"the fighters were locked in a vicious clinch on the ropes and when the bell rang and Pep retreated to his corner, all could see he was in agony. The ringside physician examined the stricken fighter and diagnosed a dislocated left shoulder"
I’m sure he was discomforted. But In the end he was essentially unable to overcome the summary knotted branch of Saddler’s offence under the generally held rules of the day. It was too long, the road was too rough, the gloves were too small. Today, Pep would repeat his single victory over Saddler for something like the reverse, but Saddler would probably have chased him to lightweight in 1900.
That is a good point Saddler's rough house tactics wouldn't fly today, as you said different era different times.
He might find his way to measuring the referees like Hopkins or Ruenroeng and remain as special but you have to imagine that with a modern referee Pep would be able to bag 7 rounds more often than not.
For my money that’s the best three wins by one fighter at any weight. I realize there’s plenty of room for debate and others will see it differently — but he stopped Pep in three out of four fights — battered him to bits the first time, lost the rematch where Pep boxed brilliantly but shook that off and took Willie to the cleaners twice more.