Jack added, “You know when Uncle Bob was fighting in Australia there was little difference between amateurism and professionalism. When Mace arranged the affair in which Uncle Bob gained his first prestige as a boxer, ten other boxers competed in the tournament and the rounds weren’t limited as they are today when amateurs compete. A bout finished only when one was knocked out, yet the Mace tournament was advertised as an affair for amateurs.” Wes Jack took out some mellowed newspaper clippings telling of Ruby Robert’s visit to Timaru, following his retirement from boxing. In one, Fitzsimmons tells of the time he won the New Zealand title. “I didn’t have things easy,” he told his interviewer. “As a young man who weighed at the time less than 125 pounds, I had to face tough opposition with opponents far heavier. But I reached the top, although in so doing I had to fight men of all sizes and weights.” Discussing the blacksmith shop, a story related by Bob’s brother, Jarrett, two of whose sons became heavyweight champions of New Zealand, held my attention. Jarrett, who died in Timaru at an old age, telling his sons about the power in the arms and shoulders of his brother, said: “I’ve often been asked how brother attained his strength. I think it came from fighting and subduing crazy horses brought into our blacksmith shop. If there was anything Bob liked, it was to be assigned to shoeing a brute. He would remark: “‘It strengthens my arms and legs when I’m kicked across the shop and it helps develop the sand in a man.’” In _The Ring_ museum in Madison Square Garden there is a letter from Fitzsimmons addressed to me. I had seen him in Chicago in 1914, at which time I interviewed him, and when I mailed the article to him, he added to his statement: “The cave-men of the ring are extinct. Champions such as we had when I was in my prime are gone, never again to return. The champions of the future will be as children compared to the rough and ready battlers of twenty or more years ago. Fighting, like all other sports, is reaching out along lines of improvement. The men of today realize that boxing is more important than is slugging. “They are beginning to see the advantages of knowing how to block and feint and those who still can retain their punch are the ones who will reach the top. You’ll find as the years pass that fighting will become more and more scientific and championships will change hands on points and not on knockouts.” Those were the words of one of the greatest champions of all time. He foresaw many years ago the change that already has taken place. BOOK SIX [Illustration] [Illustration: 25] BIRTH OF _THE RING_