Why isn't John L Sullivan ranked above Ali?

You have to be trolling, but I’ll feed you…whilst I do think that Sullivan gets underrated and overlooked on this forum as a hole, as he was arguably as dominant as any champion of any weight class that fought post his era, he can’t be considered higher ranked than Ali…now while I’ll concede that Ali gets overrated in general, it can’t be denied that not only was he a dominant champion that essentially lapped his division and lost 3 prime years, he also carried the sport on his back alone for nearly 2 decades

 

Of course you do.

 

But going to self promotion, did Ali do it better then Dempsey or Sullivan?? Maybe, maybe not. This is a world pre TV. Ali could have gone on TV and yelled there will be a thriller and a killer when I get the gorilla in Manilla. which he did to sell the 3rd Frazier fight. Dempsey and Sullivan did not have that. Hell Sullivan did not even have radio and was a new thing for Dempsey. Yet still people came to see Sullivan fight in large numbers in both the US and his European tour. and Dempsey??? The guy was making million $ gates and having large crowds going to his fights and having records that would not be broken in 67 years. Somehow these 2 and other guys in their eras where able to get their message across for their title fights. I see Ali and the later guys having TV to help sell their fights being a big impact then earlier. Did Mayweather's recent fights make more money and drew in of a crowd and views then Ali Foreman??

 

It's just one of the many questions that you ask yourself during your lifetime of which you'll never
know the answer. It's bewildering, I tell you, really bewildering.

 

I avoid thinking about it. One time when I made the mistake of trying to figure it all out, it pushed me into insomnia over several days. It twisted me up more than John L’s moustache.

 

They say Pierre Coetzer tried thinking about it once. He had no hair on his upper lip when he began. You know the rest.

 

Do you think todays guys know how to fight a guy with such a amazing Moustache??? One wrong jab and your entire hand could end up tangle and twisted in the Great John L's moustache. Lewis could have his hands all tied up in Sullivan's moustache leaving him open for a over hand right.

 

Indeed. The infamous flytrap defense. It's the reason the early guards were so low. The arms protect the body, while the mustache shields the face.