John L. Sullivan's resume

[1108788]

What were some of his best wins? How skilled were his opponents?

[HomicideHenry]

What were some of his best wins? How skilled were his opponents?

viewtopic.php?t=163766&hilit=John+L.+SULLIVAN

[Ambling Alp II]

What were some of his best wins? How skilled were his opponents?

Most were not very skilled. He went on long tours and fought guys from the audience that had no business being in the ring with him.
However, he did have fights against real boxers. Jake Kilrain and Charlie Mitchell were top fighters of the day. Mitchell had some ability but was really closer to a middleweight. Kilrain had power and endurance but not the best boxing skills. Another guy named Patsy Cardiff was decent.

The best fighter than he fought was Corbett.

[Caractacus]

Resume ?
Did you know,? that at one time ,John L. Sullivan was an apprentice Plumber ?.

[Ambling Alp II]

Yep. He also studied to be a priest!

[pound per pound]

What were some of his best wins? How skilled were his opponents?

Most were not very skilled. He went on long tours and fought guys from the audience that had no business being in the ring with him.
However, he did have fights against real boxers. Jake Kilrain and Charlie Mitchell were top fighters of the day. Mitchell had some ability but was really closer to a middleweight. Kilrain had power and endurance but not the best boxing skills. Another guy named Patsy Cardiff was decent.

The best fighter than he fought was Corbett.

The press indicates Cardiff was the better. I agree Corbett was the best he fought.

[Benny The Kid]

I feel like he's the cut off from the more modern era.

He's seems way more of the bare knuckle era.

John L Sullivan avoided every major heavyweight born around him almost.

Sullivan born 1858

Never faced
Peter Jackson 1861
Joe Goddard 1861
Pat Killen 1861
Frank Slavin 1861
George Godfrey 1863

None of these guy's. While I feel he would be durable. The fact that he beat no one of significance outside of Jake Kilrain makes him quite irrelevant to me.
I compare him with the Jem Mace a totally different era.

He would surely have major conditioning issues if he fought many of these and he probably felt better having his ego intact than losing to them.

Considering how he struggled with Charlie Mitchell I think his chances aren't great.
But as a bareknuckle boxer he may have been the best. He just seems from a different era for the reason's he seldom faced any new fighter's that came after him.

He did fight Patsy Cardiff 1863 but he was not very high on the skills department.

I would have loved to see John L sullivan against a rushing kind of fighter like Joe Goddard (once he was established).
That style of fighting seemed to quickly fade out by mid 1890's.

[mattdonnellon]

I actually see Sullivan as a gloved fighter, he had very few bare knuckle contests and struggled with Mitchell and to an extent, Kilrain. With gloves he crushed Mitchell, the capable Jack Burke, Ryan, Greenfield, Herald, McCaffrey. He broke his hand against Cardiff and basically was retired by the time Goddard, Killen, Slavin and Jackson came to the fore. It is a pity as these fights would have answered a lot of questions posed in this conversation. I think the ease with which he defeated Burke is a good guideline, Jack was a handful for anyone. The comparison with Goddard is very apt, I feel, but perhaps Sully was faster and a bigger puncher.

[p4p1]

I actually see Sullivan as a gloved fighter, he had very few bare knuckle contests and struggled with Mitchell and to an extent, Kilrain. With gloves he crushed Mitchell, the capable Jack Burke, Ryan, Greenfield, Herald, McCaffrey. He broke his hand against Cardiff and basically was retired by the time Goddard, Killen, Slavin and Jackson came to the fore. It is a pity as these fights would have answered a lot of questions posed in this conversation. I think the ease with which he defeated Burke is a good guideline, Jack was a handful for anyone. The comparison with Goddard is very apt, I feel, but perhaps Sully was faster and a bigger puncher.

What blew me away when I read a book about him (IIRC it was called strong boy or something similar) was just how instrumental he was in the change over from LPR to the gloved era with times rounds etc. The 4 round fights with gloves that he used to do and his reasoning of it forcing action, gloves protecting your hands so you could be more reckless with punches etc is a major reason why boxing endured and became (for a time) the biggest sport in the world. IIRC he was a major reason why MSQ was built. Yes he fought a lot of nobody's and a lot of guys who had no business being in the ring with him while he was on 'tour' but that was just the way it was in those days and he is probably the main reason why boxing became a legitemsed sport.