| John L. Sullivan |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT JOHN L. SULLIVAN | |
| 1858 births | |
| sullivan, john l. | |
| 1918 deaths | |
| american boxers | |
| sullivan, john l | |
| bare-knuckle boxers | |
| heavyweights | |
| world heavyweight champions | |
| irish-american boxers | |
| people from boston | |
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John Lawrence Sullivan ( October 15 , 1858 – February 2 , 1918 ) is widely recognized as Boxing 's first modern World Heavyweight Champion . Born at Roxbury , Boston , to Irish immigrants, Mike Sullivan from Abbeydorney , County Kerry and Catherine Kelly from Athlone , County Roscommon . Sullivan was nicknamed ''The Boston Strongboy''. As a youth he was arrested several times for participating in bouts where the sport was outlawed, and he went on exhibition tours offering people money to fight him. In 1879 , Sullivan challenged anyone in America to fight him for $500. In 1883 - 1884 he went on a coast to coast tour by train through America with matches held in cities both large and small. The tour was scheduled to consist of 195 performances in 136 different cities and towns over 238 days. Five other boxers went on tour with Sullivan. To further promote the tour, Sullivan announced that he would box anyone at any time during the tour under the Queensbury Rules for $250. It has been claimed he Knocked Out about 30 men during the tour, but there is no proof to back this claim. In his era, no formalized boxing titles existed. Sullivan became a champion after defeating Paddy Ryan in Mississippi City, MS on February 7, 1882 . Modern authorities have retroactively labelled Paddy Ryan, the Heavyweight Champion Of America but he could certainly be considered as much of a world champion as Sullivan was. Depending on what modern authorities are consulted, Sullivan was considered world heavyweight champion either in 1888 when he defeated Charley Mitchell in France, or the following year when he knocked out Jake Kilrain in round 75 of a scheduled 80 round bout. But in truth, neither match was considered at the time to be about creating a world heavyweight championship. The modern authorities, when the talk of the heavyweight championship of the world are probably referring to the championship belt presented to John L. Sullivan by a group in Boston on August 8, 1887 . The belt was inscribed ''Presented to the Champion of Champions, John L. Sullivan, by the Citizens of the United States''. Its centerpiece featured the flags of the US, Ireland, and England. The Kilrain fight is considered to be a turning point in boxing history because it was the last world title bout fought under the London Prize Ring Rules and therefore the last Bare-knuckle heavyweight title bout. For the first time, newspapers carried extensive pre-fight coverage, reporting on the fighters' training and speculating on where the bout would take place. The center of activity was New Orleans , but the governor of Louisiana had forbidden the fight. On July 7 , 1889 an estimated 3,000 spectators boarded special trains for the secret location, which turned out to be Richburg , Mississippi , a town just south of Hattiesburg . The fight began at 10:30 the following morning, and it looked as if Sullivan was going to lose, especially after he vomited during the 44th round. But the champion got his second wind after that and Kilrain's manager finally threw in the towel after the 75th round. Undefeated at that point, Sullivan did not defend his title for the next four years, becoming unfit. He finally agreed to defend his title in 1892 , losing to "Gentleman Jim" Corbett in 21 rounds. The heavyweight contest occurred under the Marquess Of Queensberry Rules , but it was neither the first title fight under those rules nor was it the first title fight using boxing gloves. Sullivan is considered the last bare-knuckle champion because no champion after him fought bare-knuckled. However, Sullivan had fought with gloves under the Marques of Queensberry Rules as early as 1880 and only fought bare knuckle three times in his entire career (Ryan - 1882, Mitchell - 1888 and Kilrain - 1889). His bare knuckle image was created because all his infrequent fights from 1888 up the Corbett fight in 1892 had been bare knuckle. Sullivan retired, but appeared in several exhibitions over the next 12 years, including a three rounder against Tom Sharkey and a final two rounder against Jim McCormick in 1905 . He continued his various careers outside boxing such as stage Actor , speaker, sports reporter and bar owner. He is known by Autograph experts to have been a good autograph signer, and there are many documents, pieces of paper and photos in existence known to have been signed by him. Sullivan's autograph is now valued at hundreds of dollars. Through the decades, a photo of him with a facsimile autograph has surfaced on books, magazines and in novelty stores, and has been widely circulated. In his later years Sullivan became a Teetotaler and often supported the Temperance Movement . He died of health problems caused by his earlier alcoholism, and is buried in the Old Calvary Cemetery, in Mattapan in Boston. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 1990 , as a member of the hall's original class. He had a record of 35 wins, 1 loss and 2 draws, with 30 wins by knockout though many sources disagree on his exact record. EXTERNAL LINKS
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