John L Sullivan - a great champion

[solidman]

I don't think these old time guys get the credit they deserve. I just read Adam Pollack's book and am satisfied that John L was a great champion. He only ever lost once and that was when he was washed up and an alcoholic. They say he was a massive puncher and very quick too. He was also a very tough man. He only lost to Corbett and like i say he was washed up then. How do you guys rate Sullivan?

[QueensburyRules]

Without JOHN L, we’d still be fighting in cestas gloves with 50% death rate..,

[Willow The Wisp]

John L. Sullivan was as great an athlete as can be!

He was the world's first international superstar of sports. In fact; during his prime (1882 - 1892) he had a very strong case for having been the most famous person on earth; and this had been said many times by his contemporaries, who calculated his fame to be greater than that of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Emperor Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck of Germany, Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary, President Grover Cleveland of the United States, Japanese King Shō Tai, Umberto I of Italy, and the Guangxu Emperor of China.

As a pugilist, Sullivan was better and more consistent than all of the greats who dominated the sport in modern times before him, from 1719 onwards.

Moreover, he won the world's championship under the London Prize Ring rules and lost it under the new Marquess of Queensberry rules with gloves and timed rounds; ensuring a seamless bridge between eras.

Muhammad Ali, Babe Rule, Ty Cobb, Pelé, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, Willie Mays, Don Bradman, Wayne Gretzky, Gareth Edwards, Arthur Ashe, Sugar Ray Robinson, Lionel Messi, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Joe Louis, Walter Payton, Wilt Chamberlain, Jack Johnson, Jim Brown; they all owe their fame to the Great John L., because he built the concept of an athletic talent that the world much watch.

Is that great enough for you?