For many years some of the biggest fights have taken place in Las Vegas
"Boxing Capital of The World" and home to the best casinos. Tyson vs. Bruno, Bowe
vs. Holyfield and Corrales vs. Castillo just to mention a few. However,
boxing in Nevada is far from a new thing. In fact the first match was held
over a century ago.
The First Real Fight - James J Corbett vs. Bob
Fitzsimmons
When Nevada legalized boxing in 1897, promoters were no longer forced to
call the games athletic contests, exhibitions or carnivals. Instead they
could promote the title fight between Fitzsimmons and Corbett using its
real name a boxing match.
On March 17, challenger Fitzsimmons (Fighting Blacksmith) and champion
Corbett (Gentleman Jim) stepped into the ring.
Bob Fitzsimmons
Fitzsimons hailed from Heston, Cornwall in England but at the age of
nine he and his family (parents plus 11 brothers and sisters) emigrated to
New Zealand. There he slowly started his boxing career, but it wasn,t
until he moved to Australia he began boxing professionally.
Moving on to the United States in the early 1880s, Fitzsimmons fought
and stole the middle weight champion title from Jack Dempsy. He also
managed to beat Jim Hall and Tom Sharkey before he went to fight for the
heavy-weight title in Las Vegas.
James J Corbett
Rumours said that Corbett was a well educated young man, but in fact he
never went beyond grammar school. He had a scientific approach to boxing,
however, and is called the "Father of Modern Boxing." Prior to the fight
against Fitzsimons, this San Francisco son was mostly famous for beating
the great John L. Sullivan although he had won a number of bouts.
The Fight
So, how did the first "legal" legal fight in Las Vegas end?
Watch the video below to find out.
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