Texas Historical Marker #13649

The Fitzsimmons-Maher Prizefight. In 1896, Judge Roy Bean made national headlines with a unique boxing match held at this site. Robert James Fitzsimmons was to fight James J. Corbett, the heavyweight champion, but the Legislature had outlawed boxing in Texas. While promoters sought a new location for the match, Corbett retired, handing the title to Irishman Peter Maher, who soon agreed to fight Fitzsimmons. Bean arranged for spectators, the press and Texas Rangers to travel by train from El Paso to Langtry, where he held the fight on a sandbar on Mexico's side of the Rio Grande; Texas lawmen had no authority there and Mexico had no law enforcement on hand. Fitzsimmons knocked Maher out in 95 seconds, winning the title. (2006) #13649

SH 25, Torres St, Langtry, TX, United States where they fought (1896)

Robert Fitzsimmons champion of the world 1897. Born here 1863

61 Weldron Street, Helston, United Kingdom where they was born (1863)

Nevada Historical Marker #243

On March 17, 1897, at an arena located on this site, Carson City played host to Nevada's first world championship prizefight, a fourteen-round thriller in which the reigning heavyweight titlist, James J. "Gentleman Jim" Corbett, was dethroned by Robert Fitzsimmons. The Nevada Legislature had only recently legalized prizefighting and the match became the object of scathing criticism from the press and pulpit of other states, but fight fans by the thousands came in. Promoter Dan Stuart put on a clean show and demonstrated that boxing need not be brutal or crooked. Other states were soon to liberalize their own prizefight laws and the sport began to assume a degree of respectability it had not enjoyed in the past. In later years, Nevada was to be the scene of several other world championship fights.

, Carson City, NV, United States where they boxed (1897)