If John L Sullivan were active today would he be THE champ

[Miburo]

people are talking about him having a chance against wlad?

you guys are crazy, he gets flattened against any top 50 heavyweight with that atrocious stance offering no defense against modern boxing technique.

The stance you see he and many fighters of that era pose in for photos is absolutely the correct one for bareknuckle fighting. Fight under those rules and see how atrocious it is.

[SlySlickSmooth]

I bet you they could shoulder roll still in those days

[TysonBomb]

Come on guys, Wlad and Vitali would make short work of him

Anyone from the top 10 would

[New England]

dude used to drink whiskey between rounds. come on, son. lol

sam langford drank between rounds as well


he was pretty good. jus sayin..

[eli porter]

I bet you they could shoulder roll still in those days

Also, larryx is obviously trolling. Some of you don't seem to realise he's just trying to take the piss out of old fighters.

[BigStereotype]

Wlad is 10" taller than John L. Once they stepped in the ring, you'd see what kind of difference that is. You would go into that fight expecting something ugly to happen. It was just a different sport when Sullivan fought. If they bareknuckle brawled in 1885, Wlad wouldn't stand a chance.

[eli porter]

Wlad is 10" taller than John L. Once they stepped in the ring, you'd see what kind of difference that is. You would go into that fight expecting something ugly to happen. It was just a different sport when Sullivan fought. If they bareknuckle brawled in 1885, Wlad wouldn't stand a chance.

I don't see how being bare knuckled would do anything to dampen Wlad's power and hand speed.

[StarshipTrooper]

I don't see how being bare knuckled would do anything to dampen Wlad's power and hand speed.

Because you can't punch full force bare knuckled as you'll break your hands. Boxing gloves weren't invented to protect the dude getting punched, they were invented to protect the hands of the dude doing the punching. Bare knuckle fighting is a completely different animal from boxing as we know it today.

Poet

[BigStereotype]

I don't see how being bare knuckled would do anything to dampen Wlad's power and hand speed.

Yeah, but he would be totally off guard with the wrestling and brutality of it. The guy sometimes has problems going 12 rounds, imagine going 45 in the mud and shit. It's a totally different spot. Like comparing rugby to football.

[eli porter]

Because you can't punch full force bare knuckled as you'll break your hands. Boxing gloves weren't invented to protect the dude getting punched, they were invented to protect the hands of the dude doing the punching. Bare knuckle fighting is a completely different animal from boxing as we no it today.

Poet

Yeah, but he would be totally off guard with the wrestling and brutality of it. The guy sometimes has problems going 12 rounds, imagine going 45 in the mud and shit. It's a totally different spot. Like comparing rugby to football.

Those are both fair points but we've all seen what happens when a fighter takes the padding out of his gloves. I reckon the chances of wlad rendering him unconscious or breaking sullivans jaw probably outweigh the broken hand issue.

The style of bare knuckle fighting is hard to comment on (I think the only bare knuckle fighting i've seen is between gypsies) but I don't personally imagine there to be enough of a difference to discount wlad's technical and physical prowess. Would it be different if we were talking about Frazier? I don't think it should be, is it possible you underestmiating wlad's willingness to play rough?

Also, how long are these 45 rounds each? sometimes maybe only a few seconds depending on how often someone goes down. Even if wlad gets wrestled to the ground he'll be allowed to get up, the likely hood of him not being able to get off a few clean shots between being pushed to the ground and manhandled are very slim.