Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight
Location: Carson City
Directions: At intersection of Musser and Harbin Streets.
N 39° 09.869 W 119° 45.603
Location: 1
Visibility: 2
Accessibility: 1
Marker type: St (M)
Date Conquered: 6/18/07
Nearest Intersection: Roop St.
Quick Description: A marker commemorating Nevada's first world championship prizefight.
Signed: No -- This marker has never been signed.
The former Sheriff's Office before its renovation in 2008.
Full Description:
Exact description as reads ...
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.
A street side view from Musser Street.
