Sullivan vs. Fitz in 1897 was a missed opportunity

I get that John L. was 38 and beyond overweight but it could’ve been an opportunity to get film of Sullivan fighting. In his 1896 exhibitions he apparently displayed some of his old speed:

“Everybody thinks of
Sullivan as a man who was
one of the most murderous
hitters of all time. He was that, all right
—but he was a lot more. He
was a good boxer and ex
tremely fast and smart.
“I first saw Sul!i\an in
1896 in a boxing exhibition.
That was about four years
after he had lost his title to
Corbett, and he was well past
his prime. But even then I was
impressed by his nimble foot
work. he wasn't a great
boxer, you understand, but
he was better than average.” - “Dad” Butler,
The prison mirror (Stillwater, Minn.), August 31, 1944

Maybe, if he gave any commitment to training even remotely comparable to how he did against Kilrain, he could’ve made atleast a small fight out of it. Fitz was hurt badly by Maher, Choynski, even Corbett, and he wasn’t exactly unhittable. A lot of his best wins have been after going through adversity.

The end result being in Fitz’s favour is in very little doubt for me but maybe we could’ve gotten a decent (and filmed) fight out of it? A filmed fight with Sullivan could also have given us a better indication of Bob’s skills as Sullivan would be playing Fitz’s game by taking the fight to him unlike Corbett who forced Fitzsimmons to get out of his comfort zone and lead?

 

Apparently the exhibition was a test by Fitzsimmons to see if Sullivan was serious about getting into shape for a title fight between them