Well now I want to see Foreman vs John L under LPR Rules :bbb As far as the original question I'm leaning towards a Johnson UD I believe.
hell of a battle but can see John L getting frustrated with JJ and throwing it away whilst JJ laughs at him - in a neutral 20th century arena, that is. in the 19th century brawling rules, JL probably wins though. Not withstanding, he would likely have the ref on his side to penalise JJ for his "clever" tactics. In a straight neutral brawl without racism, JJ might well belt out JL, who was fortunate that he was defending only the white heavyweight title all his reign (Johnson won both black and white ie unifed belts) Given that missing out on black opposition was a substantial part of the population, its likely Sullivan wouldn't have been so highly regarded if he had been rightly classed as a titlist, not a champion. Sully might not have reigned for long at all if he genuinely did take on all comers.
I'd have a hard time picking Sullivan. I rate Johnson higher anyway, and think Sullivan doesn't have the style to beat Johnson.
But not under LPR rules and Johnson according to biographer Adam Pollack was around Choynski's super middle weight when they met and comparatively green.Johnson himself did not think much of Sullivan,he said the best heavyweight before himself was Fitzsimmons
I don't think that rushing attack would cut much ice with Jack, and inside I think he would be the stronger man.Sullivan had the capability to floor him with his right hand though.
Ironically I think the LPR rules might help Johnson more, since then even if Sullivan gets him in trouble, there's no issue with him going down, and he gets enought time to recover. There's a reason people wanted to challenge Sullivan under LPR rules.
Does anybody have any idea if Johnson would have a taste for bare knuckle fighting? Does anyone know his fist size a compared to Sullivan?
Johnson did not think much of Sullivan,prior to himself he rated Fitz as the best.Sullivan has only a punchers chance here.Johnson boxes him silly.
The tale of the tape is about even, that is before both men ballooned up. I suspect Johnson meet much better men would earn a decision or late round TKO ,but with film on Sullivan in the ring, it's a guess based on possible styles. The old style Sullivan used was dead and buried around 1900. He used little ring science that is a big a reason why Corbett did a number on him essentially shutting him down from winning a round.
I shouldn’t really make a pick given that I’m not terribly familiar with how either fighter looked but I think most would agree that Johnson was proven against some pretty elite competition