Alf Greenfield was a specialist under both London Prize Ring rules, and Queensbury rules. He had a reputation for being a scientific fighter, and he was seen as something of a spiritual successor to Jem Mace. He fought Sullivan twice back to back under Queensbury Rules, so both fights will be dealt with in this thread. Greenfield is one of the few fighters that the media gave some sort of chance against Sullivan. He came to prominence after he won a tournament organized by Jem Mace in 1883, to crown a new English Champion, by defeating Jack Burke in the final. He was backed by Richard K Fox of the Police Gazette, who financed his trip to America. He is known to have attended the Laflin fight to scout out Sullivan. He would first meet Sullivan a week later. The first bout took place in Madison Square Garden, and Sullivan was the 10 to 7 favorite. Sullivan was to receive 65% of the receipts and Greenfield 35%. Sullivan's weight was given as 197 or 198lbs depending upon the source, and Greenfield's as 165lbs. Round 1 The bout began with Sullivan forcing the action, and Greenfield circling him, and countering him. At some point Sullivan seems to have caught him in a corner and roughed him up. Greenfield clinched, and fought more cautiously after that. Some sources said that Greenfield landed more punches, but Sullivan forced the fight, and Greenfield ended the round breathing heavily. Round 2 Sullivan became more aggressive, and went after Greenfield, though Greenfield managed a few counters in return. Greenfield retreated, and clinched when Sullivan got close. Sullivan opened up a cut on Greenfield's forehead,some sources said with a punch, others due to a clash of head. Eventually Sullivan caught Greenfield on the ropes, ad at this point the police entered the ring and stopped the fight. The master of ceremonies gave the fight to Sullivan, citing that Sullivan had sparred more scientifically, and that Greenfield had clinched excessively. Both fighters were arrested for prize fighting, tried, and subsequently acquitted. The New York Times wrote that Sullivan had battered down Greenfield's guard, and that "Greenfield would have numbed with the victims of Sullivan who have gone before" if the police captain had not intervened. The New York Sun wrote that "it looked as though the champion had everything his own way, and was going to demolish him." The Tribune wrote that "Sullivan was rapidly worsting the Englishman." The Clipper wrote that "on the score of points it might have been decided a draw"
The second fight took place in Boston, at the Institute Building, four months later. A month previously Sullivan had hired a horse and sleigh, got drunk, and crashed it. The Boston police took a more liberal attitude than their New York counterparts, saying that the fighters could punch as hard as they wanted, as long as thee was no knocking out. Again it was a 65% to 35% split of the receipts. Round 1 Sullivan forced the fight doing most of the leading, and seems to have dominated the round. Greenfield seems to have thrown a lot less returns than in the first fight, perhaps because Sullivan was less restricted by the police. Round 2 Sullivan caught Greenfield in a corner, and pounded him, forcing Greenfield to clinch. Greenfield ducked a right, but caught it on the ear, sending him down. Sullivan seems to have backed off, to avoid police interference. When they resumed, Greenfield clinched a lot. Round 3 Sullivan dropped Greenfield with three blows to the head, and one to the neck. Greenfield rose, and went into survival mode, moving and clinching. Sullivan again caught Greenfield in a corner, and staggered him. Round 4 Grenefield danced around the ring, but Sullivan was described as "hitting him at will." Sullivan wrote in his biography that he carried Greenfield to avoid arrest. Time was called, and the decision was awarded to Sullivan.
I think that we are starting to get a clearer picture of the heavyweight contender ecosystem in Sullivan's era. In the early 1880s the key contenders were largely bare knuckle specialists, such as Goss, Wilson, and Elliot, with Ryan arguable being a hybrid. In the mid 1880s you have a generation of Queensbury specialists coming to the fore, with Greenfiels, Burke, Mitchell and McCaffrey jostling for position. In the late 1880s you have a new batch emerging with Herald, Lannon, Cardiff, Godfrey, and Killrain eventually emerging as the best of the bunch. In the 1890s the Australians start taking over with Slavin, Goddard and Jackson. By now it was perhaps just a matter of which of them got to Sullivan first, and there are a number of interesting what ifs there!
Here is an 1884 article written before Sullivan's proposed gloved fight with Paddy Ryan (there were two). It implies that the obvious challengers were Greenfield, Ryan, Mitchell, and McCaffrey. It also shows that Ryan could be as volatile outside the ring as Sullivan and Elliot! I guess that we have to look at Ryan's gloved career next Monday! https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50425662/?terms=alf+greenfield
