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Bob Fitzsimmons “Ruby Robert” was born on May 26th 1863 and died on October 22nd 1917.
Jem Mace, one of the greatest bare-knuckle fighters encouraged Bob Fitzsimmons to use his enormous power he gained from blacksmithing to deliver short accurate punches. He soon had a reputation of being the hardest puncher in boxing.
Bob Fitzsimmons made history as the first boxer to win three world championships at different weights. He won the World Middleweight Championship on January 14th 1891, when Ireland’s Jack “Nonpareil” Dempsey retired in the 13th round. On March 17th 1897, Bob Fitzsimmons won the World Heavyweight Championship. Then when the Light-Heavyweight division began to exist he defeated the champion George Gardner on November 25th 1903 on a 20 rounds points decision and became World Light-Heavyweight Champion.
The most famous fight for Bob Fitzsimmons was the World Heavyweight Championship which took place on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th 1897 against James “Gentleman Jim Corbett, the man who beat John L. Sullivan. The lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp, who took part in the famous “Gunfight at the O.K Corral” was in Corbett’s corner with his customary Colt .45 along with four other armed men with revolvers and the equal number of gunmen were in Bob Fitzsimmons’s corner to ensure “fair play”.
In the 14th round, Bob Fitzsimmons landed a hard punch to the solar plexus which knocked Corbett out to win the fight and the World Heavyweight Championship. On June 9th 1899, the Championship changed hands when Bob Fitzsimmons was knocked out in the 11th round by James J. Jeffries.
