Hello, In terms of historical significance and career. I don't think there's ever been a more dominant champion and of course he really made glove fighting popular. I know the color line hurts him badly but I think he still should be at least top 5 on a historical significance list. Thoughts?
What do you think would be the strongest case? Also, Teddy Atlas actually put Sullivan at no.8 on his all time list. Which I just thought was interesting.
I don't think the color line effects his legacy too much. He was essentially retired when Jackson "arrived". Other than that, we can't really name any one he ducked. You could argue that times drew their own color line by the opportunities they allowed, but John L. specifically doesn't carry much blame IMO.
Seamus, do you think he would've drawn the color line if he'd been in his prime when Jackson came along?
I have no idea. He certainly didn't seem scared of anyone. And even regarding Jackson, he said at times that he's would come out of his then retirement to fight him only at other times to talk of the sanctity of the color bar.
You cant rank anyone number one of anything without video footage....who would have won a fight ,bigfoot or the Abominable snowman? Do we have video proof? NO,everythings hearsay and story telling with actual facts that cant be judged without some measuring stick that can be seen with actual visuals.
Uncletermite I"m not ranking him based on how good he'd do h2h. Just his significance to the sport and since he really made it into the most popular sport in the world I believe he's worthy of No. 1 on a legacy and significance rating system. and thank you Seamus I have no idea as well but I agree that he definitely didn't seem to be afraid of anyone.
You can certainly assess fighters without video footage. Sullivan's dominance of the division in his prime represented the greatest disparity between champ and contenders in the history of the division. That is a fact.
Im not basing him on H2H either,however one just cant transcend a sport with no footage of what they did in the sport itself....Tall tales can be as tall as one wants them ,without the actual character on even some film its left a bit hollow. You simply cannot rank this man number one based on what I just said,no matter what he did in or out of the ring.
I think that under the criteria we can rank him even with no footage. Like I said we know he was the first gloved champion which is significant. We don't need any films to know this. I'm sure they're more facts that can help even more justify his ranking under this criteria. You know Teddy Atlas ranked him number eight in The Ultimate Book of Boxing Lists.
The case would rest on the following: He did more than any other fighter in history to promote gloved boxing and the legitimisation of the sport. He unified every existing title claim under both Queensbury and London Prize Ring rules, and was the only heavyweight to be champion under both rule sets. He was arguably the first truly global sports star. He was one of the most dominant heavyweight champions of all time, in terms of longevity, number of title defences, and dominance of the competition.