Jim Sullivan (7 June 1886 – 22 July 1949) was a British boxer who was British
middleweight
Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to .
Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...
champion between 1910 and 1912. He went on to challenge for the European title.
Career
From
Bermondsey
Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...
, 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.
In June 1911 he fought
Billy Papke
Billy Papke (born William Papke, and known as "The Illinois Thunderbolt") (September 17, 1886 – November 26, 1936) was an American boxer who held the World Middleweight Championship from September 7 to November 26, 1908. In 1910-12, he also to ...
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. Sullivan was denied a rematch after Papke sailed back to America a month later.
Sullivan travelled to America hoping to fight but the trip was marred by illness and he returned home.
His next fight was against
Georges Carpentier
Georges Carpentier (; 12 January 1894 – 28 October 1975) was a French boxer, actor and World War I pilot. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908 to 1926. Nicknamed the "Orchid Man", he stood and hi ...
in February 1912 for the European title in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
;Waltzer, Jim (2011) ''The Battle of the Century: Dempsey, Carpentier, and the Birth of Modern Promotion'', Praeger Publishers Inc., , p. 47 Carpentier won by a second round knockout.
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. 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.
Back in England, Sullivan's title had still not been taken by another fighter by 1914.
Pat O'Keeffe
Pat O'Keeffe (17 March 1883 – 16 August 1960, spelled by many sources as Pat O'Keefe), was a professional English boxer who became the British champion in both the welterweight and middleweight weight classes. His professional career spanned ...
took the title with a win over
Harry Reeve
Harry Isaacs (7 January 1893 – 10 December 1958), better known as Harry Reeve, was a British middleweight and cruiserweight boxer who was British Cruiserweight champion in 1916. At the time, the cruiserweight division was referred to as ligh ...
, and Sullivan beat Jack Harrison in an eliminator to challenge O'Keeffe for the title. Sullivan fought O'Keeffe for the British title twice in 1914, losing both fights on points.
Sullivan served in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and by 1916 had reached the rank of
corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...
in the
London Scottish Regiment
The London Scottish was a reserve infantry regiment then a company of the British Army. In its final incarnation it was A (The London Scottish) Company, the London Regiment until, on 1 April 2022, soldiers in the company transferred to foot ...
. 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. In March 1917 he lost to
Harry Reeve
Harry Isaacs (7 January 1893 – 10 December 1958), better known as Harry Reeve, was a British middleweight and cruiserweight boxer who was British Cruiserweight champion in 1916. At the time, the cruiserweight division was referred to as ligh ...
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. By 1919 he was a Director of Physical Training in the Army and featured in newspaper adverts endorsing Reudel Bath Saltrates.
By 1920 he was back in the UK and working in Oxford training "Varsity men", and had begun preparing for a return to boxing. He fought
Tom Gummer
Thomas Gummer (1894–1982) was a British middleweight and heavyweight boxer who won the British middleweight title in 1920 and went on to fight for the European title.
Career
Born in Rotherham in 1894, He was in fact alive and well.
Sullivan's son Jimmy followed him into a career as a boxer and had his first fight in May 1929.
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.
Jim Sullivan died on 22 July 1949, aged 63, in the Atkinson Hospital in
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
."Jim Sullivan Dead", ''Hull Daily Mail'', 22 July 1949