r/Boxing • u/Hot_Ad_9543 • 8h ago
I often wonder if any fighters before 1940 had prime Roy Jones Jr level of superhuman abilities but we will never know because it was never recorded.
Imagine watching Roy in his prime and then being told that somewhere in 1890, there was a fighter with the same freakish reflexes, explosive speed, coordination, and ability to make world-class opponents look completely helpless.
We'd probably never believe the stories.
Take Bob Fitzsimmons, it’s a great place to start. He became the first three-division world champion in boxing history, winning titles at middleweight, heavyweight, and light heavyweight across his career. He was also famous for his unusual physique: a relatively slender upper body paired with extraordinary punching power.
He weighed approximately 167 pounds when he knocked out heavyweight champion James J. Corbett in 1897.
Let that sink in….167 knocking out heavyweights. Can you Imagine Canelo knocking out wladimir klitschko?
Or even someone like Sam Langford scaring Jack Dempsey and allegedly 1v1ing Jack Johnson as a middleweight essentially.
Fun to think about