On the face of it the first gloved heavyweight champion and the current No1 heavyweight might appear to be as different as two champions can get, I note certain interesting parallels between their careers however. They both emerged into a vacuum where there was no lineal heavyweight title and had to build one by piecing various title claims together. Historical context I wont bother to tell you about Wladamir Klitschko’s career because you know it as well as I do. However some explanation of the circumstances that John L Sullivan rose to prominence is necessary. Prize fighting had recently been largely stamped out in the UK, and most of the top British fighters had emigrated across the Atlantic where the authorities were less organised and vigilant in harrying them. The world heavyweight title had only come into existence ten years ago when the British champion Jem Mace had defeated the American champion Tom Allen to unify the two titles. Jem Mace like Lennox Lewis 130 years later retired with the title, leaving a vacuum. After the retirement of Mace, Tom Allen and Joe Goss fought for the vacant American title and world title claim with Goss emerging the victor. Sullivan’s road to the lineal title When Sullivan started to fight at the elite level he was a gloved fighter in an era when the legitimacy of gloved bouts were questioned and the title only changed hands on the basis of a win under London Prize Ring Rules. Goss Sullivan Sullivan fought Joe Goss under Queensbury rules and knocked him out but was not generally recognised as the American or world champion because he had beaten him in a gloved bout. This effectively meant that there were two champions, one under Queensbury rules and one under London Prize Ring Rules. Ryan Sullivan Joe Goss subsequently lost to Paddy Ryan under London Prize Ring Rules. Sullivan then defeated Paddy Ryan in a London Prize Ring fight to gain general recognition as the American champion. Sullivan Elliot Although Paddy Ryan had generally been recognised as the American champion, an alternative title claim had been held by Jimmy Elliot from the period when Joe Coburn held the title. After Coburn refused to fight Elliot, the latter tried to get Coburn stripped fought Bill Davis to establish an alternative title claim. Sullivan fought Jimmy Elliot in a unification fight, and showed his disdain for his opponent by wagering $500 that he would knock Elliot out inside four rounds and retaining it. Sullivan Mitchell Since prize fighting had largely been stamped out in the UK and Jem Mace had unified the British and American titles, the British scene had been seen as almost irrelevant to a world title claim. Around the time that Sullivan won the American title however Charlie Mitchell emerged as a strong British contender to claim the vacant British title. This meant that Sullivan had to fight Mitchell to re unify the two title claims, which he did by stopping Mitchell in the third round. Subsequent lineage issues That was largely the end of the matter, but there were lingering questions in some quarters. Some argued that Dominick McCaffrey had an alternative title claim, which was resolved by Sullivan’s subsequent win over McCaffrey. There were also those who argued that since Sullivan had not defeated Mitchell under London Prize Ring Rules he had not unified the British and American titles. A subsequent 39 round draw between the two fighters under London Prize Ring Rules did not settle the matter. The British issue finally evaporated when Jake Killrain was recognised as world champion by the National Police Gazette following his London Prize Ring bout against Jem Smith. Sullivan subsequently defeated Jake Killrain under London Prize Ring Rules to end any question of his supremacy under that rule set. The decline of London Prize Ring Rules and the rise of Sullivan rendered it increasingly irrelevant in any event.
This is an excellent summary, but where do the Australians fit in? Sullivan really should have defended against Larry Foley, and/or later Tom Lees, Bill Farnan, Peter Jackson etc. These guys stood tall against all challengers, and had every bit as good a claim as some of the guys Sullivan actually beat.
I tend to think of the Australian contenders as representing the generation after Goss, Ryan, Mitchell etc. I guess Slade was the first of that generation even if he turned out to be something of a bust.
