I know his record, his McCoy series, the general, easy stuff most amateur historians know... Now tell me something I don't know. And where do you rank him LB4LB all-time and at middleweight?
Whoa, this is weird. I was just reading about the legendary Tommy Ryan and then I clicked over to my other web page (E.S.B.) and you started this thread. Tommy Ryan is an all-time great to say the least.
Before I deleted my lists I had him Top15 p4p, Top3 at WW and Top10 at mw. Great fighter, the Robinson of his time.
Instrumental in helping to develop the Jeffries crouch. They were sparring, and he induced Jim to drop down into a position from where Tommy suddenly couldn't do anything with him. That Jeff could have so much success against so many top competitors with so little experience is no small credit to Ryan.
In many ways Ryan is the Sugar Ray Leonard of his era. He came allong in an era when the welterweight division was stacked with talent and came out on top in series against the other names. He later stepped up to middleweight and claimed the title, and his claim was accepted paving the way for a reign at that weight. He was a verry complete package. In adition to his boxing skills he packed a serious punch.
Probably the most forgotten great fighter ,and hardly ever mentioned today... Consider this ...Tommy Ryan Started his career at 17 years of age in 1887..Ryan kod 17 of his first eighteen opponents as a lightweight...As a welterweight his greatest opponent was the wildest brawler of his time Mysterious Billy Smith. They fought each other no less than 6 times...In 1898 Ryan became welterweight champ , held the title til 1898, retired title to fight as a middleweight...Became MW champ 1898 ,and held title to 1902, and then gave op the title to train fighters [Jeffries]...The great tommy Ryan had a total of 105 bouts,losing just TWO, at the end of his career...The Ray Robinson of his time....Nat Fleischer had Tommy Ryan as number two middleweight just behind Stanley Ketchel...What A record ! What a fighter!....
Actually, i think his career probably parrallels that of Sugar Ray Robinson, a real lot. He pretty much did exactly the same as Sugar Ray Robinson, held the welterweight title about the same length of time, with his only loss to a middleweight/light heavyweight all time great, moved up to win the the middleweight title and dominated there for a long time. Although he didnt seem to have as many losses as Ray's does. I think it is quite possible that when Tommy Ryan fought his exhibition fight against Bob Fitzsimmons, it was quite possibly the greatest ever fight/exhibition/Sparring session, ever in terms of Pound for pound all time great rankings. At least i cant really think of two higher rated fighters who have ever stepped in the ring with each other.
If you had asked people in the 1930s to name the greatest welterwights of all time then the names that would have come up would be Tommy Ryan, Joe Walcott and Billy Smith. It would basicaly have come down to Ryan or Walcott.
This content is protected This is an interesting article. Bob Fitzsimmons certainly seemed pretty confident that he could beat Tommy Ryan. It is a shame that the fight didnt take place, it would have been a superfight to rival anything, in terms of greatness of fighters stepping in the ring.
I love reading Ryan's opinions on contemporary fighters, his thoughts ring true. A really good analyst in my opinion, and as Doun says, he worked closely with Jeffries. I haven't read anything that indicates he was implicated in the Jeffries crouch - Jeffries tells it as being the result of recieving a body-blow - but I do think it's worth saying how closely he worked with Jeff and that his influence was regarded as a very positive one by the press of the tim, especially as far as Jim's footwork was concerned.
