Putting Max in the bareknuckle Era, facing off against The Boston strong boy. Is max strong enough to destroy Sullivan?? Or does John L retain his title?
John L Sullivan wins by KO. Ruleset favours. You gotta remember Sullivan was actually probably a better technician. He was known as a terrific straight puncher and employed a crouch. Well, more impressive than Corbett anyway. Durability ain't a question. He did 75 with Kilrain and finished a bout with a broken arm.
Baer gets KOed. If it was more towards his own day I'd pick him to win, but it's not so... Rough summed it up pretty well.
Interesting thread on Sullivan's training camp etc. https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/john-l-sullivan-training-camp.538639/
What do you reckon he grant? Whats the out come 1880 s rules and what not. Let's say max is born in to that Era, how high could he go? I know Baer s no bare knuckle fighter but we can sort of play a picture of how hed operate I think.
We don't know exactly what Sullivan was, beyond his basic style and attributes. Sullivan was primarily a Queensbury fighter, and there must be significant doubts about his ability to beat the greatest bare knuckle fighters of all time. Having said that, a man who beat the best bare knuckle fighters of his era, should always be favorite over somebody who never had a bare knuckle fight, if those are the rules of the fight.
But we're taking max has tho he's come up in the same time frame has Sullivan. I know it's a little hard as Baer s obviously not of that time but I think we can get a rough idea what he'd be like in the ring. Strong guy, decent chin, not sure he'd be quite the playboy in the ring that he was but it was a big part of his personality so he d probably be a joker still, to Sullivan s face.
Pretty much even odds i think...slight advantage to Sullivan...he had a good chin along with everthing else
I keep remembering Corbett’s comments regarding Sullivan. Corbett stated that Sullivan would slap his thigh with his left hand prior to launching his right hand. (Jim would watch for this to avoid that right leading to a terrific straight left he landed that was the first hard blow he landed on John L with great effect). It’s hard for me to imagine that thigh slap and still believe John L could compete with a great puncher like Baer.
Vitali Klitschko uses that exact same tactic against Lennox Lewis though Vitali fires a left after the slap not a right. It is certainly a strange one, but of itself, it doesnt prevent him from being a top contender as you would imagine. The top fighters often do some fundamentally strange things.
