MonoMonday #60: Strength

Today's shot features a bronze of a New Zealand legend; Bob Fitzsimmons, the first boxer to be  world champion across three divisions, in Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight classes.

His strength in the ring was beyond doubt, but when he first arrived in New Zealand from his native Cornwall, he started out working in his brothers blacksmith's forge, a hard and punishing job that was no doubt a superb grounding for the future world champion.

This sculpture by Margriet Windhausen stands in Timaru's town centre. Being lifesize, it really conveys a sense of the man's physicality and determined fighting spirit.

Fitzsimmons died in Chicago in 1917 from pneumonia. Sadly his personal life did not reflect his successes in the ring. He died leaving behind four wives and a gambling habit that had lost him most of his fortune gathered from boxing.