Sullivan fight of the week Sullivan Wilson

Many of you will know that Tug Wilson was the only man to win the $1000 for lasting the distance with John L Sullivan, and the bout has become infamous due to Wilson's use of negative tactics to survive at any cost. For this reason Wilson is very lightly regarded among Sullivan's opponents. The truth however seems to be somewhat more complex. What has surprised me when looking more closely at this fight, is that Wilson was seen as a legitimate threat to Sullivan, and that Sullivan was forced to take the fight to shore up his credibility as champion!

In both June and July of 1882, the New York Times stated that the only fighter who could stand up to Sullivan, was the English fighter Alf Greenfield. The previous year however, Greenfield fought Tug Wilson. The fight was ended when Greenfield's backers broke into the ring in the 28th round, and was declared a technical draw, but the newspapers said that Wilson had the better of it.

After Sullivan defeated Paddy Ryan he made the following declaration:

"The said that I was only a gloved fighter, and that I was afraid to fight with bare knuckles. For that reason I consented to fight Ryan as I did. I think that I have proved that I can fight with my knuckles, and now anybody who wants to tackle me, will have to do it in my fashion."

Following this declaration, the National Police Gazette withdrew its recognition of Sullivan as champion, and named Tug Wilson as "The Police Gazette Champion". Yes you read that right! The Herald described Sullivan as the American Champion, and Wilson as the British Champion. Sullivan agreed to box an exhibition with Wilson, on the understanding that Wilson would receive a bare knuckle fight if his performance merited it. The New York Herald wrote that:

"The pretense of calling it a gloved contest was as thin as the gloves the mean wore, and deceived no one."

 

The fight:

The fight took place two weeks after Sullivan defended his title against Jimmy Elliot. Sullivan was 23, and Wilson 34. Wilsons weight was given as 157lbs, while one source hut Sullivan at 194lbs and another at 215lbs. Sullivan offered Wilson $1000 plus half the gate receipts, if he could last the four round distance. Back then $1000 was a years salary for a bank clerk as far as I can judge. The Times said that 2oz gloves were worn, but the Tribune stated 4oz gloves were used.

Round 1:
The New York Herald wrote that "Sullivan downed Wilson every few seconds until the ninth knockdown". The New York Times wrote that "ten times during the first round, Wilson was either was pushed down or fell down, but was not knocked down". The New York Sun wrote that "eleven times during the round, Wilson was knocked down by blows that battered his head, beat upon his neck, and drove the wind out of his lungs.

Round 2:
The Herald said that Wilson went down eight times. The Times said that Wilson was pushed down six times. The Sun said that Wilson was knocked down ten times.

Round 3:
Wilson seems to have clinched a lot, and employed wrestling tactics in this round. Sullivan seems to have been thrown, and Wilson seems to have been dropped twice. Wilson received some praise for his clever defensive tactics in this round.

Round 4:
The Sun said that Wilson was dropped, fell or was knocked down seven times.

Wilson survived the four rounds to claim the $1000, and he was down anywhere from 21-24 times.

The Herald wrote:
"It was clear that Wilson's sole intention was to survive the four rounds, using whatever means were necessary to that end, even if his tactics might cast aspersions on his courage."

The Times wrote:
"Sullivan's pushing, swinging, mauling and fouling tactics were what caused Wilson to drop to the ground so often", and that he "took an unfair advantage by striking him before he was fully upon his feet."

The Tribune wrote:
"Sullivan forced the fighting in tremendous style, raining crushing blows upon Wilson's neck and head, and knocking him all about the platform, against the ropes, and upon the floor. Wilson was down almost as much as he was up. The thundering strokes which he received again and again, seemed enough to knock a dozen men senseless."

Ex Senator Tim McCarthy said:
"Wilson went in merely for the money, and he got it by sticking to Wilson as long as he could, and when he went to grass he took the full benefit of his knockdown".

Sullivan said:
"It hardly could be called a fight, for Wilson was only interested in floor crawling and hugging."

So that is as clear as mud then!

 

The aftermath:

A rematch was scheduled for August of the same year, but the authorities prohibited it. A lawyer advising the Mayors Office said the the previous fight "had not been legal sparring, but an illegal prize fight, and therefore so to would the upcoming contest."

After the fight Jimmy Elliot, who Sullivan had previously defeated in a gloved bout, challenged Sullivan to a bare knuckle fight. When Sullivan refused he claimed the American title. The National Police Gazette proposed to match Elliot and Wilson for the vacant title, but Wilson declined to take part and returned to England.

Although Wilson lasted the distance to claim the $1000, his reputation was tarnished, and "doing a Tug Wilson" later became a metaphor for fighting to survive. Sullivan;'s reputation seems to have lost a little luster, but Wilson's failure to mount an effective challenge for his title, as only seen as underlining his superiority.

 

I don't think that we can rate Wilson very highly as a contender, if only because he was not there to win.

Surprisingly, he does seem to have been regarded as a serious contender at the time.

I guess that whether Wilson was any good or not, Sullivan did what he should have done, and dominated him.

I can't see Wilson having made it out of the first round today.

 

My three threads to date, have been more to provide context than anything else.

There were no Queensbury specialists before Sullivan.

The first generation of Queensbury specialists, were contemporaneous with him, and he was a young man when he won the title.

What I hope you will take away from this thread is the following:

1. The key fights of the era were often billed as exhibitions for legal reasons, including the fights that decided the future direction of the division.

2. These are the kind of details that you cannot pick up through Boxrec.

3. Sullivan was under pressure both to fight under bare knuckle rules, and to conform to the laws that banned prize fighting.

4. Sullivan was a Queensbury specialist, who only fought with bare knuckles, when it was unavoidable from a career standpoint.

 

In what other era could "this guy" have been knocked down 20+ times in four rounds, and been allowed to finish?

I don't think that sh1t would have been tolerated even in the Dempsey era!

But as I have said, the last three threads were more to set the scene than anything else.

We have looked at:

1. Sullivan beating the reigning champion in a gloved bout.
2. Sullivan beating the reigning champion in a bare knuckle bout.
3. Sullivan fighting the Police Gazette's Champion, to shore up his title claim.

We left out:

The Sullivan Elliot fight, because Elliott was a bare knuckle specialist like the others, but I did not see it as politically relevant.

As Sullivan's reign progressed, more Queensbury specialists would emerge, and we will see that in later threads

 

Will you at least allow me to lay out my case before deciding?

 

The first cracks in his sobriety were showing at this point. He was fined for verbally abusing a police officer around this time. He also got into a fight with a man in a bar, and broke his jaw. He was charged with assault, but was he was acquitted, after witnesses said that the other man started it.