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Was John L. Sullivan good or just a joke?

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  • Was John L. Sullivan good or just a joke?

    what is your opinion of The Great John L. Sullivan

  • #2
    Top 5 ATG, finest British fighter to ever lace them up. So good he changed the nature of the sport.

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    • #3
      MBE;..........born in Roxbury Mass. USA ...10/15/1858.
      5' 10.5" 195--215lbs. Irish decent!

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      • #4
        strong,tough and good right hand

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        • #5
          I find it peculiar how anyone can really say Sullivan was this and that without video footage or film as evidence...however he was no joke as for his era,he would have to have been somewhat skilled and tvery tough as the first Hw boxing champion in an unrefined sport that had just begun when added rules and gloves were added.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by sonnyboyx2 View Post
            what is your opinion of The Great John L. Sullivan
            Obviously he was great, the best heavyweight in the world in his prime

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            • #7
              The top guy in his day, but the rules and sport have evolved so much, it's alomost an entirely different sport which makes it nearly impossible to judge him vs guys like Marciano, Holmes, wlad

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Sugar Adam Ali View Post
                The top guy in his day, but the rules and sport have evolved so much, it's alomost an entirely different sport which makes it nearly impossible to judge him vs guys like Marciano, Holmes, wlad
                This! It's like comparing the NFL from 1917 to 2015, it's completely different sport. Size wise he would be a smallish cruiserweight. You can't compare anything to today's era. Even his brashness while it made him tons of money for his era in vaudville. Money just made 200 million plus for having the same boorish, racist personality.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Sugar Adam Ali View Post
                  The top guy in his day, but the rules and sport have evolved so much, it's alomost an entirely different sport which makes it nearly impossible to judge him vs guys like Marciano, Holmes, wlad
                  I agree completely. John L. Sullivan was the first gloved fighter. He didn't have the desire to fight bare knuckled and was the first to truly see how wraps and gloves allowed someone to go for a KO without breaking his hand. They still had ridiculously light gloves (as best as I can tell they were 3-5 ounces - even for heavyweights).

                  London Prize Ring Rules was not boxing. It was more MMA without striking below the waist and without a ground game. Everything else (plus more) that's allowed in MMA was legal.

                  In addition to being the first boxer of any note he quickly had no competition. ANY boxer today would easily beat the field in the 1880s. Of course if you took off the modern day boxer's gloves and made him fight by LPR Rules he would probably break his hand(s) in the first few rounds and quit soon after.

                  It's hard enough to judge pre-1920 fighters with the present. I think we can't really compare the present to 19th C fighters. For all practical purposes we have to consider the years from 1882 (? first gloved fights) to 1900 to be a transition era.
                  Last edited by bklynboy; 05-14-2015, 05:48 AM.

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                  • #10
                    Tank Abbot as champion.

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