Sullivan vs. Louis - Does John L. stand a chance?

Modern rules?

We don't have enough Sullivan footage to intelligently reconstruct how he fought. We have hints. Those hints suggest he was just too divergent from modern boxing to win.

 

Maybe not; it's a fair point. Though if we look at footage of Corbett, he ain't quite modern, either.

 

I've always felt Sullivan had true talent ... speed, power, a chin, killer instinct, strength and stamina but to me he practiced a different version of the sport and Louis would have diced him up and stopped him in a few rounds ... under London rules he would have destroyed Louis ... again no knock on Sullivan who if he was properly trained and developed in the sport forty years later may have been a terror ..

 

The answer is no.

John L would famously saunter into a bar and announce that he could lick any sonuva ***** in the house.

Well Joe Louis was no sonuva *****, so Sullivan wouldn’t stand a chance.

 

My first observation must be that we have a very clear idea what Louis was, but we don't have a very clear idea what Sullivan was.

There are many plausible interpretations of what Sullivan was, and some of them might have stood a chance against Louis

 

it's a fight and he looks to have good hand speed so he stands a chance but i can't see him dealing with that caliber of opposition with the modern rules (modern meaning the last 120 years)

 

I think, based on what people who saw him fight had to say, that Prime John L. Sullivan was likely better than many today give him credit for. With that said, I would pick Prime Joe Louis to win most times, in a series, against any other boxer who ever lived.

 

Louis would knock out Sullivan with ease in the early rounds...

 

Based on what?

 

I'd pick John L. Sullivan to mop the floor with Louis,,,,in a Bar.