John L. Sullivan - 1898
October 15 was the birthday of my father who was a boxer when he was young (link below). It was also the birthday of boxer John L. Sullivan who was born in 1858, in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, to Irish immigrant parents, from Abbeydorney, County Kerry and Drum, Athlone, County Roscommon. They aspired for their son to enter the priesthood as a Catholic priest and he enrolled at Boston College circa 1875 but after only a few months he turned to playing baseball professionally, earning $30 to $40 a week. As Sullivan recalled in 1883: "I threw my books aside and gave myself up to it. This is how I got into the base-ball profession, and I left school for good and all. From the base-ball business I drifted into boxing and pugilism."
As a professional fighter Sullivan was nicknamed the "Boston Strong Boy". As a youth he was arrested several times for participating in bouts where the sport was outlawed. He went on exhibition tours offering people money to fight him. He won more than 450 fights in his career. In Sullivan's era, no formal boxing titles existed. He is considered the last bare-knuckle champion.
In 1883–84 Sullivan went on a coast-to-coast tour by train with five other boxers. They were scheduled to hold 195 fights in 136 different cities and towns over 238 days. To help promote the tour, Sullivan announced that he would box anyone at any time during the tour under the Queensberry Rules for $250. He knocked out eleven men during the tour.
Depending on the modern authority, Sullivan was first considered world heavyweight champion either in 1885 when he defeated Dominick McCaffrey in Ohio, in 1888 when he fought Charley Mitchell in France, or in 1889 when he knocked out Jake Kilrain in round 75 of a scheduled 80-round bout. (Eighty rounds!)
On March 10, 1888, Sullivan fought Charley Mitchell, an English prize-fighter from Birmingham, England, on the grounds of a chateau at Chantilly, France, for 39 rounds in defense of his world title with the fight held in driving rain. The fight went on for more than two hours, and by the end of the bout, both men were unrecognizable and had suffered so much damage that neither could lift his arms up to punch. Both men couldn't continue, and the contest was considered a draw. At this point, the local gendarmerie arrived and arrested Mitchell. He was confined to jail for a few days and later fined by the local magistrate, because bare-knuckled boxing was illegal in France at the time. Swathed in bandages, Sullivan was helped to evade the law and taken across the English Channel to spend the next few weeks convalescing in Liverpool.
in 1898, Sullivan fought Jake Kilrain. 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 was the last-ever bare-knuckle heavyweight title bout. It was also one of the first sporting events in the United States to receive national press coverage.
photographer unknown
Sullivan agreed to defend his title in 1892 against challenger "Gentleman Jim" Corbett. The match was on September 7 in New Orleans. It began at 9 p.m. in the electrically illuminated Olympic Club in the upper Ninth Ward neighborhood now known as Bywater section. The venue filled to its 10,000-person capacity despite hefty ticket prices ranging from $5 to $15 (approximately $142 to $426 in 2020). 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. Corbett was younger and faster, and his boxing technique enabled him to dodge Sullivan's crouch and rush style. In the 21st round, Corbett landed a smashing left "audible throughout the house" that put Sullivan down for good. Sullivan was counted out, and Corbett was then declared the new champion. When Sullivan was able to get back to his feet, he announced to the crowd: "If I had to get licked, I'm glad I was licked by an American".
The effects of prize fighting along with his being overweight and unhealthy after a long life of overindulging in food and alcohol took their toll on Sullian. Like most boxers of the time, he did not live a very long life. He died on February 2, 1918, at age 59 at his home in Abington, Massachusetts, supposedly from heart disease.
“It is a dollar to a nickel that he is known to more people in this country than George Washington,” the Police Gazette had written of Sullivan as late as 1905. But like almost all heroes, his memory began to fade as the years passed.
On June 2, 2017, the Irish-American Celtic punk band Flogging Molly released their sixth studio album, Life Is Good. One of the cuts from the album is titled, The Hand of John L. Sullivan.
Viewfinder links:
Flogging Mary ~
The Hand Of John L. Sullivan lyrics
Net links:
Bare Knuckle Boxing ~ John L. Sullivan
Boxing Magazine ~ The Legend of John L. Sullivan
Boxing Over Broadway ~ 100 Years Gone: Remembering John L. Sullivan
Boxing Record ~
Boxing Scena ~ John L. Sullivan: Where It All Began
International Boxing Hall of Fame ~ John L. Sullivan
Public Domain ~ John L. Sullivan Fights America
YouTube links:
Flogging Mary ~ The Hand of John L. Sullivan
Styrous® ~ Saturday, October 17, 2026
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