Jim Sullivan (boxer)

Jim Sullivan (7 June 1886 – 22 July 1949) was a British boxer who was British middleweight champion between 1910 and 1912. He went on to challenge for the European title.

Jim Sullivan
Sullivan (left) vs O'Keeffe (right). Sullivans white shorts dark with blood. 21 February 1916.
Statistics
Weight(s)Middleweight
NationalityBritish
Born(1886-06-07)7 June 1886
Bermondsey, London
Died22 July 1949(1949-07-22) (aged 63)
Wimbledon
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights44
Wins27
Wins by KO15
Losses14
Draws3

Career

From Bermondsey, Jim Sullivan began his professional career in 1908. After early fights which included two draws and two wins against Curly Watson, Sullivan fought Tom Thomas for the British middleweight title in November 1910, winning a 20-round points decision.[1][2]

In June 1911 he fought Billy Papke for the British version of the World middleweight title, losing after being knocked down at the end of the ninth round and failing to come out of his corner for the tenth.[3][4] Sullivan was denied a rematch after Papke sailed back to America a month later.[5]

Sullivan travelled to America hoping to fight but the trip was marred by illness and he returned home.[6]

His next fight was against Georges Carpentier in February 1912 for the European title in Monte Carlo;[7] Carpentier won by a second round knockout.[7]

On 12 April 1912, after suffering ill-health for some time, Sullivan relinquished his British title and announced his retirement from boxing, intending to undertake a sea voyage to regain his health.[1] His retirement was shortlived and he returned with a first round knockout of Pat Bradley in July 1912. He travelled to Australia in 1913 where he beat Reggie Midwood in April and there were plans for a fight with Australian champion Dave Smith but Sullivan suffered a poisoned foot and was beaten in Sydney by Bradley in July and in October by Jerry Jerome.[8][9][10][11]

Back in England, Sullivan's title had still not been taken by another fighter by 1914. Pat O'Keeffe took the title with a win over Harry Reeve, and Sullivan beat Jack Harrison in an eliminator to challenge O'Keeffe for the title.[12] Sullivan fought O'Keeffe for the British title twice in 1914, losing both fights on points.[13]

Sullivan served in the British Army during World War I and by 1916 had reached the rank of corporal in the London Scottish Regiment.[14] He challenged O'Keeffe again in February 1916 in a non-title catchweight contest and was once again beaten on points in what was at the time considered one of the best fights ever seen in England; Unable to split the fighters after twenty rounds, the referee ordered an extra round with O'Keeffe being declared the victor at the end.[14][15][16] In March 1917 he lost to Harry Reeve after being knocked out in the eleventh round.

He saw active service in France and in December 1917 was reported to have been wounded in action.[17] By 1919 he was a Director of Physical Training in the Army and featured in newspaper adverts endorsing Reudel Bath Saltrates.[18]

By 1920 he was back in the UK and working in Oxford training "Varsity men", and had begun preparing for a return to boxing.[19] He fought Tom Gummer in March 1920 for the vacant British title; He retired in the fourteenth round. His final fight was a defeat to Archie Northrope on 30 November 1920, the fight being stopped in the fourth round due to a cut over Sullivan's eye.[20]

On 13 January 1927 Sullivan was erroneously reported to have died "after a short and painful illness" by several newspapers.[16][21] He was in fact alive and well.[22]

Sullivan's son Jimmy followed him into a career as a boxer and had his first fight in May 1929.[23]

In August 1933, Jim Sullivan suffered burns after a car caught fire while being filled with petrol; His nine-year-old son was critically injured in the same incident after suffering severe burns.[24]

Jim Sullivan died on 22 July 1949, aged 63, in the Atkinson Hospital in Wimbledon.[25]

Video

Video: Jim Sullivan training for fight against Pat O'Keeffe on YouTube

References
  1. "Jim Sullivan Hands Over Middle-Weight Championship Belt and Decides to Retire From the Ring". Dundee Courier. 13 April 1912. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. "Jim Sullivan Defeats T. Thomas on Points for the Middle-Weight Championship". Nottingham Evening Post. 15 November 1910. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "A Boxing Championship". Gloucester Citizen. 6 June 1911. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Billy Papke Wins Middleweight Championship of the World". Dundee Courier. 9 June 1911. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Papke and Sullivan Will Not Meet Again". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 27 June 1911. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "England v. France: Georges Carpentier and Jim Sullivan Matched". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 22 December 1911. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. Waltzer, Jim (2011) The Battle of the Century: Dempsey, Carpentier, and the Birth of Modern Promotion, Praeger Publishers Inc., ISBN 978-0313382444, p. 47
  8. "Jim Sullivan Succeeds in Australia". Dundee Courier. 16 April 1913. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Unlucky Boxers". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 7 July 1913. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "British Boxer Beaten in Australia". Dundee Courier. 7 July 1913. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Jim Sullivan Knocked Out By Jerome", The Brisbane Courier, 20 October 1913, p. 8. Retrieved 9 November 2014 via trove.nla.gov.au
  12. "The Middle-Weight Championship". Western Daily Press. 24 February 1914. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "Middle-Weight Championship". Western Daily Press. 26 May 1914. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. "Pat O'Keefe Beats Sullivan". Dundee Courier. 22 February 1916. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. "Soldier Boxers: Four Champions at Golder's Green". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 22 February 1916. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. "Noted Middle Weight Boxer Dead: Jim Sullivan's Famous Fights". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 13 January 1927. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. "All Sorts of Sport". Evening Despatch. 1 December 1917. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. "Foot Tortures". Sheffield Evening Telegraph. 17 October 1919. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. "At the N.S.C.: Tom Gummer and Johnny Regan's Matches". Sheffield Evening Telegraph. 27 February 1920. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. "Northrope Beats Jim Sullivan". Hull Daily Mail. 1 December 1920. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. "Noted Boxer". Aberdeen Journal. 14 January 1927. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. "Grossly Exaggerated". Western Morning News. 15 January 1927. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. "Paulding's First Defeat". Derby Daily Telegraph. 24 May 1929. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. "Boxer in Car Fire". Yorkshire Evening Post. 8 August 1933. Retrieved 9 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  25. "Jim Sullivan Dead", Hull Daily Mail, 22 July 1949
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