John L Sullivan vs Prime David Tua

Neither of them was anything much in the division when the fight happened.

His only elite win is Rahman.

These were the men seen as posing the stiffest tests for the champion at the time.

As for their size, make of that what you will.

We don't really know what they weighed, but I am guessing that those figures are close enough.

 

Okay,how long does 150lbs Mitchell last with Tua?
How about 168lbs McCaffrey?

 

Not a bad point, but considering that an in shape prime Sullivan was around or under the 200 pound mark, those fighters' size alone doesn't mean as much as it would with a superheavyweight.

Good sub-heavyweights can beat or trouble smaller heavies. Smaller heavyweights, in turn, can beat bigger ones. Conn made Louis look bad, coming closer to beating him than most. A significant part of this forum believes Louis could fight on even terms with Wladimir Klitschko. That doesn't mean, however, that Conn could trouble Klitschko. Nor does it mean that Louis's performance against Conn shows he's doomed against Klitschko. Equivalence breaks down when you're taking fighters head to head from essentially three different weight classes.

 

Anybody on this forum believe Mitchell would go 5 rds with Tua?

 

I don't know what everyone on this forum thinks about that.

Nor, as my post makes clear, was I saying that Mitchell goes 5 with Tua. Conn wouldn't go 5 with Klitschko, either. A weight difference eventually becomes too much.

 

Impossible to say.

 

Under what rules?

 

I just threw out a general question.I believe it emphasises the paucity of what we would recognize as boxers even remotely resembling heavyweights during Sullivan's time.

 

In a ring with a canvas, any size gloves and distance you like.

 

Make an educated guess.

 

Yeah, there were too many middleweights in that era, as there continued to be until Johnson's reign or later. You had your share of heavyweight sized men -- Kilrain, Slade, Ryan, Smith, and so on -- but it's questionable how good a lot of these guys were, though. I don't think the sport was fully formed; careers could be built quickly, and we don't have film to show how good any of these people were.

 

We have photos of Sullivan v Kilrain, and McCaffrey, he is as fat as a pig.

 

We have the records of their most famous fights.

 

Greenfield 5 feet 9inches 170lbs has a known record of 4-6-1.
Would you honestly pick him to beat say Carl Froch?

 

Wonder what our reaction would be to highlight reels of;
Charlie Mitchell
Dominick McCaffrey
Alf Greenfield
???????????

Historically Sullivan is by far the greater pugilist,but I fear that would not help him against Tua. If Tua had an average chin we could perhaps give the Boston Strong Boy a punchers chance,but his chin was like granite.Plus he had a strong right hand and a tremendous left hook.Everything points to a stoppgae for Tua imo.