Move to Australia Boxing record books show Fitzsimmons officially began boxing professionally in 1883, in
Australia. He beat Jim Crawford there in a bare knuckle fight by getting a
knockout in three rounds. Fitzsimmons had his first 28 definite professional fights in Australia, where he lost the
Australian middleweight title to Mick Dooley (rumours spoke of a fixed bout) and where he also won a fight by knockout while on the floor: when Edward Starlight Robins dropped Fitzsimmons to the canvas in round nine of their fight, he also broke his hand and could not continue, therefore the referee declared Fitzsimmons the winner by a knockout. By this stage, Fitzsimmons had established his own
style. He developed a certain movement and caginess from one of the greatest
bare-knuckle fighters,
Jem Mace. Mace encouraged Fitzsimmons to develop his punching technique, drawing on the enormous power he had gained from
blacksmithing. Fitzsimmons delivered short, accurate and occasionally conclusive punches. He soon built up a reputation as by far the hardest puncher in boxing.
Winning the Middleweight title Moving on to the
United States, Fitzsimmons fought four more times in 1890, winning three and drawing one. Then, on 14 January 1891, in
New Orleans, he won his first world title from
Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey. He spent the rest of that year doing exhibitions, and on 2 June, he had scheduled a two-way exhibition where he would demonstrate in public how to hit the boxing bag and then how to box against a real opponent. Reportedly, two freak accidents happened that day: Fitzsimmons hit the bag so hard that it broke, and then his opponent of that day allegedly slipped, getting hit in the head and the boxing exhibition was cancelled. At a public
sparring performance on 16 November 1894 at Jacob's Opera House,
Syracuse, New York, Fitzsimmons knocked out sparring partner Con Riordan, who was carried off unconscious and died several hours later. Two months later Fitzsimmons was charged with
manslaughter but was
acquitted.
Fitzsimmons vs. Sharkey After vacating the Middleweight title, Fitzsimmons began campaigning at
heavyweight (the
light heavyweight division did not exist at that time). On 2 December 1896, the
San Francisco Athletic Club sponsored a fight at the Mechanics' Pavilion in
San Francisco between Fitzsimmons and
Tom Sharkey. Unable to find a referee, they called on former lawman
Wyatt Earp. He had officiated 30 or so matches in earlier days, though not under the
Marquess of Queensberry rules. The fight may have been the most anticipated fight on American soil that year. Fitzsimmons was favoured to win, and bets flowed heavily his way. Earp entered the ring still armed with his customary
Colt .45 and drew a lot of attention when he had to be disarmed. He later said he forgot he was wearing it. Fitzsimmons was taller and quicker than Sharkey and dominated the fight from the opening bell. In the eighth round, Fitzsimmons hit Sharkey with his famed "solar plexus punch," an
uppercut under the heart that could render a man temporarily helpless. The punch caught Sharkey, Earp, and most of the crowd by surprise, and Sharkey dropped, clutched his groin, and rolled on the canvas, screaming foul. Earp stopped the bout, ruling that Fitzsimmons had hit Sharkey with a
low blow. His ruling was greeted with loud boos and catcalls. Very few witnessed the foul Earp ruled on. He awarded the decision to Sharkey, who attendants carried out as "...limp as a rag."
Winning the heavyweight title In 1896, Fitzsimmons won a disputed version of the
World Heavyweight Championship in a fight in
Langtry, Texas, sanctioned by Judge
Roy Bean, against the Irish fighter
Peter Maher. On 17 March 1897, in
Carson City, Nevada, he knocked out American
Jim Corbett, generally recognised as the legitimate
World Heavyweight Champion (having won the title from
John L. Sullivan in 1892) in round 14 in what is considered Nevada's first
World Championship prize fight. This constituted a remarkable achievement, as Jim Corbett, a skilled boxer, weighed one stone 3 pounds (17 lb) more than Fitzsimmons. He out-boxed Fitzsimmons for several rounds, knocked him down in the sixth round and badly damaged his face with his jab, left hook and right hand, but Fitzsimmons kept coming and Corbett began to tire. In the 14th round, Fitzsimmons won the title with his "solar plexus" punch. Corbett collapsed in agony. Fitzsimmons's "solar plexus" punch became legendary, although he himself may never have used the phrase. The entire fight was filmed by
Enoch J. Rector and released to cinemas as
The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight, the longest film ever released at the time. It was also the first time in history a full boxing match was recorded and it was the world's first feature film. Using her maiden name, it was covered by
Nellie Verrill Mighels Davis, the first woman to report a prize fight. Fitzsimmons spent the rest of 1897 and 1898 doing stage tours. In 1899, Fitzsimmons fought
James J. Jeffries at the Coney Island Athletic Club near
Brooklyn,
New York. Most people gave Jeffries little chance, even though at over 15 stones (95 kg) he massively outweighed his opponent and was far younger, but Jeffries lifted the World Heavyweight Championship from Fitzsimmons with an 11th-round knockout. In June 1901 Fitzsimmons took part in a
wrestling match against Gus Ruhlin. He lost and went back to boxing. He then enjoyed legitimate boxing knockouts of leading contenders Ruhlin and
Tom Sharkey. In 1901 he published a book
Physical Culture and Self-Defense (Philadelphia: D. Biddle). In 1902, he and Jeffries had a rematch, once again with the World Heavyweight Championship at stake. Fitzsimmons battered Jeffries, who suffered horrible punishment. With his nose and cheek bones broken, most would have sympathized with Jeffries had he quit, but he kept going until his enormous strength and youth wore down Bob and he knocked him out cold in round eight. becoming the first boxer to win titles in
three weight-divisions.
Retirement Although Fitzsimmons became a world champion in each of the
Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight divisions, historians do
not consider him the first world Light Heavyweight Champion to become World Heavyweight Champion, because he won the Heavyweight title before winning the Light Heavyweight belt.
Michael Spinks counts as the first Light Heavyweight World Champion to win the Heavyweight belt as well. However, Fitzsimmons was the first Middleweight Champion to win the Heavyweight title and the only Heavyweight Champion to drop down and win the Light Heavyweight title. Fitzsimmons and later
Henry Armstrong were the only men to win
undisputed world championship in three different weight classes. After his retirement, Fitzsimmons moved back to his home country of
England and settled in
London. Fitzsimmons had a final professional record of 69 wins with 57 by knockout, 12 losses, 14 draws, and 6 no contests (22 newspaper decisions). His exact record remains unknown, as the boxing world often kept records poorly during his era. == Personal life ==