirteenth round
hob then decided th&t be was a
3tttle tca cid 70 continue as an srtsva
ring participant He announced his
retirement. He kept that r~esolve oil
through 1905. but on March I. 1907.
aFrAsd to box an exhibition bout with
Tony Rose. It was Put on in New
Castle. Pa. Rob made such a good
showing at the time that he felt h
still had some good fights left in his
system. SO he began looking around
for some foe and ne found Jack
johnson, then Just emerging from the
second rate class.
Fitzsimmons and Johnson hsttled
each other in Philadelphia on July II.
1907. and the negro Knocked out the
once-time great Australian in the sec
ond round.
And then Bob retired" again.
He -dAyed retired for little more
than a year. In September OF 1905
he figured he could get a little cas-"
money ny taking on Jim Paul, a third
rater. o knocked out Pau in the
FIRST round For another year Bob re-
NAMED inactive, Then he went 10
Australia and while there found that
Bill Lang was cutting quite "A wide
swath through the pugilistic lanes In
that section.
I'm fight Lang. announced Bob.