Lil Arthur vs. the Boston Strong Boy. Johnson vs Sullivan

I guess either Sullivan stops Johnson, or Johnson manages to spoil his way to a decision win.

 

Off the bat, I'm inclined to think Johnson. The scientific fighters fighters Sully beat were generally just overpowered by speed and strength against Sullivan.
This would be a very different type of fight for Sullivan, I think.

But I don't want to sell Sullivan short, because by any measure he was a great champion too. It's hard to relate to a fighter I've never seen fight.

 

You would be justified in saying that Johnson fought in a deeper era, but that doesn’t mean that he was a better talent himself. Both these guys are standouts, and sometimes the weaker era produces the best standout.

 

Sullivan had absolutely no boxing training of any sort. Zero. In any organized bout Johnson would tie him into knots and completely thrash him ...

Sullivan was an exceptional physical talent. He had tremendous stamina, strength, hand speed, an iron chin and that rarest of rare, true one punch KO power. If Sullivan were actually trained as a professional fighter there is no doubt in my mind he had the skills to be one of the greatest cruiser weights that ever lived ... as was, he was far closer to a tough guy champion than a champion prize fighter in the Q of A rules ..

 

Choynsky wrote that Sullivan hit much harder than he himself did which is quite a compliment and that he had a very fast right hand ..I don't debate either ,,, in act they are part of the sill set that could be made exceptional ... I simply say Sullivan in his entire career never once fought and defeated a top caliber fighter in accordance with the M of Q rules, ever. His legendary wins were all under British bare knuckle rules that included wrestling, throwing, kicking, ext .. to me the greatest testament to his credibility was going 21 rounds with an absolute prime Corbett , taking terrible punishment along the way, while he was so far past his own best ...

 

Johnson had a poor opinion of Sullivan, but a good one of his successors.

I think HE Grant is on the money, John L was a natural fighter ,fast getting into range ,with true one punch power,but not schooled in defence , he relied on a tremendous rush to carry all before him.
He couldnt begin to match Johnson for science and so would have to catch him with his right ,or wear him down for a stoppage.

Many of Sullivan's victims would have made Chuvalo look like Willie Pep.John had very real power, but he knocked over a lot of " Lamar Clark "type opposition
The assumption that Sullivan was stronger than Johnson is just that, an assumption.

Wrestling with Johnson was liable to get your nose broken by uppercuts inside . Johnson was in front after 20 rds with the gigantic Willard and he was then 37 years old.
If Jack could hold his own in the clinches, [which I think is more than likely,] Sullivan would be in for a frustrating night of it.

Johnson had taken the art of self defence to a level that Sullivan had never envisaged.Jack was bigger ,stronger ,and hit a lot harder than Corbett who might always have had Sullivan's number.
Power is only useful if you can land it.
Punchers like McVey never troubled Johnson ,though they some times outweighed him by 25 lbs.

I have to go with Jack here .
There is no one on Sullivan's winning ledger that gives Johnson cause to break a sweat imo.
An exhausted Sullivan finally succumbs to a trio of uppercuts and sinks to the floor.

 

Sullivan was the last of the bare knuckle champs who made the physical transition to wearing gloves but never came close to mastering the M of Q game. Again, he never had a championship fight against any form of quality fighter, ever, under M of Q rules before Corbett .. the Charlie Mitchel , the Paddy Ryan, the Jake Kilran bouts were all bare knuckle rules. Wrestling, kicking, tripping, throwing, pulling of hair, punching all allowed ... no set round durations ... a completely different sport. To compare him to Johnson, an absolute master at the M of Q is basically throwing him into a bull fight.

I believe Sullivan had the skills to have been an exception fighter under the M of Q rules if he ever learned them and controlled his terrible drinking. The mere fact that he survived as long as he did is truly astonishing as the abuse he put his body through is mind boggling ... he was a physical freak of nature. His speed, power, chin, heart, strength and stamina were off the charts ...