I have brought up this topic numerous times with little reply and now have decided to dive into with a bit of effort. As is well known, John L had many a ring appearance after losing to Corbett in New Orleans. Most are listed as exhibitions, tho I am not sure if they were seen as such at the time. It is interesting to wonder what were John's motivations for these bouts. Was he testing the waters for a comeback? Were the paydays for these things sufficient to the risk or effort? On August 31, 1896, he squared off for 3 1-minute rounds with Tom Sharkey. According to accounts, he had Sharkey befuddled, landing 5 punches to Tom's 3, both out hitting and outboxing Tom. John L. was described as "enormously fat" and "hog fat". Looking into more of these as time goes on. Anyone else run across reports of the exhibitions?
I have never really found too many actual reports, with the exception of the Jim McCormack fight. I would love to see any info found and/or was hoping there was a new book coming out soon that might cover it in a bit of detail.
I was just going to mention the McCormack fight... Surely, this was no exhibition. Sullivan KO'd "Texas" Jack McCormack in the 2nd of a scheduled 4. Sullivan was a svelte 273 pounds and eagerly challenged Fitzsimmons (for which a $10,000 offer was put up) and Jeffries afterward the affair.
It's hard to pin down what happened in the Sullivan-Sharkey bout, because there are reports that say Sullivan outscored him, but others which say that Sullivan was so fat and slow that he was almost helpless, and that Sharkey just danced around him making little attempt at either defence or attack. McCormack claimed later that he'd come in expecting a sparring exhibition and that Sullivan took him by surprise. Sounds like a great performance by an old fat guy, though. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085421/1905-03-14/ed-1/seq-6/
Most writers noted that Sharkey was very quick on his feet in that exhibition, but as Macon McCormick expressed it: "He was very active on his feet, but his activity more resembled that of a hen on a hot griddle than that of a "heady," intelligent fighter." New York World was of similar opinion: "As the gong rang Sharkey crouched low and ran in at Sullivan. His step was nimble and dancing, but it seemed to lack any definite aim. No dancing master could be lighter on his toes or swifter in his movements." But still John L. had no trouble finding him.
In the fighters I meet, by Tom Sharkey he mentions sparring with Sullivan. Sullivan was too far gone, and this was Sharkey's idol. It was a very friendly type of sparring that ended with Sullivan telling Sharkey he was glad to meet him and he could be the champion. Sharkey never focused on defense, but he had quick feet. Fast enough to track down and get the better of quick-footed fighters like Corbett, McCoy, and Choynski and it did not take him a lot of rounds to turn the tides his way.
On the McCormack bout the article below says that Sullivan badly needed money and agreed to step into the ring with McCormack. The fact he managed to ko him was a great feat indeed. They might of called it an exhibition to avoid the law. Since no one would want to see Sullivan in a real fight at that time. Like when he was going to fight Fitz but the police stopped it before it began. Sullivan probably gained back some of his old confidence after knocking out a young strong challenger. So much so he probably thought he could still land and KO either Fitz or Jeffries. So yes I think Sullivan was planning a comeback but only after the McCormack win. http://www.secondsout.com/columns/thomas-hauser/john-l-sullivan-revisited-part-3
One wonders what a prime Sullivan would have done in the first decade of the new century. I know he commented about how boxing had evolved from his time to that of Jeffries'. But I am not so sure he could't make the adjustment with ease. He was a very natural athlete and a natural born fighter.
