Is there anyone who saw John L. Sullivan AND Muhammad Ali fight?

Being alive and sufficiently cognisant to have witnessed both is obviously possible. However, other logistics make it less likely.

For another thing, was there a min. age limit for those attending bare knuckle fights back in the day?

I’m guessing there might’ve been - or, at least informally, viz: it might not have been considered the done thing to have kids there…though being a kid back then didn’t necessarily preclude you from other adult pursuits - like fighting in a war.

 

I just looked at a John L. Sullivan fight picture. Nobody in the crowd looks younger than 30 years old to me. I highly doubt if anyone saw John L., and (later) Muhammad Ali, fight in person.

 

The biggest obstacle here isn't the timetable or it being possible its the semi legal nature of boxing in the early 1880s. The sort of people who went to a boxing match in the early 1880s are not the sort of people who would be living in the early 1960s. Also Sullivan did not have many major fights which would draw major crowds. So we're starting with a rather small group.

But they both fought at different versions of MSG? Thats a connection there maybe. But I don't think early 1960s MSG crowds are really local NYC crowds full of people who've been watching fights for checks notes....80 years. Lets take it a step furtther how many witnesses of Sullivan fights were even alive in like 1963 regardless?

 

Was the guy Sam or Al from Quantum Leap?

lol j/k I loved that series.