How far could John L Sullivan have gone if he hadn't fallen to drink and to cards?

It was the cards that got him. Shuffle, shuffle, deal.......shuffle, shuffle, deal. Ruined many a man.

 

This is all hypothetical but assuming that he did all the right things, training hard, eating right, fought more often, avoiding booze, women, etc, he might have reigned for a long time and yes even beaten Corbett. He was well ahead of his time in boxing back then

 

Interesting question.

I think that at his best he might well have been able to beat anybody before Jeffries.

Having said that, even with perfect training habits, his style was never suited to longevity.

Given his age, I think it is highly likely that Corbett was just the right man, with the right style, at the right time.

 

I’d steal @janitor ’s cat if it meant John L was fit and healthy enough after his career to have done a filmed exhibition.

 

Really hard to say. Maybe the JJ C fight becomes a close contested one and John L brings him down, as Fitz did?

 

John L wsa a man of honor and dignity.

He knew it would be unfair to fight a man without first going on a months-long bender to even the odds a bit.