(Large here – I’m back, married, tan, but a little beleaguered at the moment. I’ll be back in the No Mas hunt in the next few days… haven’t seen that Winky/Bernard fight, very curious about that… but until I have my feet under me, I thought I’d run a few Classic No Mas pieces, starting with this one from last July)

July 25th, 1902. James J. Jeffries, The Boilermaker, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, fights Ruby Robert Fitzsimmons in a much-anticipated rematch at the Arena in San Francisco. They touch gloves, and it’s on.

Jeffries, a Goliath of a man, had won the heavyweight title from Fitzsimmons three years prior, developing what became known as the Crouch to counter Bob’s lanky, long-armed left hook. It worked like a charm. He finished Fitz in the eleventh of a bout scheduled for twenty.

Three years later, Fitzsimmons, a fiery Cornishman, was out for revenge. Rumors abounded before the bout that Fitz planned to fill his gloves with Plaster of Paris. “Let him do it,” Jeffries replied. “I’ll flatten him anyway.”

In retrospect, such confidence was understandable. Jeffries went into the fight a solid 219 pounds of muscle, while The Ruby One weighed in at 172, which was heavy by his standards.

Still, Fitz gave a good account of himself, fighting with fury in the earlygoing of what was a surprisingly bloody affair. Neither man much cared for the other. Fitz in particular loathed Jeffries and yearned to regain the title that he had taken from Gentleman Jim Corbett back in 1897.

But it was not to be. Jeff was too big, too strong. He had his way in the middle rounds before unceremoniously disposing of Fitzsimmons in the eighth.

Ruby Robert would continue fighting until 1914, winning the light heavyweight title and, towards the end, the much sought-after Australian heavyweight crown. Meanwhile, Jeffries had only two more bouts in his prime, retiring undefeated before his comeback in 1910, at the age of 37, to try and unseat Jack Johnson for the honor of the white race.

But that’s another story.