Heavyweight · United States
John L. Sullivan 53-1-4, 1 NC 38 KO · 1879–1894
Photo: José María Mora, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
John L. Sullivan was a heavyweight boxer from United States, born Oct 15, 1858. Record 53-1-4, 1 NC with 38 knockouts over 1879–1894. John L. Sullivan last fought Frank Erne on Mar 6, 1894 and the bout was a draw.
Also: Джон Л. Салливан · ג'ון סאליבן · جان سالیوان +17 more جون إل سوليفان · جون ال سوليفان · জন এল সালিভান · ჯონ ლოურენს სალივანი · ジョン・L・サリバン · 約翰·蘇利文 · 约翰·苏利文 · John L Sullivan · John Lawrence Sullivan · John Sullivan · Джон Лоуренс Салливан · Джон Лоурренс Салливан · Джон Салливан · Джон-Лоуренс Салливан · Джон-Лоурренс Салливан · Салливан Джон Лоуренс · Салливан Джон Лоурренс
Born Oct 15, 1858
Died Feb 2, 1918
Country 🇺🇸 United States
Stance Orthodox
Height 179 cm
Reach 188 cm
Nickname Boston Strong Boy · His Fistic Holiness
Debut 1879
Career 1879–1894
Rounds boxed 325
KO share 72%
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Titles world bare-knuckle heavyweight title 1889
Confirmed bouts 3 of 59
Career record Record
53-1-4, 1 NC, 38 KOs · 1879–1894
Last result D
PTS 2/10 · Music Hall, Buffalo, 🇺🇸
The record 59 bouts, 1879–1894, newest first. Records under each bout are both boxers going in.
Bouts by source: English Wikipedia · 53, Wikipedia (ru) · 34
D
PTS 2/10 · Music Hall, Buffalo, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 53-1-3 · Erne 4-0-1
L
Lost world heavyweight title KO 21 · Olympic Club, New Orleans, Louisiana, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 53-0-3 · Corbett 24-0-5
W
For world bare-knuckle heavyweight title KO 75 · Richburg, Mississippi, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 52-0-3 · Kilrain 19-0-9
D
For world bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing title PTS 39/39 · Chantilly, Oise, 🇫🇷
Sullivan 52-0-2 · Mitchell 17-2-9
D
For world bare-knuckle heavyweight title claim PTS 39/39 · Chantilly, Oise, 🇫🇷
Sullivan 52-0-1 · Mitchell 17-2-8
W
William Samuells
TKO 3/3 · Philharmonic Hall, Cardiff, 🇬🇧
Sullivan 51-0-1 · Samuells —
D
Patsy Cardiff
PTS 6/6 · Washington Roller Rink, Minneapolis, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 51-0-0 · Cardiff —
W
KO 3 · Mechanic's Pavilion San Francisco, California, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 50-0-0 · Ryan —
W
Frank Herald
TD 2 · Coliseum Rink, Pittsburgh, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 49-0-0 · Herald —
W
Won inaugural world heavyweight title PTS 7/6 · Chester Driving Park, Cincinnati, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 48-0-0 · McCaffrey —
W
Jack Burke
PTS 5/5 · Driving Park, Chicago, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 47-0-0 · Burke —
NC
NC 1/4 · Madison Square Garden, New York City, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 47-0-0 · Ryan —
W
Alf Greenfield
PTS 4/4 · Institute Hall, Boston, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 46-0-0 · Greenfield —
W
Alf Greenfield
TD 2 · Madison Square Garden, New York City, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 45-0-0 · Greenfield —
W
John Laflin
KO 4 · New York City, New York, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 44-0-0 · Laflin —
W
Enos Phillips
Nashville, TN, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 42-0-0 · Phillips —
W
Enos Phillips
KO 4 · Nashville, Tennessee, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 42-0-0 · Phillips —
W
William Fleming
KO 1/4 · Memphis, Tennessee, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 41-0-0 · Fleming —
W
Dan Henry
KO 1/4 · Hot Springs, Hot Springs, Arkansas, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 40-0-0 · Henry —
W
William Fleming
4 · Memphis, TN, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 39-0-0 · Fleming —
Show all 59 bouts W
Al Marx
KO 1/4 · Grand Opera House, Galveston, Texas, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 38-0-0 · Marx —
W
George M Robinson
DQ 4/4 · Mechanics Pavilion, Mechanic's Pavilion San Francisco, California, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 37-0-0 · Robinson —
W
James Lang
KO 1/4 · Seattle, Washington, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 36-0-0 · Lang —
W
Sylvester Le Gouriff
KO 1/4 · Astoria, Oregon, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 35-0-0 · Gouriff —
W
Boiquet
KO 1 · Victoria, British Columbia, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 34-0-0 · Boiquet —
W
Fred Robinson
KO 2 · Butte, Butte, Montana, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 33-0-0 · Robinson —
W
Jeff Tomkins
KO 1 · Butte, Montana, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 32-0-0 · Tomkins —
W
Mike Sheehan
TKO 1 · Davenport, Davenport, Iowa, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 31-0-0 · Sheehan —
W
Morris Hefey
KO 1 · St. Paul, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 30-0-0 · Hefey —
W
Jim Miles
TKO 1 · East St. Louis, Illinois, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 29-0-0 · Miles —
W
James McCoy
TKO 1 · McKeesport, Pennsylvania, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 28-0-0 · McCoy —
W
TKO 3/4 · Madison Square Garden, New York City, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 27-0-0 · Slade —
W
TKO 3 · Madison Square Garden, New York City, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 26-0-0 · Mitchell 11-0-1
W
Harry Gilman
KO 3 · Toronto, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Sullivan 25-0-0 · Gilman —
W
P J Rentzler
TKO 1/4 · Theatre Comique, Tacoma, Washington, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 24-0-0 · Rentzler —
W
Charley O'Donnell
KO 1 · Chicago, Illinois, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 23-0-0 · O'Donnell —
W
S P Stockton
KO 2 · Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 22-0-0 · Stockton —
W
Henry Higgins
TKO 3/4 · St. James Athletic Club, Buffalo, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 21-0-0 · Higgins —
W
PTS 4/4 · Madison Square Garden, New York City, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 20-0-0 · Wilson —
W
KO 3 · Brooklyn, New York, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 19-0-0 · Elliott —
W
John McDermont
TKO 3 · Grand Opera House, Rochester, New Hampshire, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 18-0-0 · McDermont —
W
Won American bare-knuckle heavyweight title RTD 9 · Mississippi City, Mississippi, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 17-0-0 · Ryan —
W
Jack Burns
Chicago, Illinois, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 16-0-0 · Burns —
W
Jack Burns
KO 1/4 · Chicago, Illinois, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 15-0-0 · Burns —
W
Captain James Dalton
KO 4/4 · Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 14-0-0 · Dalton —
W
Dan McCarty
KO 1 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 13-0-0 · McCarty —
W
Fred Crossley
KO 1/4 · Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 12-0-0 · Crossley —
W
John Flood
KO 8 · Yonkers, New York, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 11-0-0 · Flood —
W
TKO 2/4 · Harry Hill's, New York City, New York, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 10-0-0 · Mahan —
W
Jack Stewart
Boston, Massachusetts, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 9-0-0 · Stewart —
W
Professor John Donaldson
RTD 10 · Pacific Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 8-0-0 · Donaldson —
W
George Ruki
Boston, Massachusetts, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 7-0-0 · Ruki —
W
Dan Dwyer
TKO 3 · Boston, Massachusetts, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 5-0-0 · Dwyer —
W
George Rooke
KO 3 · Boston, Massachusetts, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 5-0-0 · Rooke —
W
Joni Woods
Boston, Massachusetts, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 3-0-0 · Woods —
W
Johnny Cocky Woods
KO 5 · Boston, Massachusetts, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 3-0-0 · Woods —
W
Jack Curley
KO · Boston, Massachusetts, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 2-0-0 · Curley —
W
Tommy Chandler
PTS 4/4 · Boston, Massachusetts, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 0-0-0 · Chandler —
W
John A. Hogan
PTS 4/4 · Boston, Massachusetts, 🇺🇸
Sullivan 0-0-0 · Hogan —
Ratings now Not in any current ranking.
World titles No world title reigns recorded.
Facts
What is John L. Sullivan's record? John L. Sullivan's professional record is 53-1-4, 1 NC with 38 knockouts.
Who did John L. Sullivan fight last? John L. Sullivan last fought Frank Erne on Mar 6, 1894 and the bout was a draw. Sources Boxerbook ID 11144 · permanent link boxerbook.com/id/11144 . Wikidata (CC0), English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), photo from Wikimedia Commons. Last fetched: 2026-10-12. Spot a mistake? Every bout page has a link to report it.
