He was no held in very high regard compared to the best men of the previous generation either. I have seen an article saying that he he was in the class of a prime Joe Goss for example. It seems to have been seen as a transitional era. Even so, you see contemporary observers describing him as things like "a marvel of strength and cleverness."
I would add that there is a very strong argument for saying that Ryan was the lineal champion. The argument for starting the lineage with Sullivan, would be that he unified everything, and put it beyond question. If you accept the top two guys fighting for the vacant title, as starting a new lineage, then Mace, Goss and Ryan are all lineal heavyweight champions.
Intrigued by the writeup. Does anyone know the finer points of the strategy behind going down on purpose to avoid punishment? Sounds like it was a big part of Goss' repertoire. How long were the breaks between rounds? (were they even standardized?) Roughly how many hard punches were thrown and landed in a given round?
Under London Prize Ring rules, a round ended when somebody was knocked or thrown to the ground. A round could last seconds, or it could be more than an hour. When a round ended, a fighter had 30-38 seconds depending on the rules, to come up to scratch (a line). If his seconds picked him up, carried him to the scratch, and he could stand o his one two feet, then he had beaten the count. Given this generous provision for recovery, it was very common to go down deliberately, when you were in trouble.
Thanks a lot. It sounds like Goss repeatedly went down in rounds where he wasn't even really in trouble though, if I understand the writeup correctly. Would there be any strategic reasons to do so? And did it have any impact on the scoring?
What are my intentions, oh wise one, beyond intellectual curiosity? How often does Ryan get discussed here? Am I not free to add to this discussion? If there was a mention in the board bylaws of such a prohibition, forgive me.
I have seen reports of Ryan being 5-11 as well as 6-1 and change. FYI. Not to distract from the erudite nature of the thread. Also, and probably another distraction on my part, are Blackened Glove fights to be properly included in fighter's records?
There was no scoring, it was a fight to the finish. I've heard of it being done when they tire to to get a rest, but it's also possible Goss was just better at spotting a threat than the writers.
There was no scoring. It basically came down to who was the first man who could not beat the 30+ second count! If you were in any sort of trouble, it made sense to go down. That is why there were so few quick knockouts under this rule set!
The more you ready about the bareknuckle guys the more you realize just what a different sport it was from M of Q bouts ..
The important facts to remember are that Ryan had to last 90 minutes and 87 rounds to stop a 43 or 44 year old (depending on reports) 155-178 pound (depending on reports) Joe Goss.
The important facts to remember are that I found some information I found interesting, stuff that I've not seen written about online, then put time and effort into sharing that information in a nice way, and all some people will do is **** all over it.