Two renowned tough guy's who didnt want to spend too much time chasing down Fancy Dans but much preferred to get straight down to the Toe-to-Toe Trading, both confident in their ability to own the 'Phone Booth' Sullivan was a known tough guy, but Tony was not shy when it came to the Rough Stuff, as Lou Nova could attest. John L often challenged..."I can lick any SOB in the Saloon..." But what if that Saloon was Barkeeper Tony Galento's place...? The Boston Strong Boy or Tough Two Ton Tony ...?
Can't draw accurate conclusions on Sullivan as there is no film of him and only a sketchy record of his professional career on paper. He was probably a very tough man in a general sort of sense however. But yes, a lot of his opponents were more or less local strong men or brawlers and certainly nothing like the more developed and professionally handled fighters who Galento fought when boxing was a far more organized sport half a century later... Both men were close to the same height. Tony outweighed Sullivan for most of their careers, though both men had plenty of fights where they weren't in ideal shape, though Sullivan's came later in his career while Galento's was more due to poor training habits. Both men were known as crude fighters who weren't foreign to such tactics as thumbing, head butting, etc.. And both had street fighter backgrounds.. The rules for such a match up would be the most complicated part in determining this bout. Perhaps a neutral set of agreed upon regulations would have to be put in place as the sport was drastically different between their respective eras.. That said I might favor Tony on the basis of having faced what was arguably better opposition. I'm not even certain that Sullivan ever fought men who were as good as Lou Nova or Nathan Mann, with the exception of Jim Corbett who fought him when he was shot and beat him convincingly.
Sullivan was way too fast and powerful for Tony. Galento was very tough, so he probably would have absorbed a bit of a beating before going out, but Sullivan would have stopped him.
Going only on what I've read,[what else can you do?] I pick Sullivan as the faster, straighter puncher he was said to be very quick into range and Galento moved like he was wearing boots filled with cement.Tony was a very tough man with genuine power ,I just tend to think John L was a bit better in all departments.
Sullivan had a huge advantage in conditioning, speed and over all talent .. I completely agree Sullivan had next to no professional training but his hand speed, chin, power, strength and stamina were unquestioned ..I see him blasting Tony out of there ...
Galento underrated, he had some good wins and power. Sullivan was the best of the Bare Knuckle days but there were no Galento's around then ...Hard to say throw in Tom Sharkey, Sam Langford and Quawi and we got a tournament
