Jess Willard vs John L Sullivan. 25 rounds, 22 x 22 ring, Queensberry Rules.

If Sullivan was what I think he was (quite a big if), then he would have taken Willard.

 

I think Sullivan by TKO here don't know when cause Willard could take it when at his best. Based on reports Sullivan is too fast and hits too hard for Willard he could probably close the distance and do damage inside like Dempsey did.

 

Sullivan broke his left arm in the Patsy Cardiff fight, and the arm later had to be re broken and reset.

You don’t regain most of the mobility of your arm, after an injury like this, even today.

So Sullivan probably didn’t have a great left at this point, and nobody should be surprized.

 

I don't take much stock in what Corbett thought of Sullivan. They both hated each other so they were both unfair in how they judged each other's skills. I don't know how Sullivan's defense is comparable to Dempsey so you might have something there.

 

History has been very kind to Jim Corbett, because he wrote it.

Corbett was a brilliant self-publicist, who outlived most of his contemporaries, and these two facts have placed a significant distortion upon boxing history.

 

In his prime Sullivan could use both hands effectively, from all accounts.

 

Sullivan late KO

 

Corbett even said that a left thrown by a frail Sullivan would have KO'd him but had just missed its mark.