John L Sullivan today

Sullivan probably overdoses before he can enter any title picture, considering how many easily accessible hard drugs there are.

 

Reading the old newspapers, he might have been in his own day.

I was reading some San Francisco papers from the late 1890's, and I surprised to see there were still all kinds of articles on what Sullivan was doing. I am not talking about fights or something which should be of interest, but stuff like Sullivan helping a lady put a wheel back on her wagon. He seems to have been an American version of the British royals. Constant coverage.

 

I read this old newspaper comparing Dempsey’s popularity to Sullivan’s, and the writer didn’t think they were particularly close in that sense. Sullivan was THAT huge back in the day.

 

In this day, I imagine that John L would be the BKFC heavyweight champion. The current champion, to my understanding, is making $500,000/fight. John L seemed to be a colorful figure and he would probably make more.

 

A few days ago, Dana White called Conor the Ali of MMA. I feel like Sullivan is a much more appropriate comparison, given how both pushed their respective sports into the mainstream while eventually succumbing to alcoholism and inactivity.

 

Depends on how good the contenders were that he was destroying

42 fights 28 of them debutees, but lets say they had fought before, to what standard?
Then we have the weight differential. several of his more well known opponents were middleweights.
Would Sullivan ,as he was be able to beat
David Bey
Greg Page
Ossie Ocasio
Stan Ward
Jeff Merrit

 

The more I think about it, the more I think Ryan Garcia resembles John L. more than any other boxer today. The drunken antics, making headlines daily.