John L. Sullivan

With public pressure growing for the champion to defend his title, Sullivan finally issued a challenge, which was published in the New York World in March, 1892. But he shrewdly insisted that the challenger put down a $10,000 bet that he would match. This effectively weeded out most challengers. But Jim Corbett and his manager raised the required amount from backers, and met the challenge.

Sullivan was said to intensely dislike Corbett, not just because he was a serious challenge to his jealouslyguarded title, but because Corbett represented a new breed of fighter—socially refined, well-dressed and groomed, and a "scientific" fighter who relied more on finesse and speed than on the brute strength that was then the norm in the ring. Sullivan was also given to hard drinking and hard living, in contrast to Corbett who preferred a more discrete lifestyle.

Sullivan and Corbett squared off on September 7, 1892 at New Orleans's Olympic Club. The winner was to take away $25,000 in addition to the stake money of $10,000, with the loser to receive nothing. Betting odds were four to one in Sullivan's favor; the Boston Strong Boy, as Sullivan was then called, had never been defeated.

Boxing at the time was barely tolerated by law enforcement officials. Boxers, and even spectators, were often arrested for attending matches. Boxing with bare fists was particularly frowned upon, and it was partly for this reason that fighting with gloves eventually became the preferred method of fighting. The Marquis of Queensbury Rules brought other improvements to the game, for example, specifying time limits for rounds. The rules also forbade wrestling and head butting.

Thousands of spectators turned out to watch the match between Sullivan and Corbett, and reporters from most of the major newspapers in the country were present, along with many from around the world. Fifty Western Union telegraph operators sat ringside to send blow-by-blow accounts to pool halls and bars around the country.

The championship bout lasted an hour and twenty minutes, twenty-one rounds, and Sullivan was solidly beaten by the younger, faster man. Unable to land a punch in the first round, Sullivan got two strong shots in at Corbett's head in the second. Corbett came back in the third round, however, landing a solid left to Sullivan's nose, breaking it. Now seriously worried, Sullivan tried to rush Corbett, and get in the powerful punch that could end the match. But Corbett, a "scientific" boxing master, successfully avoided Sullivan's best punches, and darted in for quick, hard jabs that gradually wore Sullivan down. Puffing and bleeding, Sullivan was ripe for the final blow in the twenty-first round that sent him to the turf floor of the ring.

After Corbett was declared the new world heavyweight champion to an exultant crowd, Sullivan staggered to his feet and held up a hand for silence. "Gentlemen, all I have to say is that I came into the ring once too often, and if I had to get licked I'm glad it was by an American," he told the spectators, according the Patrick Myler in Gentleman Jim Corbett. "I remain your warm and personal friend, John L. Sullivan."