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Show Was John L. Sullivan Ever World's Champion? Bob Edgren Answers Much Argued Question So That It Ought to Remain Settled for All Time; Says He Was Real titleholder. By Robert Edgren lV 78 JohB U Bul,lvaa heavyweight champion of the world?" A aat 4000 people have written me that query. Aa aportlng VV editor of the New York Kvenlng World for fifteen yeare I found It In my mall nearly every day, and aometlmea half a doaea ttmea a day. I uaed to think that Johna frlenda were writing to booat John by! keeping hia name In print But to my aurprlae tha number of let t era aaklni about tha great oldllme champion a atandlng aa a world title holder Increased : after hia death: I There la room for and teas argument It John L.s standing aa champion la quea- t toned, if John L, ttulllvan wasn't cham-i cham-i plon or thi world, than Jim Corbett, Bob I Fttsaimmons and Jim Jeffrlea were not I world cham plena. If John L. wasn't 1 champion, then Tommy Bums waa tha flrat legitimate champion In many yaara. for Tommy Burn a waa tha flrat to tljavel through tha countries where boxing flour-iarhea, flour-iarhea, meeting; and beating- their cham plons. ' After dlapoatng of several rivals in thia country, Hume knocked out BIU fti.ulrea, champion of Auatralta; Ounner Mulr, champion of England, and Hoc he. champion of Ireland; challenged the beet I In Franca, want to Auatralta and "cleaned 1 up' the beat heavy weigh ta there before loatng to Johnaon. SULLIVAN WAS CHAMPION. But John L. Sullivan was champion of tha world. Kvery man who followed him had clear title. When John L. flrat became prominent aa a fighter, which waa In hia first year In tha ring U7!), there waa no re cor -nlat-d champion of the world. That title had ben claimed by Jem Mace and other Kngllah flghtera, but Mace had retired, aa had Joe fob wo, tha recognised American Amer-ican champion. Paddy Kyan of New Tork and Qoas of England fought for tha championship down In Weat Virginia In mo. Ryan won In elghty-eeven rounds and waa rec-oarnlsed rec-oarnlsed by aportlng authorltlea aa International Inter-national heav weight champion. Two yaara later young John L. succeeded suc-ceeded Trr getting on a fight with Ryan at Miatfaaippi City, Mlaa. It waa a )ea-perate )ea-perate flint aa far aa It went, fur Kui.u van flni-hrd Kyan In nine rounds. There waa a aide ataka of l&ofto, and It waa agreed that the title held by Kyaa should go to tha winner. Billy Madden went to Ireland and England En-gland to try to find a man to beat Built-van, Built-van, with whom ha had quarreled. He held a long tournament In different Kn- liah cltlea, and at tha end Charlie tttchelL a middleweight, had easily disposed dis-posed of all opponents. Madden thought mccept the challenge and refused to meet aulUvan at any later date. According to Engllah custom, a champion cham-pion who refused to take up a ohallenge Insued by a real rival and backed by a proper side stake, forfeit a hia title. 8mlth virtually forfeited to Hulllvan. Later smith fought Jake K lira la In Belgium. When Unnth waa whipped hia gang broke down tha ring and a topped the fight, and the referee went back to England before calling the bout a "draw.' Thla waa a tough fight and laated 104 rounda. Tha En-ilah aportlng writes all greed that Kllraln won fairly. The next year Hulllvan 'and Kltraln fought at Rlchburg Miss., London prise ring rules, to a finish, bare knuckles, for the heavyweight championship of the world and a lii.WO side ataka. This waa on July I, lift. Hulllvan waa long paat hia prima, but although near defeat several sev-eral times ha outlasted Kllrain and a topped him In eeventy-flve rounda. Thla was tha laat bare knuckle championship cham-pionship bout ever held. Hulllvan waa the undisputed heavyweight champion under London prise ring rules. Ha had beaten two English champions during his time Mitchell and Alf Greenfield. Thla Greenfield, by the way. came over to fight Hulllvan In lkM. when Sullivan was j at tha top of hla form, and was knocked I out at Madison Square Garden In two rounda. He had alao knocked out Amert- ; can fight era who had beaten English champion a. had knocked out a champion from tha Antipodes and had beaten all of tha beat men In thla country. INVINCIBLE AT ONI TIME. To clinch his claim to supremacy, Sullivan Sul-livan traveled all over America In lSxi-4 with an open challenge to all eomaxa and knocked out all who same up to meet him freea the AUanth) to the Pacific. Pa-cific. At that time there was no one In thta country or anywhere else who questioned ques-tioned Sullivan's right to be called champion. cham-pion. In Sullivan's time boxing1 waa practiced only In America, EnaMand, Ireland and Australia. Other countries had not yet taken up the sport. Ho In beating the champlona of the boxing count rtee Hulllvan Hulll-van waa a real "world'a champion. As for peter Jackson of Auatralta and hla unaccepted challenge ta Sullivan, Peter came along when Hulllvan'e fighting fight-ing career waa practically over. Hulllvan waa a complete phyaical wreck from dissipation. dis-sipation. He fouaht only once mora, and 1 that waa when he fought hla flrat cham-I cham-I plonshtp battle with glovee with Jim Corbett Cor-bett at New Orleans. Hulllvan waa In auch phyaical condition before that fight that he couldn't even run on the road. He depended upon being able to land one of his knockout awlnga on Corbett within a round or two. Corbett danced away and made Sullivan mtaa until old John L. waa ready to collapse from his own exertion exer-tion e, and then quickly flnlahed him. It waa ao onesided that It waa hardly ft cent set. That waa In 11. Eight or tan years earlier there might have been an entirely different atory to tell. Kr when John L. Hulllvan waa at hla beat he was one of the faateat big men that aver fought lu a ring, a terrific hitter, aavagaly aggressive ag-gressive and driven by a belief In hta own invincibility that .nothing could ahaka. Copyright, 11S, by the Preaa Publishing Co. (The New York World). i o well of Mitchell that he brought the "boxing champion of England" over to fight Sullivan. Mitchell first appearance appear-ance caused much comment, for the tfjortlng men had expected Madden to bring over a giant instead of a smooth faced boy of medium height and weight. Tug Wllaon of England met Hulllvan flrat, but failed to put up much of a fight. Ha went down continually without, with-out, being hit. in lKhf Charlie Mitchell met Sullivan at Madison Square iarden. Mitchell showed speed and skill that amased the siectators. and In the third round aud-dnly aud-dnly Jabbed Hulllvan In tha etomarh, catching him off balance and putting i him down on his haunches. Sullivan. I enraged at being on the floor for the ! first time In hla life, rose with a bellow I of rage and chaaed Mitchell all around the ring, roughing and awlnglng wildly, I Hint finally catching him and knocking I him through the rope a so far that he fell on the heads of the spectator. police Captain Wllllama Jumped Into the ring and stopped the bout to aava Mitchell. The fight between Sullivan and Mitchell at Chantllly, France, waa held five years later, under 1 .on don prise ring mice. At that time Sullivan had wrecked hta wonderful constitution by dissipation. They fought on muddy ground, in a heavy rain. Mitchell out footed John L. and. Incidentally, aplked htm severely. After a Ions aeaa .m of fCghting Sullivan stood still, begging Mitchell to "etaml and fight like a man." while Mitchell went around and around him, looking for an opening and keeping safely away from John's heavy right swings, Tha riaht alowed down until, after thlriv nlive rounda, when both men were too weary to ao any more execution, and It waa atopped by mutual consent and called a "draw." COULDN'T BEAT JOHN L. Sullivan had another International battle, bat-tle, with Herbert Blade, tha Maori, who waa brousjht from New Zealand by Jem Mace, ft lade waa a giant and waa heralded her-alded aa ft world beater. Sullivan knocked him out In tha third round. Thia waa back In Uix. -When Jobs 4 was at til at hla beat. After thia Sullivan went to England and challenged Jem Smith, tha Knallah champion, at the Natloital Hportlns chih. Thia waa at an exhibition before the Prince of Wales, afterward King Edward. Ed-ward. Sullivan offered to forfeit Puree and aide ataka If ha failed to knock Smith out In three rounda. Smith refused to |