JOHN L. “BOSTON STRONGBOY” SULLIVAN V.
JAMES “GENTLEMAN JIM” CORBETT
Sept. 7, 1892
New Orleans, LA
Summary of Sullivan v Corbett
John L. Sullivan, one of the most celebrated Americans of the nineteenth century, officially stepped into the
ring for the final time on September 7, 1892. The flabby champion, a symbol of Gilded Age excesses, faced a fit
San Franciscan with a perfect pompadour named James J. Corbett. “Gentleman Jim,” as he would eventually be
known, learned to fight not in the streets but at a sparring club. He even had a few years of college behind him.
The great John L. never had much of a chance. From the fifth round on, Corbett toyed with him, finally
delivering the decisive blow in the twenty-first round. “[Sullivan] lowered his guard from sheer exhaustion, and
catching a fearful smash on the jaw, reached to the ropes, and the blood poured down his face in torrents and
made a crimson river across the broad chest,” a newspaper wrote. “His eyes were glassy, and it was a mournful
act when the young Californian shot his right across the jaw and Sullivan fell like an ox.” Afterwards Sullivan
was his usual convivial self, telling a cub reporter named Theodore Dreiser that “I’m ex-champion of the world,
defeated by that little dude from California, but I’m still John L. Sullivan—ain’t that right? Haw! haw! They
can’t take that away from me, can they? Haw! haw! Have some more champagne, boy.” Dreiser admitted, “I
adored him.”
The Sullivan-Corbett fight, staged eight years before the dawn of the twentieth century, was a glimpse of the
modern future. It was held inside a stadium illuminated with electric lights in the heart of an urban center, in
this instance New Orleans. The behavior within the ring was regulated by the (allegedly) civilizing rules
devised by the Marquis of Queensbury: The fighters wore padded gloves, fought three-minute rounds followed
by one-minute rest periods, and were allowed ten seconds to recover from knockdowns. The behavior outside
the ring was supervised by police officers upholding the municipal ordinances of New Orleans, which, always
ahead of its time in the celebration of the flesh, had sanctioned Queensberry fights two years earlier. The city’s
former mayor had no qualms about announcing the fighters’ weights before the match.
The glorious era of illegal bare-knuckle boxing in America was over…
http://www.tnr.com/book/review/lords-the-ring
1892 Sullivan vs. Corbett Full Ticket.
On September 9, 1892, World Heavyweight Champion John L. Sullivan defended his title against James J. Corbett
at the Olympic Club in New Orleans. This was a much anticipated match and the first World Heavyweight Title
Fight to be decided with the combatants wearing boxing gloves. Sullivan, aging and battling to stay in shape, could
not keep up with the adept boxing skills of the younger Corbett. Sullivan was stopped in the twenty-first round and
Corbett was the new Champion.
http://www.icollector.com/1892-Sullivan-vs-Corbett-Full-Ticket_i6063339
John L. Sullivan, champion pugilist of the world by J. Cameron.
New York: Published by Currier & Ives, c1883; lithograph.
Inscription: Born at Boston, Mass. 1858 Height , 5ft. 10 1/2 inches Weight 196 pounds
Beat Donaldson with hard gloves at Cincinnati O. Dec. 28 th 1880. Purse $500.
Beat Flood “on the Hudson” May 16th 1881. Purse $1000.
Beat Ryan at Mississippi City, Miss. Feb. 7th 1882. $2500 a side.
“Knocked out” Elliott in 3 rounds, glove fight. New York, July 4 th 1882.
http://www.encore-editions.com/john-l-sullivan-champion-pugilist-of-the-world-j-cameron/framed-print
John L. Sullivan (1858-1918)—Mecca Cigarettes trading card, c. 1911
https://www.gfg.com/baseball/t220.shtml
James J. Corbett—Mecca Cigarettes trading card, c. 1911
https://www.gfg.com/baseball/t220.shtml
From The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America—photo, c. 1897
James J. Corbett by Elmer Chickering. Full-length studio portrait--Boston, c1896.
(born September 1, 1866, San Francisco, California, U.S.—died February 18, 1933, New York, New York), American
world heavyweight boxing champion from September 7, 1892, when he knocked out John L. Sullivan in 21 rounds at
New Orleans, until March 17, 1897, when he was knocked out by Robert Fitzsimmons in 14 rounds at Carson City,
Nevada. Corbett was a quick and agile boxer, and he led the movement toward what came to be called scientific
boxing. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96516350