By Ryan Flahive

On The 8th of July 1889, the most infamous boxing bout of the bare-knuckle age took place in Richburg, Mississippi in front of 3,000 eager spectators. Fighting under the London Rules (bare-knuckles) of boxing, John L. Sullivan and John "Jake" Kilrain entered the ring to fight one of the bloodiest and longest fights in boxing history. Two hours and sixteen minutes later, after 75 rounds of animalistic combat, John L. Sullivan emerged as the undisputed "Champion of the America", a title the great John L. had lost to Charley Mitchell in March of 1888. The famous bout with Kilrain forever joined the two pugilists as partners, perhaps unintentionally, as the last two great fighters of the bare-knuckle age.

John L. Sullivan was born to Irish immigrant parents in the Boston suburb of Roxbury on Oct 15, 1858. By his teens, Sullivan's fiery temper, solid physique and versatile athletic ability had become apparent in various barroom battles, issuing the challenge that he "could lick any man in the house." By the age of 18, Sullivan was boxing in three to four round amateur bouts, and in 1877 got his break by knocking out Tom Scannel, a professional heavyweight, at the Dudley Street Opera House in Boston. Sullivan never looked back. 

By the time Sullivan met Kilrain in Mississippi in 1889, he had successfully fought over 100 professional bouts and uncountable non-registered fights. Sullivan first captured the Heavyweight Championship of the World by defeating fellow Irishman Paddy Ryan in 1882 in Mississippi City, Mississippi. After successfully defending his title in America, theUnited Kingdom, France, and Canada over the next six years, Sullivan became a household name and the first true American sports celebrity. After the famed fight with Jake Kilrain in 1889, the last bare-knuckle match of the age, Sullivan's name became immortal. 

After the 75 round skirmish with Kilrain in Mississippi, Sullivan took three years off from competitive boxing and toured as the hero in a play called 'Honest Hearts and Willing Hands' and continued to box in friendly exhibitions. By this time, Sullivan's vices were catching up to him. He had squandered the half-million dollars he had earned in the ring and was a chronic alcoholic. Needing money, the fighter had to do what he did best, and returned to the ring to fight professionally in 1892. Sullivan lost his title to Jim Corbett, his exhibition sparring partner, in September of that year. Sullivan never fought competitively again. For the next several years, he did some acting and fought in more exhibition bouts to pay the bills. In 1905, on tour, broke and drinking heavily, Sullivan fought and defeated Jim McCormick in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Four days later, in March of 1905, John L. Sullivan gave up drinking and began a life of celebrity appearances and temperance advocacy. The great John L. Sullivan was the link between bare-knuckle boxing and modern glove-boxing, and there is no dispute to the widespread knowledge of his prowess and skills in the ring. 

In May of 1909, J.B. Kohl, manager of the Prescott Athletic Association, began corresponding with Sullivan to arrange a boxing exhibition in Prescott between Sullivan and Kilrain, almost twenty years after their 1889 brouhaha. The exhibition was to be used by the Athletic Association to promote Prescott as a summer resort town, and Sullivan was to be a big draw for visitors around the region. The two fifty-year-old fighters had been touring the southwest and were staying in the Coronado Hotel in Los Angeles while Kohl and Sullivan were corresponding. A series of Western Union telegrams located in the J.B.Kohl Collection in the Archives of Sharlot Hall Museum states, "it would not pay me to make the jump less than six hundred dollars and pay my own expenses only two days open May twenty fourth and fifth make the best offer you can draw enormous crowds as we are doing everywhere John L. Sullivan." 

By the morning of Sunday the 8th of May 1909, the two sides had completed negotiations to bring the former champion Sullivan to Prescott, and the Prescott Journal Miner reported, "John L. Sullivan is Coming to Prescott: Ex-Champion to Spar at Athletic Park Grounds." The exhibition was scheduled to take place on the 24th and 25th of May, 1909. A week prior to the planned bout in Prescott, Sullivan and Kilrain performed at the Coliseum in Phoenix during the week of May 17th, drawing 2,000 people a night. Arrangements were made to run trains to Prescott from Jerome, Crown King, Mayer and other points on the 23rd of May, the day before the event. Initially, Kohl attempted to reserve the Elks Opera House for the event, however he was unable to secure the Elks Opera House for the Sullivan-Kilrain exhibition and the exhibition was rescheduled at Athletic Park. The stage was set for the Association's attempt to help Prescott gain considerable notoriety as a resort town. 

The program for the first night of the event was loaded with several different mediums of entertainment other than boxing. A musical overture and illustrated song began the festivities followed by an introduction by Frank Hall. Following the introduction came a motion picture, a film of the six-round boxing bout between Jack McMahon and E.J. Happ from several weeks past. This format repeated twice, interweaving music and boxing movies, Corbett vs. McCoy and Gans vs. Kid Herman. The second night of the event, a Corbett-Fitzsimmons fight film substituted the Corbett-McCoy fight. After the Gans/Herman film two gentlemen named McCredy and Hart held a wrestling match to rile the crowd followed again by an 'illustrated song'. Next on the program came the 'Famous Monologue' by John L. Sullivan. The ex-champion had been performing this monologue for several years following the McCormick fight of 1905 and had been performing drama since doing 'Honest Hearts and Willing Hands' following the 1889 Kilrain bout. After another musical selection, the last event on the program was a scheduled three round exhibition between John L. Sullivan and John "Jake" Kilrain. The miner reported about the exhibition, "Both are fat, fair and something over forty, and the crowd enjoyed their turn" 

The two nights of exhibition proved to be a success. The exposure of the event in the Miner included the feelings of the 'old timers' who came out to see the "Boston Strong Boy". "There were many followers of the game of hit and get-away present who could recall the day when the last champion fighter of the world was in his prime, and they were pleased at the opportunity of once more seeing the man that they still consider the greatest of his time, or any other, for that matter. 

In retrospect, the 1909 exhibition of John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain was a major event in the limited professional sports history of Prescott. The once isolated small town did not have professional baseball, boxing, or other sports to entertain them. Instead, Prescottonians relied upon, among other things, company baseball teams, rodeo events, and youth league sports to entertain the sports minded in Prescott. Sullivan was elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, supporting the lasting legacy of John L. Sullivan that is evident even in present day boxing circles. Sullivan is still considered to be one of the best heavyweights ever, and his vast celebrity and charismatic manner did much to advance the sport of boxing in America. "There are no fighters, these days-they are boxers. So hail to John L, the last of the Mohicans, the champion of fighters, if you please, if not of the boxers." 

(Ryan Flahive is archivist at Sharlot Hall Museum.) 

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb026a2i2)
Reuse only by permission.
From left, J.B. Kohl, John L. Sullivan, and John "Jake" Kilrain in front of Hotel St. Michael, 1909.