Sullivan fight of the week Sullivan McCormick

This is super tits youse!

 

Um, well, ****. I thought there'd be more. I mean, this one's written as if it's not the first. I'll keep working the search until it give me something but Sullivan fight of the week only brought me back here.

 

I rate the Jack Burke fight as Sullivans best MQ win but I haven't the time to post it up. It gives good context as Burke fought Slavin, Mitchell, Kilrain, Jackson, Greenfield, Dalton, etc

 

Well Burke, Mitchell, McCaffrey were very similar level, Cardiff too.

 

McCaffrey weighed 167.5lbs to Sullivan's 208lbs.
Burke was a 5'6.5" middleweight is he really Sullivan's best win?
"Burke's popularity attracted the attention of Patrick Sheedy, manager for John L. Sullivan, and led to a bout with Sullivan in Chicago on June 13, 1885. Sullivan, at an out-of-shape 230 pounds, outweighed his opponent by sixty pounds. He used his size against Burke in the first two rounds, using wrestling, throwing, and rabbit-punching tactics that were technically against modern Marquess of Queensberry rules. Burke attempted to move and counterpunch in order to keep the larger man off of him but was only partly successful until round three, when he landed a good blow to the champion's chin. Sullivan, apparently afraid that police would stop the fight if it got too rough, failed to retaliate. Tiring by the fourth round, Sullivan started punching, landing a terrific body shot that put his opponent down. Burke rose bravely, but was quickly knocked down again. Again Burke made it to his feet, but when Sullivan came at him to fight some more, the Irishman intentionally fell to the mat without being hit. Told to get up, he did so but only to pull the exact same trick when Sullivan came back at him. When the challenger continued to employ this tactic into the fifth round, referee Sherm Thurston stopped the fight and declared Sullivan the winner. "Burke was a mere boy in my hands," mused the champion afterwards"

Mitchell was a light middleweight.
1883-05-14 : John L. Sullivan 190 lbs beat Charlie Mitchell 150 lbs by TKO in round 3 of 0

• Location: New York, New York, USA

Richard K. Fox, editor of the Police Gazzette and hated rival of Sullivan, was constantly searching for the man who would dethrone John L. so that the Police Gazzette would finally hold a heavyweight kingpin. He found Charley Mitchell, heavyweight champion of England though he didn't weigh much more than a modern day middleweight. Mitchell combined tremendous speed in his hands and feet and when he arrived in America he had only one thought in his mind, to "knock out Mr. Sullivan". The bout was to be held in the world famous Madison Square Garden, gloved, and under the Marquess of Queensberry rules. Early on, Sullivan made his trademark charge, hoping to bombard the smaller Mitchell with his terrific punching power. Though Mitchell hit the deck three times he recruited to drop Sullivan for the first time in his career, off a quick left. Sullivan, who forever longer hated the fact that Mitchell dropped him, rose to his feet as quick as possible though the bell ended the tumulteous opening frame. Sullivan, infuriated, annhiliated Mitchell in the second and third until the Police stopped the slaughter when Mitchell was completely helpless on the ropes. Sullivan pleaded in vain for the police to let him get "one more crack at him" but when the police refused, Sullivan walked back to his corner in tears. Its correctly ruled on BoxRec.com as a TKO victory for Sullivan because some sources have it surprisingly as just a Win in three rounds for the Great John L. Sullivan.

(Should in fact be ruled a No Contest as it was stopped with no official ruling.)

Best wins?

Cardiff was at least a decent size with a good record.

1887-01-18 : John L. Sullivan 229 lbs drew with Patsy Cardiff 185 lbs by PTS in round 6 of 6

• Location: Washington Roller Rink, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
• Referee: Pat Sullivan

Cardiff, twenty-four years old, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was an experienced fighter who had previously met both George Rooke and Charley Mitchell in the ring. He stood the same height as Sullivan, the world's champion, but weighed thirty pounds less.

The bout took place at the Washington Rink in Minneapolis before ten thousand onlookers. Sullivan broke his left arm in the first round after missing a punch at the elusive Cardiff. Forced to use only his right for the remainder of the fight, he could not catch up with the smaller man and the fight was declared a draw after the end of the scheduled six rounds.

5.5 oz. gloves used (Minneapolis Journal 1-19-1887)

 

Burke was 5-8 1/2 by most sources-boxrec is wrong. I didn't say they were necessarily good wins, I said they were his best wins. Burke had a draw with Slavin, multiple draws with Mitchell, draw with Kilrain and wins over Cleary, Dalton, Glover ...that it is Sully's best win is debatable but I can't see how it is not a top five win, Mitchell likewise.

 

If he was 5'8.5" he was still a middleweight . Maybe they were his best wins ,but what does that say about the quality of his opposition and the depth of the division when you are fighting men up to 60 lbs lighter?
[img id="yui_3_10_0_1_1521026065476_703" alt="On This Day In Sports: April 6, 1893: Burke Versus ..." src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IPdgP3CVC...237h9wM/s1600/!!!JackBurke_AndyBowens_OTD.jpg">

 

I assume all these people who who go on about the weights of Sullivan's opponents mustn't rate Corbett for losing to a Middleweight, Maher for losing badly to one, mustn't rate Jeffries wins over Fitz or any heavyweight's wins over Langford, and must think any heavyweights that lost to Langford are ****.

 

The boxing world was a different scene back then, up to the mid-1920's biggish middles/ l-heavies regularly competed against and as heavyweights. Mitchell, McCaffrey, Burke, Hall, Fitz, Pritchard, Craig, McCoy, Fitz, Creedon, Childs, Root, Gardner, Langford, Burns, O'Brien, Byers, Ketchell, Clarke, Norfolk, Levinsky, Dillon, Gibbons, Greb off the top of my head. There was as many good fighters among them as the bigger boys, I daresay. Sullivans comp wasn't great but later the best heavies included men around the 175 pound mark, Sharkey, Maher, Choynsky etc.

 

I doubt that.

While Burke has a record to examine( Re-fleshing for the times ), he was no better than Charlie Mitchell, a fighter who floored Sullivan that Corbett later destroyed in three rounds.

I do agree with some that Burke is among Sullivan's best gloves wins.

 

I agree Sullivan's competition ( 1880's ) was not great and I think you are being kind when you say that.

Sharkey, Maher, Choynski and those who followed were better than the competition Sullivan beat.

i.e. Mitchell or Burke.

The main differences are the fighter from the 1890's were not only bigger and taller, they hit harder. They were also much better with gloves.

 

Okay lets address this.
Corbett losing to Fitz is a black mark in so far as what we know about Fitz's weight.
How highly should we rate Corbett in general?
His record is 11-4-3.
His best win was over a 33 years old alcoholic who hadn't fought in nearly 5 years!
Where would you rate him?
Maher was a big puncher with a dodgy chin who was ko'd 19 times.Fitz was an exceptionally hard puncher.
No I don't particularly rate Jeffries wins over Fitz, a 36 and 39 years old man coming out of 2 years inactivity in both cases and one who was conceding huge amounts of weight and 12 years in age.
If Carl Froch came out of retirement , fought Anthony Joshua twice and got ko'd both times, how highly would you rate Joshua's victories?
Langford was all over the place as far as weight is concerned he was often around 200lbs in his later years.

 

Being a different scene does not alter the fact that they were middleweights does it?
Ketchel fought 2 heavies Porky Flynn and Johnson.
Which heavyweights did Creedon,Hall,Craig,Pritchard fight?