Sullivan was a boxing immortal, the link between bare knuckles and glove fighting, and the first great American sports idol; He was powerful, quick, could hit with either hand but had exceptional strength in his right, and could take punishment; John L. could break a man's jaw with a single punch



Due to early day legal restraints, some competitive bouts were listed as exhibitions for legal purposes. They are listed here as exhibitions only if they were actually friendly sparring sessions, not of the kind where Sullivan was attempting a knockout As to his 50 knockouts in his Aug-Oct 1883 tour of America, the 29 knockouts during his 1883-1884 tour of America and the 51 exhibitions during his 1887-1888 tour of England, Sullivan's numbers may have been inflated. Only confirmed bouts are included here.



He is still considered by some historians to be one of the best heavyweights ever; Sullivan was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990