Robert P. Fitzsimmons is a lifelong resident of Wheeling, West Virginia, and attended Wheeling Central Catholic High School. He received his Bachelor degree from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
Bob Fitzsimmons. About. Robert P. Fitzsimmons is a lifelong resident of Wheeling, West Virginia, and attended Wheeling Central Catholic High School. He received his Bachelor degree from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
Bob Fitzsimmons was retained to represent West Virginia University in its lawsuit against its former football coach, Rich Rodriguez, who left the university to become the head football coach at the University of Michigan.
Jim Corbett was a bank clerk. He's an actor at present. Bob Fitzsimmons was a blacksmith. He is running a farm now, doing monologue turns and fighting between times. "RING VETERAN TO GIVE VIEWS". San Francisco Call. 27 June 1910.
Early life. The birthplace of Bob Fitzsimmons in Helston, Cornwall . Robert James Fitzsimmons was born on 26 May 1863 in Helston, Cornwall, England, the youngest of seven boys and five girls born to James and Jane ( née Strongman) Fitzsimmons. Not long before his birth, his parents had moved from his father's native Ireland to Cornwall, ...
They settled in Timaru, a town 147 km (91 miles) south-west of Lyttelton populated mainly by Cornish immigrants, and James Fitzsimmons established a blacksmith's forge in the town. Once Fitzsimmons had completed his education at the Timaru Main School, he took on a range of jobs. He wanted to join the crew of the Isabella Ridley, and do some service as a sailor, hoping that it would toughen him up for a career in boxing, but the ship was badly damaged in storms while still docked in Timaru. Instead, he took on a range of jobs; as a butcher's delivery boy, a carriage painter, striker at an iron foundry, and a decorator, before becoming an apprentice at his family's blacksmith's forge with his brother Jarrett. His time working in the blacksmith's forge helped to develop his upper body, particularly his arms and shoulders. During his time working in the blacksmith's forge, there are stories that Fitzsimmons was not averse to fighting quarrelsome, often drunk, customers, and it was suggested that this even boosted business, as customers returned to the forge, hoping to see a fight.
Fitzsimmons had a final professional record of 66 wins with 59 by knockout, 8 losses, 4 draws, 19 no contests and 2 no decisions (Newspaper Decisions: 2–0–0).
He retained the crown by a knockout in round four . 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.
Soon afterward, he went back to the Heavyweights, where he kept fighting until 1914, with mixed results. In 1907 at age 44, Fitzsimmons fought much younger Jack Johnson, during the time period in which reigning champion James J. Jeffries refused to fight Johnson.
Boxing record books show Fitzsimmons officially began boxing professionally in 1883, in Australia. He beat Jim Crawford there 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.
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.