BoxRec

Warsaw Daily Times
Nov. 26th, 1903

"The fight did not please the spectators, and the men in the ring were frequently hissed when they went through a round without apparently trying to fight. Referee Eddie Graney said that it was the worst fight he ever saw. He was forced to give the decision to Fitzsimmons because the latter scored the knockdowns. It was apparent that neither man was qualified to claim championship honors."

Most newspapers stated the same thing and said that Gardner, known as a hard hitter and very aggressive, was lacking aggression and was throwing light blows.

Why would he throw light blows?

Any mob connections?

I think its safe to assume that everyone has an 'off-night' now and then. This was an era when men fought 100-300 times in a career plus exhibitions. Getting burnt out was more than likely. Then again, Gardner never had faced a man like Fitzsimmons before either, and you have to figure maybe Fitzsimmons simply didn't give Gardner the time of day to get set and throw proper punches. Despite popular thought that Fitz was a banger (and he was, a p4p all time hitter) he was also a world class boxer-tactician. It was, in a sense, the last great performance of his career, as he would lose the championship not long after this, though he would continue boxing for many years after.

I just feel Fitz is overrated too often. His fans seem to think he was toying with George; but Fitz claimed he broke a knuckle, which sounds like a typical excuse of a fighter for not finishing his opponent.

I think it was an off night for George Gardner, because he was always very aggressive. And Fitzsimmons, I think just showed he could still be dominant at 40 years old.

Gardner was the first man to beat and knockout 40 - 0 Jack Root; he defeated Joe Walcott in 20 rounds in a rematch while the "Barbados Demon" was the reigning World Welterweight Champion;
and at 155 pounds, George Gardner went 20 rounds with 185 - pound "Galveston Giant" Jack Johnson, who was better than Fitzsimmons.

Gardner walked around at about 168, while Fitz was walking around at 200 pounds and cut down, so he was larger, although Gardner looked larger.

I think George Gardner was a middleweight, and would even hold world titles in today's world of 98 boxing champions.

Newspapers even said he weighed in at 165 and had to get up to 168 pounds to fight at light heavyweight.

coreygardner wrote:I think George Gardner was a middleweight, and would even hold world titles in today's world of 98 boxing champions.

I have absolutely no doubt that Gardner would be a title holder now, and would probably lay claim to multiple titles in several divisions.