Dempsey knocked out bigger men and was tested v a big puncher like Firpo, there wasn`t much depth in Sullivan`s era, training was very poor at that stage and trainers didn`t have much knowledge.
Sullivan seems to have knocked out many big men himself, I never actually realized how many genuine heavyweights he fought until reading In the ring: with John L. Sullivan. I’ll try finding a few for examples, but it seems like he fought as many big heavyweights as Dempsey did.
But their conditioning wouldn`t have been that good and they may have been late KO`s due to unlimited rounds, plus it was bareknuckle.
Here’s some I could info I could find on Sullivan’s opponents: 300 pound Sylvester La Gouriff (1884) KO1 5’11 200-220 pound Paddy Ryan, regarded by many at the time as being pretty scientific. (1882-86, early KO wins by Sullivan) 194 pound Henry Higgins (1882) KO3 6’2 220 pound Herbert Slade (1883) KO3 195 pound Morris Hefey (1883) KO1 6’1 189 pound Jack Curley (1879) late KO 6’1 205 pound Jack Stewart (1881) KO1 or 3 6’1 200 pound Frederick Crossley (1881) KO1 6 foot 190 pound Dan Henry (1884) KO1 6’2 210 pound John Laflin (1884) KO4 5’11 195 pound Jake Kilrain (1889) KO76
Not really, Sullivan barely had bare knuckle fights. These are early KOs in gloved fights for the most part. With regards to conditioning, it varies by opponent. Many of these men were already established athletes or worked in gruelling trades like blacksmiths, or had some boxing experience already. Sullivan’s high profile opponents had solid conditioning and training camps though.
It seems like Dempsey has knocked out more big men, but not drastically more. Besides, were men like Willard and Fulton were much more skilled than Ryan or Slade? Frankly, I doubt it.
I think, based on what we know (and do not know), it is probably impossible to say (at least with any degree of certainty). I suspect that Jack Dempsey may have had the edge, but I am by no means sure.
I'm guessing Dempsey, but not by a lot. If you read Adam Pollack's 'In the Ring ... Sullivan', it does seem as though Sullivan's push to KO an opponent was sometimes moderated by local legal/policing conditions. Sometimes an 'exhibition' would be tolerated, but a KO would be taken as strong evidence that the boxers were engaged in an (illegal) contest.
Clearly Dempsey. He has the record for the most 1st round KOs. He is the more dangerous finisher and was absolutely vicious.
Dempsey. Dempsey finished most of his major opponents and usually did it within the 4 round distance that was so common in Sullivans day. Sullivans total KO rate is a little higher than Dempseys but against his top gloved opponents it is closer to 0. Mitchell is the only big KO he got and Mitchell weighed 150 pounds. Sullivan going 70 rounds with Kilrain(bare knuckle or not) and 20 with Corbett makes Sullivan look durable but doesn't make him look like a great finisher.
A very difficult comparison to make. Everybody who fought Sullivan either went into survival mode or got destroyed, but we are not sure exactly how good his opponents were. In Dempsey's case a few people had significant success surviving him, but they were bigger than Sullivan's opponents, and quite possibly better. We have a much clearer idea how good Dempsey looked on film, and how good his opponents looked on film.
