Fred "The Naked Guy" Kartz

From The Great Outdoor Fight

Fred Kartz (August 5, 1943 - February 9, 1979) was, in many ways, a precursor to the infamous Dan "Five Minutes" Szekely, in that he was perennially expected to be among the first to fall. This wasn't so much attributed to his bad fighting skills - in fact he was very accomplished as an amateur boxer - but that throughout many years of his adult life, he was a lifestyle nudist. Not only that, he wore this lifestyle on his sleeve (as it were) when he went to the Great Outdoor Fight. This showmanship made him a very easy target in the Acres.

Kartz's first fight was 1972, where he actually finished with his highest ranking. This was due to the fact that, as it was in the qualifying rounds, for a short time, his rivals were actually repelled by his nudity. This was until he ran into Brad Sweden, who had handed out "beatings of the down variety" to several aggressive nudists back in Norway.

In the 1973 fight he was notable for not only being the first out, but also the first removed by Rodney Leonard Stubbs after 52 seconds of action. Kartz suffered the removal of one of his testicles at the hands of Stubbs as well, making this defeat doubly painful.

He returned to the fight several more times, each fight regaining his survival momentum. However, this came to a halt in 1977 and 1978, as he was not only one of the ten first knocked out but the first eliminated by future champion Dane Bullard. In training for 1979 he swore to break out of the rut, but at the fight, he was immediately stalked and eliminated by Bullard, who after knocking him out continued to bludgeon him with his trademark pipe until nearly every bone in his body was broken. After 24 seconds of sheer brutality, he was eliminated. This stood as the record for fastest elimination of the 3,000th man - breaking the previous dubious record also set by Kartz from 1973 - until Dan Szekely smashed the record in 1985.

Kartz died a few minutes after being removed from the Acres.

[edit] Quotes

• "What the hell - that sonofabitch is nekkid!" --Young Jude Surrency, upon first seeing Kartz at the 1972 Fight
• "The hell you put some clothes on! Else I'll rip the other one off next time I see you!" --Rodney Leonard Stubbs, after wounding Kartz to the point of elimination at the 1973 Fight
• "I hates dat nekkid guy." --Dane Bullard, before the 1979 fight where he would finally kill Kartz

[edit] Record

• 1972 - eliminated Day 1, 2,548th left standing.
• 1973 - eliminated Day 1, 3,000th left standing.
• 1974 - eliminated Day 1, 2,927th left standing.
• 1975 - eliminated Day 1, 2,852nd left standing.
• 1976 - eliminated Day 1, 2,795th left standing.
• 1977 - eliminated Day 1, 2,993rd left standing.
• 1978 - eliminated Day 1, 2,996th left standing.
• 1979 - eliminated Day 1, 3,000th left standing (deceased).

[edit] Addendum

It should be noted that while Fred Kartz was the first (and so far, last) lifestyle nudist to join the Fight, he was not the first to appear in the Fight in a state of undress. In the previous century, a few Native American fighters appeared in the Fight wearing only war paint and tribal tattoos. In the 1956 fight, Dino King was noted by fight scholars as "perched atop a flaming pile of his opponents, naked and screaming" on the last day of the fight. However, this was more seen as a terribly effective scare tactic against his last opponent in the fight.