What if John Sullivan fought Jim Corbett under the bare knuckle rules he was used to fighting under?

That we know of.

I suspect that in reality they did not have very many.

The toll that they took on the body must have been terrible.

 

The old rules might have benefitted Sullivan. But the bigger problem was that he fought Corbett in old age and after years of inactivity. It was also speculated that he had a drinking problem

 

I hope that last sentence was dramatic irony!

 

In many cases, they probably didn't have many LPR bouts, in my less than informed opinion. Egan knew a lot of the people in the scene of the time, and he doesn't talk as if Cribb, Molineaux, et al had a hundred extra bouts hiding somewhere.

 

If one or the other insisted on LPRR rules, the fight never would have happened. John thought that the ruleset gave wily, scientific fighters more opportunities to run around and stall; and he knew that Corbett would go out of his way to study and exploit the rules for supreme effect. On the other hand, if Sullivan wanted the bareknuckle bout; Corbett (even as the challenger) would have big-brothered him in negotiations like he did with Peter Jackson in order to weasel out of it.

Just for the sake of the thread though, Jim would instantly break his brittle hands on John L.'s big hard head and spend the the next 60 rounds being the most annoying person in the world. I could imagine him dropping to one knee to end the round each time Sullivan would attempt one of his bull rushes. They would just agree to a draw at some point, or the ref would get tired of watching it and rule it a no decision.

 

We are seeing a return of the "exhibition", and not in a good way.

Back then it was used as a means to circumvent laws against boxing, and today it is used to create fights that would never be sanctioned,

 

Gloves and sparring go back a long way.

Boxing happened in barns and on village greens, throughout the 19th century.

I suspect that finish fights were always rare, because of the toll that they took on the body.

A professional ultra runner, will quit in a 100 mile race, once they realize the they are not going to finish in the top five.

This has allowed me to beat some of the best ultra runners on the planet!

 

Yep.

I agree.

 

How so ? Lol

 

I assume that you understand that Sullivan drank enough to kill a small T rex at this point!

 

Yeah that’s a problem