FITZSIMMONS AND CORBETT.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VII, Issue 353, 29 April 1897, Page 10

FITZSIMMONS AND CORBETT.

The glove fight between Fitzsimmons and Corbett, on the 17th of March last, appears to have created extraordinary interest in America; so great, indeed, that one paper, the San Francisco Examiner, paid a sum of £5OO for a special train for its representatives. We extract the following from our exchanges : — First Round. —They stood looking at each other straight in the eye. Both feinted and sidestepped. They continued for a moment, and Fitz finally crowded Corbett into a corner and let go his left. Corbett ducked and Fitz rushed against the ropes. Corbett in the next rally scored with the left lightly on the nose, quickly following with a stiff left on the body. Fitz did some feinting with the right, trying hard to land on Corbett’s jaw, but the Californian was wary. In the next attack Corbett let out his left, halfswing fashion, catching Fitz hard with the left on the eye. Both men landed lefts. After a clinch Fitz tried to sneak his right over on the break-away, but Corbett was on the move and laughed. Both fell short with the left leads for the body, and then Corbett landed a hard right over the heart just as the bell sounded. Fitz winked and Corbett laughed. Second Round. — Both answered promptly, Fitz forcing the issue and swinging his right for the jaw and missing. They clinched for several seconds, and Corbett tried for an uppercut, but was short. Corbett stopped a left swing for the jaw. In the next rally Corbett swung his left on Fitz’s left eye, and a moment later poked his left straight on Fitz’s nose. Fitz rushed a swinging right and left, and chased Corbett around, but Corbett stopped both blows with his arms and smiled. Corbett landed lightly with the left twice on the nose. Following up his advantage he struck Fitz twice heavily with the left in the stomach, escaping with a counter. In the next attack Corbett slipped and left himself open, but Fitz was not quick enough to take advantage of the opportunity, and Corbett lost nothing. They were sparring when the bell sounded. Third Round. —As soon as the bell rang Corbett came out of his corner on a sprint and smashed Fitz hard on the body, quickly following it with two more in the same place, and a right on the ear. Fitz led, but was short, and a clinch followed. Fitz now took a hand at pushing and backed Corbett toward the ropes, trying to score with either hand. Corbett was wary, however, and avoided all of Fitz’s blows. While close in clinch Fitzsimmons caught his right over on the back of the head, and then winked to the crowd. Corbett then rushed and tried with his right for a vital point, but fell short. In the next attempt Fitz shoved his left straight for Corbett’s mouth, and followed it with a light left on the chin. A clinch followed, and they were locked for several seconds. In the next mix-up Fitz landed hard at short range with the left on the jaw. As the bell rang Fitz had Corbett in his own corner, and was about to swing his right, and Corbett laughed and said, “ Not now! ” Each retired to his corner, apparently happy and confident.

Fourth Round. —Again Corbett was the aggressor, and he promptly swung a left hook, swinging fashion, landing lightly on the jaw. He promptly followed up the advantage thus gained with a hard right over the ear and a left on the jaw, forcing Fitz to clinch. On the breakaway Corbett tried to swing his right, and Fitz laughed. Hot fighting followed, Corbett being the aggressor. Then Fitz made a vicious swipe with the right for the jaw, but fell short, and Corbett landed. Fitz kept swinging viciously for the jaw, but Corbett stopped them with his

elbows, at the same time sneaking in two lefts on Fitz’ jaw. Again Corbett led, scoring heavily with the right on the heart. In the next attempt Corbett missed with his right and left, but smashed Fitz hard on the jaw three times with the left, and followed with a stiff right over the heart. As they clinched Corbett scored twice with the right and left on the body. They were clinched when the bell rang. This round was entirely in Corbett’s favour. Fifth Round.—Corbett again came out on a sprint, and promptly smashed Fitz on the jaw with force and accuracy with his left. The blow angered Fitz, and he rushed at the Californian viciously, swinging both hands for the jaw, but failing to score a blow. In the next rally both landed lefts. Then Fitz rushed and succeeded in landing a hard right on Corbett’s ribs. Corbett’s next lead for the jaw with the left fell short, and they clinched. Corbett again tried his left for the jaw, but fell short, and Fitz tried to cross him with the right, but Corbett cleverly blocked the blow. A sharp rally followed at close quarters, during which Fitz scored three blows. Fitz said to Corbett: “ Well, how do you like it ?” Jim’s reply was a smash with the left on the mouth, bringing blood. Corbett promptly followed up his advantage with terrific rights on the jaw, making Fitz’s head rock. Fitz smiled, but it was a very sickly smile. It was plain to all that Corbett had satisfied himself that he had taken his opponent’s measure, for he went at him regardless of consequences. Sixth Round. —-Fitz was mad clear through when he responded. He rushed Corbett and tried to score with the right, but failed, a clinch following. Then Fitz did considerable wrestling and the crowd cried “ Foul.” Then Corbett came at his man viciously, smashing him with right and left on the jaw, making Fitz unsteady on his feet. A straight left on the nose made the blood flow in streams. A right-hander on the jaw staggered Fitz, and, in order to avoid further punishment, he dropped to his knees, remaining down eight seconds. Corbett stood off waiting for him. When he did get up Corbett promptly smashed him on the jaw with the left, following with the right on the jaw, staggering Fitz. A straight left on Fitz’s damaged nose again brought the blood. This round was all in favor of Corbett, who seemed to have his opponent in great distress and guessing at the close. Fitz returned to his corner distressed and worried. His seconds worked hard during the rest, and he answered the bell in good physical shape, but the smile was gone. Seventh Round. — Both men sparred cautiously for a time. Then Fitz let go right and left at Corbett, but Corbett stepped in close, avoiding the blows. Both thenscored with lefts. Fitz seemed to have lost strength, and Corbett had no trouble in throwing him about in the two clinches that followed. Both swung lefts, but neither scored, standing off looking at each other for some moments. Corbett sent out his right straight from the shoulder, landing on Fitz’ nasal organ, again bringing blood. Fitz was desperate, and tried to connect Corbett’s jaw with his right, but failed. On the next try, however, he succeeded in landing his right on the jaw. Fitz continued rushing wildly, and Corbett found no difficulty in keeping out of range. Corbett’s generalship was superb, and elicited rousing applause. Corbett went to his corner smiling, while Fitz looked worried and tired.

Eighth Round. — They answered the bell promptly, Corbett looking the fresher. Feinting for a moment resulted in a clinch. On the breakaway Corbett scored with the right on the lower lip, splitting it and drawing blood. Fitz then took a hand at forcing matters, and did some rushing, trying hard but unsuccessfully to land an effective blow. Corbett tried with the left for the jaw, but fell short, and Fitz’ glove grazed his vital point. Fitz’ next lead went wide of the mark, and Jim countered with the left heavily on the jaw, making Fitz’ head rock. Both scored lightly with the left, and then swung right and left for the head, but Corbett escaped. As the bell sounded Corbett shot his left straight from the shoulder flush on Fitz’ lip, drawing the blood freely.

Ninth Round. —They came out of the corner in good form and sparred, feinting for a moment. Then Corbett shot out his left, landing lightly on the jaw, and quickly followed with a blow from the same member on the body, making Fitz jump. A moment later he did the same. In the next exchange Fitz landed a hard right on Corbett’s shoulder, causing the Californian to careen towards the ropes. He also planted a hard left on Corbett’s shoulder. Fitz again tried for the jaw, but fell short. He was not discouraged, and again tried for the jaw, but fell short. Again he tried for the same point, scoring heavily and staggering Corbett. Charley White shouted to Corbett to look out for Fitz’s left, and Corbett shook his head, meaning, “ I’m watching him.” Fitz had the best of the fighting in this round.

Tenth Round.—When time was called Fitz seemed refreshed and confident, and was the aggressor, leading off with a left, swing fashion, but missing, losing his balance and falling on the ropes. It was a good opportunity for Corbett to score, but he was not quick enough, although he landed a right on Fitz’s neck before the latter fully recovered his feet. Both rushed, Corbett missing and Fitz landing with a hard left on the jaw. In the next rally Corbett scored twice on the mouth with his left, bringing a fresh supply of blood. His success encouraged him and he promptly came back at Fitz with a mild righthander on the jaw, quickly following it with a left on the jaw. Fitz’s blows did not seem to concern Corbett much, for he kept punching away on Fitz’s mouth. Corbett’s next lead fell short and he clinched, rushing Bob to the ropes. At that Colville shouted to Abe Levy across the ring, “ Easy work for Jim I ” “ You bet! ” said Levy.

Eleventh Round. —Corbett was the fresher at the call but Fitz was willing and repeatedly rushed with varying success. Corbett landed two clean lefts on the jaw and mouth. In the

next raliy Fitz tried nobly to place his right on Corbett’s jaw, but Jim skillfully stopped all blows with his arm. In a subsequent clinch Fitz came within an ace of scoring heavily with his right for an uppercut. As it was the blow grazed Corbett’s jaw. Fitz kept up his aggressive tactics, scoring a left straight twice on the mouth and once with the same member on the jaw< Corbett seemed satisfied to allow Fitz to hit him, perhaps with the idea of disabusing Fitz’s mind of the theory that he couldn’t stand punishment. At any rate, he did not make what might be termed an effort to counter Fitz’s leads. Twelfth Round. —Fitzsimmons came out on the run, promptly swung for the jaw, missed, lost his balance and fell against the ropes, again giving Corbett an opportunity to place his right on the jaw, but he wasn’t quick enough. Fitzsimmons continued rushing and failed to land, Corbett countering some on Fitz’s bloody mouth. Light sparring was followed by Corbett forcing Fitzsimmons to the ropes and landing a right on the jaw, Fitzsimmons sparring at long range and threatening to shoot his right for Corbett’s jaw. Corbett then smashed Fitzsimmons three times hard over the right eye, scratching the Australian. Once Fitzsimmons dropped both hands and Corbett made a vicious attempt to score with his right, uppercut style, on the Australian’s chin, but missed by quite a large margin. Corbett seemed the fresher of the two at the end of the round.

Thirteenth Round. —The men came together on the first exchange, each scoring with a left on the jaw. Fitz, still the aggressor, chased the Californian around the ring, swinging hard with both hands. Corbett showed excellent generalship, skilfully dodging, side-stepping or stopping blows with the arms. Corbett then landed lightly with his left on the body and made a right swing, but missed. Fitz, after a breakaway, retreated towards his corner and dropped both hands. Corbett attempted to land a knock-out blow, but failed. Coming to the centre again, Fitz landed his left forcibly twice on the mouth. Later Corbett hit the Australian five times in succession on nose and month, bringing blood on each occasion. When they retired to their corners Fitz’s face was covered with blood, while Corbett was unmarked. Fourteenth Round.—Corbett led first, shooting out a left, but was short. His next effort met with better results. The blow landed hard on Fitz’s damaged nose. This he followed with another left on the same point. The blows seemed to nettle Fitz, and he promptly came back at Jim, scoring with force on the jaw and following it with two left swings on Corbett’s jaw. He followed up the advantage just gained cleverly. Rushing viciously at Corbett, he planted his left with fearful force in the pit of the stomach and followed it with a right over the heart. Corbett placed his hand over his body, and, with an expression of agony on his face, sank writhing in pain to the floor. There were some cries of foul, but the blow was a perfectly fair one. It doubled Corbett up completely, and from that moment his claims to the title of champion pugilist of the world ceased to exist. After an effort that was pitiful in the extreme, Corbett finally struggled to his feet, and in a dazed sort of way made his way to the north-west corner and wanted to go on with the fight, but Fitz laughed at him and friends separated them. Later Corbett’s seconds made a claim of foul, which the referee refused to allow. I showed, my description of the knock-out blows to Siler immediately after the fight, and he said, “ That is just the way it happened. There was no foul. The blows were perfectly fair.” The time of the lound was one minute and forty-five seconds.