Robert James Fitzsimmons was a British professional boxer who was the sport's first

Robert James Fitzsimmons was a British professional boxer who was the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating Gentleman Jim Corbett (the man who beat John L. Sullivan), and he is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the lightest heavyweight champion, weighing just 165 pounds when he won the title. Nicknamed Ruby Robert and The Freckled Wonder, he took pride in his lack of scars and appeared in the ring wearing heavy woollen underwear to conceal the disparity between his trunk and leg-development.

Considered one of the hardest punchers in boxing history, Fitzsimmons is ranked as No. 8 on The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

EARLY LIFE
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, where his mother came from, in order for his father to find work as a policeman. Fitzsimmons received his early education at the National school in Helston. In 1873, the family moved again; James, Jane and their youngest five children sailed on the Adamant for the 93-day journey to Lyttelton, New Zealand.

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.

AMATEUR CAREER
In the early 1880s Jem Mace, an English bare-knuckle boxer, travelled to New Zealand, and Timaru hosted both his boxing school, and the first boxing championships held in New Zealand. Fitzsimmons entered the tournament and knocked out four opponents on his way to winning the competition. He successfully defended his title in the subsequent competition. During one of these tournaments, it is often suggested that Fitzsimmons defeated Herbert Slade, a professional heavyweight boxer who was touring with Mace, but Slade was touted as being undefeated in 1883, and it is possible that it was Slade's brother that Fitzsimmons beat. After these tournaments, Fitzsimmons boxed at least six times in New Zealand, including some bare knuckle bouts, but it is unclear if he received payment for his fights during this time.

LINK TO ARTICLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Fitzsimmons

TAGS: Bob Fitzsimmons, World middleweight boxing champions, New Zealand world boxing champions, World heavyweight boxing champions, World boxing champions, People from Helston, People associated with physical culture, New Zealand people of English descent, New Zealand emigrants to the United States, New Zealand male boxers, Middleweight boxers, Light-heavyweight boxers, International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees, Heavyweight boxers, English people of Irish descent, English male boxers, British emigrants to the United States, American people of Cornish descent, New Zealand people of Cornish descent, British emigrants to New Zealand, Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago), Bare-knuckle boxers, 19th-century British people

#GeneralKnowledge #AudibleWikiFactory #Audible #Wikipedia #BobFitzsimmons