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  • Sullivan vs. Kilrain:Mississippi's Legendary Boxing Match
  • Nicole Hendricks (bio) and Mary Lou Sheffer (bio)

Before Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, there was John L. Sullivan. Known as a rough and tough bare-knuckle boxer who drank whiskey out of beer steins and loved to challenge others to a fight, Sullivan became the first American sports hero. Reporters from the early 1900s noted Sullivan's ability to drink heavily while remaining coherent, and his strength as a fighter.

During his time, Sullivan had the greatest personal following of any prizefighter that ever lived (Runyon 37). In a 1918 article entitled ""John L.,' Last of the Bare-Fisted Fighters of the Ring," The Literary Digest estimated Sullivan had "hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of admirers" and noted there was no other world champion with a "heartiness and gusto" that matched Sullivan's (63). His contributions to boxing and American sports were monumental. Two of Sullivan's most notorious professional fights (both illegal) took place in Mississippi and are considered significant landmarks in early American sports history. This essay focuses on one of those bouts, the Sullivan-Kilrain fight, which employed the London Prize Ring rules, based in bare-fist fighting and allowing the opponents to wrestle each other to the ground. The Sullivan-Kilrain fight was the last fight in the United States of this type (Runyon 37). According to researcher Elliot Gorn, Sullivan's fights established both a "first" and a "last" in boxing history.

Sullivan was as impressive and intimidating outside the ring as he was inside it. He was the bare-knuckle world champion for ten years from 1882 to 1892, longer than any other champion had held the title (Cox 161). Despite personal issues of excessive drinking, reports of marital violence, and refusing to share a ring with a black opponent, Sullivan's popularity expanded both nationally and internationally (Lopresti 5C). Sullivan was [End Page 94] called "the bare-knuckled giant who challenged the world" and he was the first American sports hero to become a national celebrity (Gorn 207). Some of his nicknames included "the great and only John L," and "the prince of bruisers." During his ten-year reign, he defeated more than 200 challengers ("The First Bare-Knuckle Fight" 456). However, the fight between John Sullivan and Jake Kilrain remains the most-talked-about battle in boxing history. It took place in Richburg, Marion County, Mississippi on a Monday morning at 11 o'clock. It lasted seventy-two sweaty, blood-soaked rounds, and both fighters were bare-fisted ("Carter" 5).

In the years following the Civil War, boxing was illegal except under the Marquess of Queensberry rules. These rules required that each round last three minutes and fighters must wear gloves. Wrestling was not allowed. Boxing was essentially allowed as a form of exercise, viewed as a recreational activity like rope-climbing (Hoffer 66). London Prize Ring rules boxing, or bare-knuckle boxing, was a different entity. The primitive and brutal nature of the sport was the reason it was declared illegal. In addition, the sport itself was riddled with corruption, so much so that it could not be civically sanctioned (Hoffer 66). Bare-knuckle boxing was a sport that was considered both taboo and dangerous, making it attractive to questionable characters from unsavory backgrounds who tried to exploit the sport any way they could to get ahead. Richard Kyle Fox was one such character.

Fox and Sullivan Encounter

Richard Kyle Fox was the first American who could be called a "boxing promoter" and he had a profound impact on Sullivan's career. Fox was an Irishman who used bare-knuckle boxing as a way to sell copies of his publication, The National Police Gazette. He emigrated from Dublin, Ireland in 1874 and took a job with an unknown New York newspaper. Although Fox came to America penniless, he saved a few hundred dollars while working at the newspaper. He borrowed a few hundred more and purchased The National Police Gazette. The paper underperformed until Fox used sensational journalism to increase circulation. He ran stories that glamorized everyday citizens by making them sound like world-class athletes. The word "champion" was peppered throughout...

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