Sullivan vs Corbett prime for prime

I think the Sharkey fights showed that a prime Sullivan would have been hell for Corbett. However, this fight to the finish crap always favored Corbett as he ran and ran till his men tired out. He would have lost decisions to Jackson if their bout was 10. 15, 20 or 25 rounds.

 

For what it's worth, and I will probably be in the minority here, I think a prime Sullivan would catch up to a prime Corbett and stop him.

 

Just for kicks, how would you predict this fight to go if they had it in a mud-soaked Chantilly field under London Prize Ring Rules like when Sullivan fought Mitchell?

 

A "prime" Sullivan was not easy to find beyond a certain point in the 1880's as drink, laziness and dissipation caught up to him. However, were you take a truly prime Sullivan- a rarity- against a prime, well prepared Corbett, almost a certainty in any fight, I pick Sullivan.

 

Sullivan KO.

 

Still, while i think i agree with you, you have to query whether Corbett had the heart to come back and continue in an LPR fight. Even the Queensbury match where Sullivan was counted out (for 10 seconds), what would have happened if Sullivan were allowed to take a count and regroup (get his breath back) at various stages. And how long would it be before this allowed him to eventually find his range and put Corbetts chin to the test? I think that eventually, JOhn L might have found a way to drop corbett and when the going got tough, i wonder if Corbett would look for a way out. Maybe it would have even ended up like the Jackson fight in a draw.

the other thing to consider is that in that Mud soaked cornfield as cross trainer explained it, it is going to make Corbetts feet very, very heavy and his dancing near impossible. Somewhere along the line Sullivan is going to find it much easier to catch up with Corbett and i think this will be curtains. So, while i agree with your comments about Sullivan being better under queensbury rules, i think that the corbett fight might actually suit him a bit better under conditions as they were in the Mitchell fight.

Either way, i think that Prime John L was simply too good for Corbett under either rules.

 

Since there is no film on Sullivan, and he didn't beat anyone nearly as good as Corbett its difficult to pick Sullivan. While Sullivan was long on Power and stamina, we don't know how quick he was on his feet, or how skilled he was with gloves. In Sullivan's day boxing as a bit like fencing in terms of footwork. Back and forth, but little lateral movement. Corbett revolutionized the game with lateral movement, speed, and combinations.

It should be noted that a prime Choynski and a prime Peter Jackson could not defeat Corbett, and both men were good hitters who landed some stuff on Gentleman Jim. It is a given that both Choynski and Jackson were much quicker than Sullivan.

Most historians in their time felt Corbett was the better on their all time lists.

I'll go with Corbett via UD here. Perhaps the fight would look a bit like Fitz vs Corbett, without Fitz clever feint setting up the KO punch.

 

He Grant,

I have read the full round by round report on Jackson vs Corbett. Corbett won more rounds, but Jackson won some rounds by a larger margin. If one were to use the papers round by round report, Corbett won more of them than Jackson did and would have either drew or taken the decision over Jackson in 10, 15, 20, or 25 rounds.

I'll see if I can find the report. Its an amazing read, but there's pretty much nothing doing past round 23 to finish.

 

Maybe this is true. If it is, you know better than Choyinski, who said that Sullivan was quicker than himself.

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