Could Kenny hope to hang with a man as tough as Sullivan, a man with the inhuman stamina to go 75 rounds? Who would out tough who?
I tend to favor the bigger dude in these comparisons. I think Norton would probably mop the floor with him. They say Sullivan trained on beer...Norton was a muscleman. But you know, with no film footage of Sullivan around, who can say for sure. That stand-up style common at the turn of the century would not work against modern fighters though, who would cut right through it.
And rounds in those days ended when either combatant went down, even from a push or a slip, so 75 rounds isn't the same then as it would be now. On the other hand, fighting outdoors in July in south Mississippi isn't a bargain either. The humidity is brutal. I'd say Ken Norton > Jake Kilrain, so he's probably have a pretty good chance against a guy who needed 75 rounds to step Kilrain by retirement.
Sullivan wins this by KO in the 1st round under MoQ rules, or within 10 rounds under LPR. A mismatch.
Sullivan was a block of granite, and 6'4" Jose Garcia iced Ken while weighing a stringy 188. Norton tended to start slow against anybody not named Bobick, and there's no way he matches John L. in stamina. The Bostonian was criticized for a lack of foot speed during his prime, not something Kenny would exploit. The first time Sullivan crashes over his right, Norton gets that deer in the headlights "This guy can hurt me!" look, then it's over in short order. John L. was something of a Victorian Tua in power, stamina and stature.
Defintely several Knockdowns in this Pier 6 brawl. The setting, the rough Navy Docks off the San Diego coast.
Hard to really say...Sullivan was a beast in his day...I would favor John in a bare knuckle brawl but favor Ken with the gloves on....but Sullivan was a puncher so he would have a good chance to KO Kenny either way
Kenny did get bounced off the canvas several times in his career, even before Jose Luis Garcia (all 188 lbs. of him). Kenny would definitely be visiting the canvas versus John L. Would have liked to see Ken Norton vs. Mac Foster in 1971.
While Sullivan is hard to asses, it is apparent that he was a terific finisher with blinding hand speed and concusive power. In every respect the worst possible match up for Norton. I personaly think that Sullivan was in the same class as Jack Dempsey as a puncher and a finisher. Unless I am verry much wrong in my assesment of him, her would take Norton out early and easily.
Don't know how a 1970's Norton does against a 1880's Sullivan. If the two came along at the same time and developed in analogy to how they developed in their own time, Sullivan is a hot knife going through butter.
Norton might actualy have more chance in a bareknuckle fight. At least then he would be able to go down and get a 30 second breather whenever he was in trouble. Sullivan was a queensbury rules fighter who specialzed in getting you on the canvas for ten seconds. If you offered him a choice of ruleset he would undoubtedly ask to fight with gloves.
