To John Lawrence Sullivan , known as The Boston Strongboy , he can be considered as the great heavyweight champion in boxing history… with the London Prize Ring Rules , without gloves, and also with the Marquis of Queensberry Rules , with gloves, which can be considered the basis of the current. In addition, he was the first American athlete to get more than a million dollars in prize money.
Born in Boston to Irish immigrant parents, Sullivan earned the nickname Strong Boy fighting in the streets of his neighborhood. Although boxing matches were prohibited in the US, Sullivan gained prestige by playing clandestine matches and in 1882 he disputed the unofficial championship in Gulfport (Mississippi) against the Irish Paddy Ryan . He defeated him and Sullivan became the first US champion. The following year, and for a year, he was touring the country defending the title, challenging left and right and even going so far as to offer a cash prize to anyone who could last four rounds on their feet... only one man got the prize.
But the fight that concerns us took place on July 8, 1889. He faced the champion against Jake Kilrain , younger and less given to alcohol than Sullivan, and he would be the last to compete without gloves. Initially it was going to be held in New Orleans but the authorities found out and banned it, so that it would not happen again all the preparations were made in secret:the small city of Richburg was chosen. (Mississippii) in which the sheriff turned a blind eye for 200 dollars and the spectators, after paying 15 dollars, boarded the trains that would take them to the fight without knowing their destination. Sullivan arrived at the fight looking like he hadn't slept for several days and as if he had just come out of a whiskey barrel, something not unusual, and Kilrain fresh as a rose... at 10:30 in the morning the carnage began. Punches flew back and forth, some even illegal, in the fourth round – which lasted 15 minutes – Sullivan's ear hung like a rag, Kilrain's eyes bulged, the challenger tried to stay away from the powerful blows of his rival, the whiskey that Sullivan carried in his body – and that he continued to drink with tea between rounds – no longer made him feel the blows but in round number 44 Sullivan started throwing up...it seemed like the end:
Just whiskey, don't give me more tea... I feel bad - He said to his brewer.
After more than two hours of pounding – the rounds ended when a boxer fell or when he put a knee on the ground in order to catch his breath for a count of 30 seconds –, and with blisters on his back from the scorching sun, the assault arrived. 75!!! ... Mike Donovan, Kilrain's setup man, threw in the towel. The champion retained the title and won it again in the glove mode until he was defeated in 1892 by Jim Corbett.