Apparently, 1934 was the year that robotic boxing machines were so imminent that Jack Dempsey was moved to declare that he could "whip any mechanical robot," as reported in the April, 1934 issue of Modern Mechanix.
The reason is simple: Engineers can build a robot that will possess everything except brains. And without brains no man can ever attain championship class in the boxing game. It is true enough that we have had some rare intellectual specimens in the higher frames of boxing glory, but I can truthfully say that no man ever attained genuine boxing recognition without real headwork. The best punch in the world is not worth a whoop if the boxer doesn't know what to do with it. The most damaging of all blows is the short, straight-arm punch to the solar plexus–the punch which came into being when Fitzsimmons took the championship from Jim Corbett in one of the boxing-game's greatest surprise victories.
In hitting to the solar plexus, that spot just below the meeting point of the ribs, the blow travels only about six or eight inches and the result is comparable only to the terrific effect of being struck by a piston which moves forward as its arm slides out. There never has been and never will be a boxer who could remain on his feet after being struck by a mechanically perfect solar plexus punch.
