There were a number of newspaper editorials in January 1897, written in favor of the State Legislature permitting boxing. It would do Nevada good, they said.
The 20,000 people, who would come to see a big bout, two or three times a year, would spend lots of money and put new life into hotels and lodging. While they were here, they would see the wonder of nature that is Nevada and investigate our resources.
What’s more — they might decide to stay.
Times were tough for Nevada. People were hard up.
Mining was in decline and would never again be the driving economic force it once was. Farming and ranching were on thin margins.
The State Legislature quickly forgot that boxing is a brutal sport. They ignored thundering from the church pulpits and they legalized it.
In the first championship fight, held in Carson City on March 17, 1897, Robert Fitzsimmons knocked out Jim Corbett in the 13th round with a right punch and a left uppercut.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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