WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.200 OK, so let's unpack this. We often have this 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:07.040 this very specific mental model of progress, 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:09.519 right? Right. Whether we're talking about technology 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:12.439 or evolution or sports history, we tend to visualize 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:16.219 it as this smooth upward sloping line. Oh, absolutely. 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:18.539 The linear progression myth, the idea that things 00:00:18.539 --> 00:00:22.379 just naturally get a little faster and a little 00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:24.500 stronger and a little more organized every single 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:27.300 year. Exactly. It feels inevitable. Like, of 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:28.980 course, athletes today are better than athletes 00:00:28.980 --> 00:00:31.179 in 1950. and they were better than athletes in 00:00:31.179 --> 00:00:33.420 1900. But when I was going through the stack 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:35.420 of notes and records you sent over for today's 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:38.219 deep dive, I realized that model is actually 00:00:38.219 --> 00:00:41.640 kind of broken. Yes. History isn't a ramp, it's 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:44.619 a staircase. That is a much better analogy. And 00:00:44.619 --> 00:00:46.899 sometimes you hit a step that is so steep, a 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:50.259 vertical cliff face really, that the world before 00:00:50.259 --> 00:00:52.200 that step and the world after it look like two 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:54.259 completely different planets. We call those pivot 00:00:54.259 --> 00:00:56.359 points. And in the history of combat sports, 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:59.219 specifically the sweet science of boxing, that 00:00:59.219 --> 00:01:02.479 pivot point has a name, James J. Corbett. The 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:06.019 man who basically single -handedly dragged prize 00:01:06.019 --> 00:01:09.140 fighting out of the dark ages. We're talking 00:01:09.140 --> 00:01:13.400 about a figure who is fundamentally the dividing 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:15.939 line. Before Corbett, you have bare -knuckle 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:19.219 brawling, which was, well, it was barely distinguishable 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:21.420 from a street fight after Corbett. You have modern 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:23.480 professional athletics. But here is the thing 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:25.239 that I'm struggling to wrap my head around, and 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:27.319 I want to get into this right away. When you 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:30.159 look at the hard men of the 1880s, the guys fighting 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:32.959 on the docks in the back rooms of saloons, they 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:35.280 are terrifying figures. They are scarred. They 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:37.799 are missing teeth. They are literal thugs. And 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:40.400 then you have Corbett. He's a bank clerk. A bank 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:43.140 clerk who wore custom -tailored suits and pomaded 00:01:43.140 --> 00:01:46.079 his hair. Exactly. So the mission for this deep 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:47.900 dive is pretty specific. We want to figure out 00:01:47.900 --> 00:01:52.049 how a bank clerk from San Francisco who wanted 00:01:52.049 --> 00:01:53.890 to be a Shakespearean actor and was rumored to 00:01:53.890 --> 00:01:56.349 have a college education, managed to walk into 00:01:56.349 --> 00:01:59.569 the most brutal environment on earth, beat the 00:01:59.569 --> 00:02:01.989 toughest men on the planet, and invent the modern 00:02:01.989 --> 00:02:04.469 athlete in the process. It is a massive paradox, 00:02:04.609 --> 00:02:06.689 isn't it? It really is. We're going to break 00:02:06.689 --> 00:02:09.009 down the specific science he invented. We're 00:02:09.009 --> 00:02:11.349 going to look at how he became the first sex 00:02:11.349 --> 00:02:13.930 symbol in sports history, which is a wild story 00:02:13.930 --> 00:02:16.930 on its own. And we're going to dissect the specific 00:02:16.930 --> 00:02:19.180 physiological vulnerability. that eventually 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.020 brought him down. And just to set the table for 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:23.020 everyone listening, we are basing this deep dive 00:02:23.020 --> 00:02:26.060 on a really comprehensive collection of biographical 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:29.159 records, fight histories from the late 19th and 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:31.539 early 20th centuries and cultural notes spanning 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:36.419 his entire life from 1866 to 1933. So let's dive 00:02:36.419 --> 00:02:39.360 right into the origin story. Because gentlemen, 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:41.620 Jim wasn't just a clever marketing nickname, 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:44.400 was it? No, not at all. And I think to understand 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.240 Corbett, you really have to understand the world 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:48.689 he was born into. James John Corbett was born 00:02:48.689 --> 00:02:51.909 in San Francisco in 1866. His father, Patrick 00:02:51.909 --> 00:02:54.189 Corbett, was an immigrant from County Mayo, Ireland. 00:02:54.330 --> 00:02:56.710 And if mother had Scottish ancestry. Right. Now 00:02:56.710 --> 00:02:58.909 typically, the Irish immigrant boxer profile 00:02:58.909 --> 00:03:01.949 of the 1880s is a very specific trope. It usually 00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:04.289 involves extreme poverty, growing up in the slums, 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:06.750 fighting in the streets for scraps of food. I 00:03:06.750 --> 00:03:08.770 mean, you fought because you had literally no 00:03:08.770 --> 00:03:10.909 other economic option. It was fight or star. 00:03:11.069 --> 00:03:13.939 But that wasn't Corbett's life. Not even close. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.919 And this is the first major deviation. Corbett's 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:19.199 family was stable. He didn't drop out of school 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:21.400 to work in a coal mine. He actually graduated 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:23.479 from Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:25.680 And the notes mentioned there were persistent 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:28.020 rumors that he even had a college education. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:31.180 Which, honestly, in the boxing world of the 1880s 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:33.969 would make him a unicorn. Whether he officially 00:03:33.969 --> 00:03:37.050 finished college or not is debated, but he was 00:03:37.050 --> 00:03:40.990 highly educated. He was articulate. He read literature. 00:03:41.530 --> 00:03:43.430 And as you mentioned, he had a legitimate day 00:03:43.430 --> 00:03:46.370 job. The Nevada bank. He worked as a clerk at 00:03:46.370 --> 00:03:48.740 the Nevada bank in San Francisco. I want you 00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:51.120 to really picture this context. Imagine walking 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:53.379 into your local bank branch today. You're there 00:03:53.379 --> 00:03:55.620 to make a deposit. The guy behind the counter 00:03:55.620 --> 00:03:57.759 is polite. He's well dressed. He's good with 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:00.460 numbers. And unbeknownst to you, that same guy 00:04:00.460 --> 00:04:03.280 is arguably the most dangerous unarmed combatant 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:05.759 on the North American continent. It just doesn't 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:08.500 compute with the stereotype. It creates a cognitive 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:11.039 dissonance. And that dissonance is the absolute 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.840 key to his gentleman persona. You have to remember, 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:16.199 in the late 19th century, Prize fighting was 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:19.480 illegal in 21 states. Illegal. Completely. It 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:22.540 was a vice crime. It was categorized right alongside 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:24.939 prostitution, gambling, syndicates, and public 00:04:24.939 --> 00:04:27.800 disorder. If you were a boxer, you weren't considered 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:30.579 an athlete in the modern sense. You were viewed 00:04:30.579 --> 00:04:34.839 as a criminal, a thug. Respectable society simply 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.199 did not associate with prize fighters. So how 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:40.459 does a respectable bank clerk who quotes Shakespeare 00:04:40.459 --> 00:04:43.480 get pulled into a criminal underworld? The Olympic 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:45.480 Club in San Francisco. This is a crucial piece 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.300 of the puzzle. San Francisco in the 1880s was 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:50.860 a unique ecosystem. It was the tail end of the 00:04:50.860 --> 00:04:52.480 Wild West meeting, the beginning of the Gilded 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.360 Age. You had these high society athletic clubs 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:58.220 where wealthy men, captains of industry, wanted 00:04:58.220 --> 00:05:00.759 to learn the manly art of self -defense. But 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:02.379 they obviously didn't want to get their noses 00:05:02.379 --> 00:05:05.279 broken by a dock worker. Exactly. They wanted 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.639 a sparring partner who could teach them, who 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:09.420 could push them physically, but who knew how 00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:11.439 to behave in a locker room full of gentlemen. 00:05:12.299 --> 00:05:14.779 Corbett bridged that gap perfectly. He could 00:05:14.779 --> 00:05:16.899 move in high society because of his manners and 00:05:16.899 --> 00:05:20.180 his job, but he could fight like a demon. So 00:05:20.180 --> 00:05:22.699 he was essentially living a double life. In a 00:05:22.699 --> 00:05:25.680 way, yes. He was Gentleman Jim, not just because 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.740 he dressed well, but because his entire demeanor 00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:31.779 was a rejection of the brute stereotype. He was 00:05:31.779 --> 00:05:34.540 bringing class to a sport that had absolutely 00:05:34.540 --> 00:05:36.819 none. But being polite and having high school 00:05:36.819 --> 00:05:39.560 diploma doesn't win fights. If anything, I'd 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:41.420 assume the actual thugs would want to tear him 00:05:41.420 --> 00:05:44.220 apart even more. Oh, they absolutely did. Which 00:05:44.220 --> 00:05:46.720 brings us to the scientific approach. The notes 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:49.379 keep referencing this term, scientific boxing. 00:05:49.610 --> 00:05:52.649 To a modern ear, that sounds like marketing buzzwords. 00:05:53.089 --> 00:05:55.250 Like a shoe company trying to sell you scientific 00:05:55.250 --> 00:05:57.970 souls. What does it actually mean in the context 00:05:57.970 --> 00:06:00.430 of 1890? To understand the solution, you have 00:06:00.430 --> 00:06:02.670 to understand the problem. Before Corbett Boxing 00:06:02.670 --> 00:06:05.290 was largely a contest of attrition, it was the 00:06:05.290 --> 00:06:08.050 stand and bang era. Walk me through that. Picture 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:10.750 two men. They stand in the center of the ring, 00:06:11.009 --> 00:06:13.350 often toeing the scratch, which was literally 00:06:13.350 --> 00:06:16.209 a line drawn in the dirt. They plant their feet. 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:19.759 And they trade blows. Just taking turns hitting 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:21.899 each other. Essentially. The defense was minimal. 00:06:22.339 --> 00:06:25.120 Parrying maybe. But mostly the strategy was, 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:27.459 I am going to hit you and I am tough enough to 00:06:27.459 --> 00:06:30.360 take whatever you hit me with. It was about who 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:32.300 had the thicker skull, the harder punch, and 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:35.040 the higher pain tolerance. It was a test of durability, 00:06:35.220 --> 00:06:38.319 not skill. So the strategy was just endure. Precision 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.339 was nonexistent. Footwork was nonexistent. Corbett 00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:43.379 looked at this and realized something fundamental. 00:06:43.899 --> 00:06:46.379 The human head is a heavy object, and the neck 00:06:46.379 --> 00:06:49.019 is a pivot point. If you move your feet, the 00:06:49.019 --> 00:06:51.079 target moves. That seems incredibly obvious. 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:53.379 To us. Living in the post -Corbett world, it 00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:55.300 seems like common sense. But back then, it was 00:06:55.300 --> 00:06:58.420 revolutionary. Corbett didn't just decide to 00:06:58.420 --> 00:07:01.269 move. He treated the ring like a geometry problem. 00:07:01.889 --> 00:07:04.029 He realized that if he stepped six inches to 00:07:04.029 --> 00:07:06.509 the left, his opponent's right hand physically 00:07:06.509 --> 00:07:08.370 couldn't reach him without the opponent resetting 00:07:08.370 --> 00:07:10.670 his feet. He was hacking the system. He was. 00:07:10.930 --> 00:07:13.730 He prioritized technique, speed, and tactical 00:07:13.730 --> 00:07:17.050 methods over sheer power. He wanted to hit without 00:07:17.050 --> 00:07:19.550 getting hit. Which I imagine the old guard hated. 00:07:19.790 --> 00:07:22.750 They despised it. They called it running. They 00:07:22.750 --> 00:07:25.149 called it cowardly. They said, stand and fight 00:07:25.149 --> 00:07:28.120 like a man. But Corbett argued it was intelligence. 00:07:28.699 --> 00:07:31.819 He utilized the jab a punch that was barely used 00:07:31.819 --> 00:07:33.939 as an offensive weapon at the time. Wait, the 00:07:33.939 --> 00:07:36.680 jab wasn't used. That's Boxing 101. In the bare 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:39.040 -knuckle and early -gloved era, the jab was seen 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:41.740 as a weak nuisance. You wanted to throw the power 00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:44.540 hand. Corbett realized that the jab could be 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:46.980 a range -finder. It could be a disruption tool. 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:49.560 He could snap your head back, blind you for a 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:51.620 split second, and then circle away before you 00:07:51.620 --> 00:07:54.060 could retaliate. But here's the catch. You can't 00:07:54.060 --> 00:07:56.259 just decide to dance around a ring for 40 rounds. 00:07:56.660 --> 00:07:58.680 That takes a completely different kind of energy 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:01.079 than just standing still and absorbing punches. 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:03.259 And that is the second pillar of his legacy, 00:08:03.660 --> 00:08:05.879 the training camp. I saw the list of his daily 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:08.360 routine in the notes. Road work, calisthenics, 00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:10.779 bag work, sparring drills. It looks like a modern 00:08:10.779 --> 00:08:14.319 CrossFit schedule or a serious MMA camp. It looks 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:16.379 normal to us. That's the point. Before Corbett 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:18.560 training for a championship fight was loose. 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:21.279 How loose? A fighter might go chop some wood 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:23.540 for manual labor strength. They might do a little 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:26.519 bit of sparring. They would probably stop drinking 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:29.839 whiskey maybe a week before the fight. That was 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:32.159 about it. So the bar was low. The bar was on 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:34.919 the floor. Corbett introduced a strict regimen. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:37.580 He treated his body like a machine that needed 00:08:37.580 --> 00:08:40.700 specific inputs to get specific outputs. Talk 00:08:40.700 --> 00:08:43.360 to me about road work. He ran miles every morning. 00:08:43.610 --> 00:08:46.830 This was about building aerobic capacity. He 00:08:46.830 --> 00:08:48.889 realized that if he wanted to be a scientific 00:08:48.889 --> 00:08:51.250 boxer who moved constantly dancing, circling, 00:08:51.429 --> 00:08:54.110 fainting, he needed an engine that wouldn't quit. 00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:57.450 He needed cardiovascular endurance that the stand 00:08:57.450 --> 00:09:00.850 and bang guys simply didn't possess. He was professionalizing 00:09:00.850 --> 00:09:02.830 the preparation. He was the first athlete to 00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:04.990 treat his sport as a full -time job requiring 00:09:04.990 --> 00:09:07.929 24 -hour discipline. If you see a modern boxer 00:09:07.929 --> 00:09:10.350 running five miles at 5 a .m. wearing a hoodie 00:09:10.350 --> 00:09:12.830 sweating it out, they are walking in Corbett's 00:09:12.830 --> 00:09:15.169 footsteps. That structure comes directly from 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:17.490 him. Okay, so he has the theory. He has the fitness. 00:09:18.129 --> 00:09:20.070 But theories are great until you get punched 00:09:20.070 --> 00:09:22.230 in the face. Yeah. He needs to prove it works 00:09:22.230 --> 00:09:25.200 against a real killer. And looking at the record, 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:27.779 the first real test, the one that really matters, 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:31.700 is Peter Jackson in 1891. The Black Prince Peter 00:09:31.700 --> 00:09:34.159 Jackson. This is one of the great what -ifs and 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:36.539 tragedies of boxing history. By tragedy. Because 00:09:36.539 --> 00:09:39.240 Jackson was a phenomenal fighter. He was technical, 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:42.059 he was strong, he was brilliant. In the eyes 00:09:42.059 --> 00:09:44.559 of many experts of the day, he was the true... 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:47.899 best fighter in the world. But the champion, 00:09:48.179 --> 00:09:51.240 John L. Sullivan, drew the color line. He refused 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:53.820 to fight a black man. Sullivan openly refused 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:56.179 to defend the title against black challengers. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:59.080 So Jackson was the uncrowned king. He was the 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:01.039 guy that everyone knew was dangerous, but the 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:03.240 system locked him out. And Corbett steps up. 00:10:03.289 --> 00:10:05.610 Corbett steps up. Now think about the risk and 00:10:05.610 --> 00:10:08.129 reward here. Fighting Jackson was incredibly 00:10:08.129 --> 00:10:10.570 dangerous. Jackson was avoided by the champ for 00:10:10.570 --> 00:10:12.950 a reason. If Corbett loses, he's just another 00:10:12.950 --> 00:10:15.169 guy. But Corbett didn't care about the color 00:10:15.169 --> 00:10:17.250 line he cared about, proving he was the best. 00:10:17.490 --> 00:10:19.110 They were crosstown rivals in San Francisco, 00:10:19.289 --> 00:10:22.110 right? Both were instructors at prestigious athletic 00:10:22.110 --> 00:10:25.149 clubs. So this started as a battle for local 00:10:25.149 --> 00:10:27.190 dominance in the Bay Area, but it turned into 00:10:27.190 --> 00:10:31.009 an absolute marathon. The record says no contest. 00:10:31.909 --> 00:10:35.710 But then I look at the duration. Sixty -one rounds. 00:10:36.090 --> 00:10:39.149 Sixty -one rounds. Stop. How is that physically 00:10:39.149 --> 00:10:41.950 possible? It's barely possible. We are talking 00:10:41.950 --> 00:10:45.029 about four hours of combat. Four hours? I can't 00:10:45.029 --> 00:10:46.889 even watch a movie for four hours without getting 00:10:46.889 --> 00:10:49.129 restless. Imagine fighting for your life for 00:10:49.129 --> 00:10:52.370 four hours. By the end, both men were essentially 00:10:52.370 --> 00:10:54.730 zombies. Their arms were heavy as lead. They 00:10:54.730 --> 00:10:56.649 could barely lift them to defend themselves. 00:10:57.119 --> 00:10:59.879 The referee finally called it a no contest, not 00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:01.799 because of a rule violation, but because the 00:11:01.799 --> 00:11:04.440 men were simply too exhausted to continue effectively. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:06.740 It was a stalemate. But for Corbett, this was 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:09.279 a massive victory. How so? Because he had gone 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:11.960 61 rounds with the boogeyman. He had stood toe 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:13.860 to toe with Peter Jackson, the man the great 00:11:13.860 --> 00:11:16.120 John L. Sullivan was afraid of, and he hadn't 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:18.759 cracked. It proved that the pretty boy from the 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:21.700 bank was made of iron. It validated the gas tank. 00:11:21.870 --> 00:11:24.470 It validated everything. It proved his stamina, 00:11:24.690 --> 00:11:27.509 his toughness and his chin. And suddenly there 00:11:27.509 --> 00:11:29.929 was a massive national demand. The public said, 00:11:30.429 --> 00:11:33.230 we need to see this guy fight Sullivan. And Sullivan 00:11:33.230 --> 00:11:35.409 was the legend. Sullivan was larger than life. 00:11:35.450 --> 00:11:38.210 The Boston strong boy. He was the first American 00:11:38.210 --> 00:11:41.570 sports superstar. He was famous in a way that 00:11:41.570 --> 00:11:44.509 people hadn't been famous before. But by 1892, 00:11:44.509 --> 00:11:46.710 he was getting older. He was getting heavier 00:11:46.710 --> 00:11:49.250 and he was reluctant. But the money was there. 00:11:49.490 --> 00:11:51.549 The money and the pressure. So the date was set. 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:55.820 September 7, 1892, the Olympic Club in New Orleans. 00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:58.100 New Orleans. I could only imagine the atmosphere. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.659 It was electric. And we have to mention the rules 00:12:00.659 --> 00:12:03.179 again. This was the first heavyweight championship 00:12:03.179 --> 00:12:05.279 fight fought under the Marquess of Queensberry 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:08.179 rules. Meaning gloves. Gloves. Now, I want to 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:10.879 clarify a common misconception here. People often 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:12.799 think gloves were introduced to make the sport 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:15.360 safer. Right. Padding for the head. Incorrect. 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:17.679 Gloves were introduced to protect the hands. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.980 In bare -knuckle boxing, you cannot hit someone 00:12:20.980 --> 00:12:23.720 in the forehead with full force because the human 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:26.259 skull is harder than the human hand. You will 00:12:26.259 --> 00:12:28.519 break your metacarpals. So bare -knuckle fights 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:31.820 were often slower with more body shots. So gloves 00:12:31.820 --> 00:12:34.679 actually allow you to punch harder. Gloves allow 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:36.940 you to punch the head with full force without 00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:39.480 shattering your hand. This transition favored 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:42.259 Corbett. It favored volume striking. It favored 00:12:42.259 --> 00:12:44.779 the science. The notes mentioned something really 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:46.879 interesting about the buildup. Corbett actually 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:50.090 sparred with Sullivan beforehand. A massive tactical 00:12:50.090 --> 00:12:52.470 error by Sullivan. They did a short exhibition 00:12:52.470 --> 00:12:54.850 on a stage in San Francisco, just light sparring 00:12:54.850 --> 00:12:57.710 in tuxedos, essentially. But in those few minutes, 00:12:57.929 --> 00:13:00.230 Corbett realized something terrifyingly simple. 00:13:00.330 --> 00:13:02.230 Oh, was it? I can see everything he's doing. 00:13:02.490 --> 00:13:04.610 Sullivan was slow. He telegraphed his punches. 00:13:04.850 --> 00:13:07.330 He wound up before he threw. Corbett realized 00:13:07.330 --> 00:13:09.250 right then and there, I'm faster than him. I 00:13:09.250 --> 00:13:11.789 can beat him. So fast forward to the fight itself. 00:13:12.389 --> 00:13:14.610 Sullivan rushes him right. That was his style, 00:13:14.850 --> 00:13:17.899 the bull. He rushed him like a bull. Sullivan 00:13:17.899 --> 00:13:19.919 came out of his corner looking to take Corbett's 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.360 head off in the first minute. But Corbett didn't 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:25.080 stand there. He utilized that geometry we talked 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:28.740 about. He sidestepped. He fainted. A pop. A stiff 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:32.179 jab to the nose. And then he was gone. It must 00:13:32.179 --> 00:13:34.200 have been infuriating for Sullivan. Sullivan 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:37.000 was swinging at a ghost. He was throwing haymakers 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:39.600 that were hitting nothing but humid New Orleans 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:42.659 air. And every time he missed, he got tired. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.679 And every time he reset. Corbett popped him again. 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:49.700 He was mad adoring him. Perfectly. Round after 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:51.899 round, Sullivan was getting frustrated. He was 00:13:51.899 --> 00:13:54.779 bleeding and his energy was draining away. The 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:56.879 crowd, which had come to see Sullivan crush the 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:59.019 dandy, started to turn. They realized they were 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:01.379 watching a master class. And then the climax. 00:14:01.700 --> 00:14:04.830 Round 21. Sullivan is exhausted. He's standing 00:14:04.830 --> 00:14:08.389 on unsteady legs. Corbett unleashes a combination. 00:14:08.629 --> 00:14:10.909 Not a lucky punch, but a tactical rapid fire 00:14:10.909 --> 00:14:14.029 combination. Sullivan goes down. The giant falls. 00:14:14.309 --> 00:14:16.389 The Boston strong boy hit the canvas. And for 00:14:16.389 --> 00:14:18.009 the first time in his career, he couldn't get 00:14:18.009 --> 00:14:20.570 up. He was counted out. That moment, I mean, 00:14:20.690 --> 00:14:22.850 that's the birth of modern boxing history right 00:14:22.850 --> 00:14:25.789 there. It is. It's the birth of the man who beat 00:14:25.789 --> 00:14:28.769 the man lineage. You can trace the heavyweight 00:14:28.769 --> 00:14:32.429 championship in a direct unbroken line from Corbett's 00:14:32.429 --> 00:14:35.110 victory over Sullivan all the way to the champions 00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:38.769 of today like Usyk or Fury. It marked the definitive 00:14:38.769 --> 00:14:41.950 end of the brute force era. Tactical boxing had 00:14:41.950 --> 00:14:46.840 won. So Corbett is the champ. He's the man. But 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:48.679 looking at his record, he didn't actually defend 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:50.740 the title that much, did he? No. And this is 00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:52.179 where we have to look at the business of boxing 00:14:52.179 --> 00:14:55.399 in the 1890s. Corbett was a non -fighting champion 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:58.299 by today's standards. Why is that? Was he dodging 00:14:58.299 --> 00:15:00.220 people? Not necessarily. You have to remember 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:03.019 there were no boxing commissions. There was no 00:15:03.019 --> 00:15:05.480 governing body mandating a title defense every 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:08.419 six months. And again, the illegality. Arranging 00:15:08.419 --> 00:15:10.840 a fight was a logistical nightmare, a hit and 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:12.980 miss proposition. You had to find a state that 00:15:12.980 --> 00:15:14.879 would look the other way or build a secret arena 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:17.000 or bribe the local sheriff. Right, you couldn't 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:19.200 just book Madison Square Garden easily. Exactly. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.379 But there was another reason. Corbett viewed 00:15:21.379 --> 00:15:23.700 the championship differently. To him, the belt 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:26.500 was a promotional tool. For his acting. For his 00:15:26.500 --> 00:15:29.279 acting and his exhibitions. He made his real 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:32.429 money on the stage. Being the heavyweight champion 00:15:32.429 --> 00:15:34.389 of the world meant he could sell out theaters 00:15:34.389 --> 00:15:37.529 for his plays and his monologues So he was monetizing 00:15:37.529 --> 00:15:39.610 the title without getting punched precisely. 00:15:39.610 --> 00:15:42.250 He was a big money fighter He didn't want to 00:15:42.250 --> 00:15:44.769 risk the title in a dangerous fight for small 00:15:44.769 --> 00:15:47.710 change. He was maximizing his brand. He was the 00:15:47.710 --> 00:15:51.289 first modern brand. He was. And speaking of brand, 00:15:51.730 --> 00:15:53.789 this brings us to a really fascinating aspect 00:15:53.789 --> 00:15:56.710 of Corbett's life. He was arguably the first 00:15:56.710 --> 00:16:00.029 modern sports sex symbol. The notes say the catalyst 00:16:00.029 --> 00:16:02.919 for this was a movie. Yes. We'll get to the specific 00:16:02.919 --> 00:16:04.799 fight later, but generally, when film technology 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:07.320 emerged, it changed the demographics of the audience. 00:16:07.460 --> 00:16:09.940 How so? Well, before film, the only way to see 00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:12.519 a prize fight was to physically go to one. And 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:14.559 those venues were rough. They were smoky, full 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:17.960 of gambling, spitting, swearing men. No respectable 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:20.200 woman would be caught dead there. But a film? 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:24.440 A film could be shown in a theater. Or a kinetoscope 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:27.240 parlor. Women could go see that. And when they 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.230 saw Corbett? They liked what they saw. Corbett 00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:32.909 was handsome. He was athletic. He moved with 00:16:32.909 --> 00:16:35.909 grace. He wasn't a scarred up gargoyle like some 00:16:35.909 --> 00:16:38.850 of the other fighters. He popularized boxing 00:16:38.850 --> 00:16:41.230 with a female audience in a way that had never 00:16:41.230 --> 00:16:43.629 happened before. He really was a media pioneer. 00:16:43.929 --> 00:16:47.330 We see here that in 1894 he starred in Corbett 00:16:47.330 --> 00:16:50.070 and Courtney before the Kinetograph. Filmed at 00:16:50.070 --> 00:16:53.429 Thomas Edison's Black Maria studio. That is wild 00:16:53.429 --> 00:16:56.269 to think about. Thomas Edison the Wizard of Menlo 00:16:56.269 --> 00:16:59.029 Park filming the heavyweight champ. It was only 00:16:59.029 --> 00:17:01.870 the second boxing match ever recorded. Edison 00:17:01.870 --> 00:17:04.390 later called Corbett the oldest living film star. 00:17:04.809 --> 00:17:06.849 Corbett understood the power of the medium before 00:17:06.849 --> 00:17:09.569 almost anyone else. He was writing autobiographies 00:17:09.569 --> 00:17:11.589 like The Roar of the Crowd, which was serialized 00:17:11.589 --> 00:17:13.809 in the Saturday Evening Post. He was managing 00:17:13.809 --> 00:17:16.750 his image across multiple platforms, print stage, 00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:19.029 and this brand new thing called Motion Pictures. 00:17:19.269 --> 00:17:20.950 It's incredible. He's doing the 21st century 00:17:20.950 --> 00:17:24.630 athlete playbook in 1894. But as we know in sports, 00:17:24.910 --> 00:17:26.450 you can't stay the champ forever, especially 00:17:26.450 --> 00:17:28.890 if you rarely fight. Eventually, someone is going 00:17:28.890 --> 00:17:30.890 to catch you. Yeah. And that someone was Bob 00:17:30.890 --> 00:17:34.009 Fitzsimmons. Ruby Robert, the Cornishman. What 00:17:34.009 --> 00:17:37.170 a character. A fascinating contrast to Corbett. 00:17:37.329 --> 00:17:40.670 Fitzsimmons was a weird looking guy. He was balding. 00:17:40.930 --> 00:17:43.650 He had spindly little legs, but he had a torso 00:17:43.650 --> 00:17:46.829 like a barrel, an unparalleled punching power. 00:17:46.829 --> 00:17:50.230 And the dynamic here was intense. Fitzsimmons 00:17:50.230 --> 00:17:53.599 absolutely hated Corbett. Why? Just competitive 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:56.460 drive. It was personal. Corbett had a sharp tongue. 00:17:56.900 --> 00:17:59.299 He was the gentleman, but he could be very insulting 00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:02.339 publicly. He had mocked Fitzsimmons calling him 00:18:02.339 --> 00:18:05.400 a freak and making fun of his appearance. Fitzsimmons 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:08.579 held a deep burning grudge. So they meet in Carson 00:18:08.579 --> 00:18:13.299 City, Nevada. 1897. A legendary setting. A custom 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:15.460 arena built in the middle of nowhere to avoid 00:18:15.460 --> 00:18:17.480 legal trouble. And for the first half of the 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:19.519 fight, it looked like another Corbett master 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.140 class. It did. Corbett was faster. He was landing 00:18:22.140 --> 00:18:24.240 at will. He was cutting Fitzsimmons up. He even 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.059 knocked Fitzsimmons down in the sixth round. 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:28.160 It looked like the science was winning again. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:30.539 Fitzsimmons' face was a mess. He was bleeding 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:32.480 from the mouth and nose. But Fitzsimmons was 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.339 known for being tough. It was made of leather. 00:18:34.339 --> 00:18:37.000 He kept coming. And here is where we get one 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:38.859 of those moments that feels like a movie script. 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:41.480 but it's actually in the historical record. The 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.259 voice from the crowd. Yes. Fitzsimmons' wife, 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:47.400 Rose, was ringside. Which was unusual in itself, 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:50.599 right? Highly unusual. But she was there. And 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:53.339 she saw something. She saw that while Corbett 00:18:53.339 --> 00:18:55.799 was busy battering Bob's face, Corbett was keeping 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:58.799 his hands high. He was protecting his head, but 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:01.339 his body was completely open. So she yells out. 00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:04.880 She screams, hit him in the slats, Bob. The slats. 00:19:04.980 --> 00:19:07.880 Meaning the ribs, the abdominal area, the slats. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.359 And Bob listened. He adjusted his strategy immediately. 00:19:11.779 --> 00:19:14.839 He changed levels. He started digging hooks into 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:17.480 Corbett's stomach. Why is that so effective? 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:20.000 Because body shots are insidious. If you get 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:22.119 hit in the head, adrenaline can sometimes mask 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:24.480 the pain. You might be dazed, but you can keep 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:27.619 fighting on instinct. But body shots, they sap 00:19:27.619 --> 00:19:29.500 your energy. They take your legs away. It's like 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:32.259 a slow leak in a tire. The scientific corbit 00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:35.000 started to slow down. His movement became sluggish. 00:19:35.019 --> 00:19:37.900 He couldn't dance away as fast. The gas tank 00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:40.039 that saved him against Peter Jackson was being 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:42.579 drained by blunt force trauma to the ribs. And 00:19:42.579 --> 00:19:46.289 then came the 14th round? The solar plexus. Just 00:19:46.289 --> 00:19:48.569 the name of it sounds painful. Break that down 00:19:48.569 --> 00:19:51.509 for us. What actually happened? Fitzsimmons fainted 00:19:51.509 --> 00:19:53.990 a blow to the head. Corbett raised his guard 00:19:53.990 --> 00:19:56.869 to block it. This left the center of his body 00:19:56.869 --> 00:19:59.650 completely exposed. Fitzsimmons stepped in and 00:19:59.650 --> 00:20:02.849 drove a stiff left hand right into the pit of 00:20:02.849 --> 00:20:05.650 the stomach, the solar plexus. And physiologically 00:20:05.650 --> 00:20:08.720 what does that do? It's a dense cluster of nerves. 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:10.740 When you get hit there with that kind of force, 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:13.660 it shocks the system. It temporarily paralyzes 00:20:13.660 --> 00:20:15.799 the diaphragm. So you can't breathe. You are 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:18.279 suffocating. But here's the horror of it. You 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:20.799 are fully conscious. The source says Corbett 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:22.799 couldn't regain his feet. He was writhing on 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:25.240 the canvas. He was clawing at his chest. His 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:27.839 mind was screaming, get up, get up. But his legs 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:30.059 simply wouldn't obey. He watched the referee 00:20:30.059 --> 00:20:32.559 count him out. Over an hour and a half of fighting, 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:36.509 and it ends with one perfect body shot. It was 00:20:36.509 --> 00:20:39.509 the punch heard around the world. Corbett was 00:20:39.509 --> 00:20:41.390 devastated. He couldn't believe it. He thought 00:20:41.390 --> 00:20:43.130 it was a fluke. He thought he'd just overtrain 00:20:43.130 --> 00:20:45.630 and lost his stamina. He immediately offered 00:20:45.630 --> 00:20:48.730 a massive sum, $30 ,000, which is huge money 00:20:48.730 --> 00:20:52.069 in 1897 for a rematch. But Fitzsimmons said no. 00:20:52.349 --> 00:20:54.690 He refused. He said he would never fight Corbett 00:20:54.690 --> 00:20:58.230 again. That seems petty. It was vengeance. He 00:20:58.230 --> 00:21:00.289 knew it would torture Corbett to lose the title 00:21:00.289 --> 00:21:02.710 and never get a chance to win it back. He chose 00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:05.619 to fight James J. Jeffries instead. He denied 00:21:05.619 --> 00:21:08.460 Corbett the satisfaction. That has to burn. Losing 00:21:08.460 --> 00:21:10.380 your title and never getting the chance to win 00:21:10.380 --> 00:21:12.990 it back from the guy who beat you. It did. But 00:21:12.990 --> 00:21:15.349 that refusal by Fitzsimmons sets the stage for 00:21:15.349 --> 00:21:18.950 what many historians consider Corbett's masterpiece. 00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:22.069 Even though, well spoiler alert, it's a masterpiece 00:21:22.069 --> 00:21:24.630 in defeat. This is the fight against James J. 00:21:24.789 --> 00:21:27.789 Jeffreys in 1900. Right. So Fitzsimmons eventually 00:21:27.789 --> 00:21:30.349 loses the title to Jeffreys. Now we have to talk 00:21:30.349 --> 00:21:32.910 about Jeffreys. This guy was an absolute monster. 00:21:33.029 --> 00:21:36.930 Big. Huge. Strong. And ironically, he used to 00:21:36.930 --> 00:21:39.359 be Corbett's sparring partner. He learned the 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:41.700 trade from Corbett. He knew all of Corbett's 00:21:41.700 --> 00:21:45.319 tricks. And Corbett is now 34 years old. In boxing 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:48.180 years especially back then, that's ancient. He 00:21:48.180 --> 00:21:51.019 had been on the sidelines. He was semi -retired, 00:21:51.019 --> 00:21:53.160 but the hunger was still there. He challenges 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:55.680 the new champion. The fight is set for Coney 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:58.059 Island. The odds must have been massively against 00:21:58.059 --> 00:22:01.200 him. Heavily. Corbett was giving up size strength 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.900 and about 30 pounds in weight, plus the seven 00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:07.680 -year age gap. Jefferies was in his prime. Corbett 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.500 was the old man. Everyone expected Corbett to 00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:13.960 get crushed. But Corbett had a plan. He prepared 00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:16.799 like a Spartan. He went back to that strict regimen. 00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:19.400 He knew he couldn't stand and trade with Jeffries. 00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:22.539 One clean shot from Jeffries would end it. His 00:22:22.539 --> 00:22:25.980 only path to victory was to use his legs, his 00:22:25.980 --> 00:22:28.880 speed, and his stamina to last the 25 -round 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:31.740 limit and win on points. 25 rounds. That was 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:34.519 the distance. And for 22 of them, she put on 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:36.720 a clinic. It was unbelievable. They called him 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:39.319 the dancing master. He was 34, fighting a giant, 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:41.839 and he was untouchable. He darted and popped 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:44.039 Jeffries with a jab and danced away before Jeffries 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:46.180 could even wind up. Jeffries couldn't lay a glove 00:22:46.180 --> 00:22:48.160 on him. It was the perfection of the style he 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:50.000 invented. It was. He was making the heavyweight 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:52.079 champion of the world look like a clumsy amateur. 00:22:52.380 --> 00:22:54.539 The notes say Jeffries' corner was panicking. 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:58.000 Absolute panic. By the 20th round, it was clear 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.039 Jeffries was losing every single round. Jeffries 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:03.839 manager William Brady, who ironically used to 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:06.839 manage Corbett years before, realized his fighter 00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:09.759 was being humiliated. He actually fired the trainer 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:12.420 right there in the corner. Mid fight? Mid fight. 00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:15.839 He shoved the trainer aside, leaned into Jeffries 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:18.440 face and screamed, he is making a fool of you. 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:21.079 Knock him out or lose your title. The pressure 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:24.660 is on. Round 23. Eh. Corbett is just a few minutes 00:23:24.660 --> 00:23:26.700 away from regaining the heavyweight championship 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:29.440 of the world at age 34. He just had to stay upright. 00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:32.880 He just had to keep moving. But fatigue. Fatigue 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:35.940 is the enemy of science. Corbett's legs were 00:23:35.940 --> 00:23:38.539 getting heavy. Jefferies was stalking him desperate. 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:41.180 What happened? Midway through the 23rd, Jefferies 00:23:41.180 --> 00:23:43.779 threw a punch. Corbett leaned back to avoid it, 00:23:43.819 --> 00:23:46.859 a move he had done a thousand times. But he miscalculated 00:23:46.859 --> 00:23:49.299 his position in the ring. Oh no. He bumped into 00:23:49.299 --> 00:23:52.119 the ropes. The tiny contact. That tiny bounce, 00:23:52.220 --> 00:23:54.759 it pushed him forward just an inch. It kept him 00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:57.119 stationary for a split second. And that was all 00:23:57.119 --> 00:23:59.140 Jefferies needed. He caught Corbett with a short 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:01.759 right hand. And that was it. That was it. KO. 00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:04.700 One mistake in two hours of perfection. That 00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:07.460 is heartbreaking. It is. But here's the fascinating 00:24:07.460 --> 00:24:10.640 thing. The public reaction. Usually, the loser 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:13.220 is forgotten. But the public embraced Corbett 00:24:13.220 --> 00:24:16.519 for this. They saw a 34 -year -old man, smaller 00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:19.539 and older, completely outclass the giant for 00:24:19.539 --> 00:24:22.319 nearly two hours, only to get caught at the very 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:24.920 end. They considered it his finest performance. 00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:27.519 It proved that his science worked even if his 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:30.180 body eventually failed him against a giant. Precisely. 00:24:30.380 --> 00:24:33.059 It solidified his legend more than some of his 00:24:33.059 --> 00:24:36.019 wins did. It showed that mind could triumph over 00:24:36.019 --> 00:24:38.079 matter right up until the point where matter 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:40.619 lands a right hook. So after that, he's really 00:24:40.619 --> 00:24:42.880 in the twilight of his career. He fought Jeffreys 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:47.000 one more time in 1903 at age 37. But the magic 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:50.160 was fading. He survived a bad body blow in the 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:52.259 second, but was knocked out in the tenth. And 00:24:52.259 --> 00:24:53.900 there was a controversy with the fight against 00:24:53.900 --> 00:24:56.740 Kid McCoy. Yeah, a win that is generally believed 00:24:56.740 --> 00:24:59.099 to be a fix. It's a reminder that boxing was 00:24:59.099 --> 00:25:01.240 still a murky business, and even the gentleman 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:03.339 wasn't completely immune to the shady side of 00:25:03.339 --> 00:25:05.660 it. So he hangs up the gloves. But he doesn't 00:25:05.660 --> 00:25:08.359 disappear. Not at all. He goes back to his first 00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:11.740 love, which was acting. He appeared in low -budget 00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:13.779 films, vaudeville minstrel shows, which we should 00:25:13.779 --> 00:25:16.059 note for context were a very common form of entertainment 00:25:16.059 --> 00:25:18.819 at the time, and really leaned into being the 00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:21.740 elder statesman. He performed with Cornelius 00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:24.779 J. O 'Brien and starred in movies like The Midnight 00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:27.380 Man and The Prince of Avenue A. He lived out 00:25:27.380 --> 00:25:30.339 his days in Queens, right? Bayside. Bayside, 00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:32.980 Queens. On a street that was eventually named 00:25:32.980 --> 00:25:35.400 after him, Corbett Road, he lived a comfortable, 00:25:35.619 --> 00:25:38.440 respected life. There is one last story in the 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:43.079 records that I really love. It's from 1924. Corbett 00:25:43.079 --> 00:25:45.819 is almost 60 years old. It is a charming story. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:47.900 And he gets in the ring with Gene Tunney. This 00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:50.059 is a beautiful passing of the torch moment. Gene 00:25:50.059 --> 00:25:52.500 Tunney was the future champion. And Tunney was 00:25:52.500 --> 00:25:54.619 very much like Corbett. He was an intellectual. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:57.059 He studied the game. He was a scientific boxer. 00:25:57.440 --> 00:25:59.859 He completely idolized Corbett. And they sparred. 00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:03.450 They sparred. And Tony was amazed. He claimed 00:26:03.450 --> 00:26:05.690 that even at 60 years old, Corbett's defense 00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:07.509 was incredible. He said it was like trying to 00:26:07.509 --> 00:26:10.529 hit smoke. He even went as far as saying Corbett's 00:26:10.529 --> 00:26:12.509 defensive skills were better than Benny Leonard's, 00:26:12.509 --> 00:26:14.710 who is considered the defensive wizard of that 00:26:14.710 --> 00:26:17.470 specific era. That's incredibly high praise. 00:26:18.049 --> 00:26:20.170 It shows that the science Corbett developed wasn't 00:26:20.170 --> 00:26:22.930 just about youth and athleticism. It was a true 00:26:22.930 --> 00:26:25.750 knowledge base that stayed with him. It was intellectual 00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:28.269 property. He understood the art of movement better 00:26:28.269 --> 00:26:30.869 than anyone. He knew where to be and more. importantly 00:26:30.869 --> 00:26:33.690 where not to be. Corbett passed away in 1933 00:26:33.690 --> 00:26:38.109 from liver cancer at the age of 66. But his legacy. 00:26:38.789 --> 00:26:40.789 I mean we started this by calling him the pivot 00:26:40.789 --> 00:26:43.269 point. He is the father of modern boxing. There 00:26:43.269 --> 00:26:45.569 is no other way to put it. He shifted the entire 00:26:45.569 --> 00:26:47.829 paradigm. Before him the central question was 00:26:47.829 --> 00:26:49.930 how hard can you hit. After him the question 00:26:49.930 --> 00:26:52.609 became how well can you move. And that ripple 00:26:52.609 --> 00:26:54.690 effect touches everything in sports culture. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:57.500 It does. You see it in pop culture. Errol Flynn 00:26:57.500 --> 00:27:00.279 even played him in the movie Gentleman Jim. But 00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:02.579 practically speeding, every time you see a fighter 00:27:02.579 --> 00:27:06.200 watching game tape, that's Corbett. Every time 00:27:06.200 --> 00:27:08.559 you see a fighter following a strict diet, that's 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:10.960 Corbett. Every time you see an athlete managing 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:13.339 their own brand wearing custom suits and talking 00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:16.220 to the press, they are walking down the path 00:27:16.220 --> 00:27:18.859 that Gentleman Jim paved. He literally wrote 00:27:18.859 --> 00:27:21.720 the playbook. He took a brutal brawl and turned 00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:24.660 it into a business and a science. It's amazing 00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:26.519 to think that a bank clerk from San Francisco 00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:28.839 did all that. It really is. You know, before 00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:30.579 we wrap up, there's one thing that sticks with 00:27:30.579 --> 00:27:33.200 me. Yeah. We talked about Mrs. Sid Simmons yelling, 00:27:33.740 --> 00:27:36.759 hit him in the slats. Yes. Corbett lost his title 00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:39.519 because of that specific piece of advice. In 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:42.420 an era before coaches had headsets or could easily 00:27:42.420 --> 00:27:45.579 communicate during the chaos of a fight, it really 00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:47.980 makes you wonder. It raises a fascinating question 00:27:47.980 --> 00:27:50.619 about the sheer randomness of history. Exactly. 00:27:50.839 --> 00:27:53.579 how many sporting histories were altered, not 00:27:53.579 --> 00:27:56.380 by the athletes, not by the coaches, but by a 00:27:56.380 --> 00:27:58.900 single voice in the audience that just happened 00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:01.140 to be heard at the exact right moment. It's the 00:28:01.140 --> 00:28:04.559 butterfly effect of sports. One shout, one change 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:07.500 in tactics, one punch, and the entire lineage 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:09.640 of the heavyweight championship changes forever. 00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:11.559 Something to think about the next time you're 00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:13.680 shouting at the TV or from the stands. You never 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:16.680 know who might be listening. Indeed. That's it 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:19.059 for this deep dive into the life of Gentleman 00:28:19.059 --> 00:28:21.349 Jim Corbett. Thanks for exploring this with us.