ROME NEW YORK DAILY SENTINEL SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1918

Rome New York Daily Sentinel newspaper dated February 2, 1918. This newspaper has a front page report on the death of boxing great John L. Sullivan. This newspaper was published the very same day of his death. Most papers did not get the news in time and had the report on the sports page the next day. The front page headine reads, "JOHN L SULLIVAN 59, DIES SUDDENLY." The article gives lots of details into the life and death of the champion boxer.

JOHN L. SULLIVAN, 59, DIES SUDDENLY FOR TEN YEARS DOMINATED SPORTING CIRCLES KNOCKED OUT TWO HUNDRED Said to Have Made Two Millions in Fighting and Spent One in Drinks For Himself and Admirers - Last Years Spent Fighting For Prohibi- bition - Defeated By Corbett.

_ Abington, Mass., Feb. 2 - John L. _ Sullivan, formerly the heavyweight champion of the United States, died at his home here today. _ Sullivan, who was 59 years of age, had lived on a farm here for the last 10 years. He was taken ill with heart trouble three weeks ago, but his health quickly improved and he went to Boston yesterday. This morning he arose as usual and planned anoth- er visit to the city, but during the forenoon had an attack of the old trouble, from which he failed to rally. He died at noon. _ Sullivan's wife died some months ago. Ten Years American Champion. _ John Laurence Sullivan was one of the most picturesque characters in the history of prizefighting. For more than 10 years, from the time he de- feated Paddy Ryan in 1882, in a bare- knuckle fight under the London Prize Ring Rules, until he was de- feated by James J. Corbett, in 1892, his personality and methods of fight- ing completely dominated sporting circles in the United States. _ Sullivan was the last champion of the United States under the London Prize Ring Rules. It was largely through his achievements that the championship title was made a prize of great monetary value. In the early days of his career, $1,000 a side was looked on as a great sum. He received only $53 for the fight that made him a national charater in fisticuffs and won him the right to challenge Paddy Ryan for the championship. _ His friends ranged all the way from the ordinary 'fight fan' to many men of social and financial distiction in the United States, and it is said he was on chumming terms with the late King Edward VII of England. _ He began his fighting career soon after he was seventeen, when as the "Boston Strong Boy" he took part in amateur boxing contests in several cities in Massachusetts His Fight With Paddy Ryan. _ After his nine-round fight with Pad- dy Ryan, on the strip of greensward on the Gulf of Mexico, the word "knockout" was manufactured by Billy Madden, Sullivan's trainer, to describe the effect of his blows when properly delivered. _ His hardest fight was with Jake Kilrain. It was fought near New Or- leans and lasted for seventy-five rounds. That was the last champion- ship contest in the United States to be fought with bare knuckles, under the old rules. _ That fight practically decided the uselessness of trying to beat Sulli- van by combatting him in his own sledge hammer style. A thirty-nine round fight with Charley Mitchell, a wary and skillful boxer, seemed to show fighting managers that the great John L. might be vulnerable to a man who could box well and stay with him long enough to wear him down. The opportunity to try this method on the champion fell to James J. Corbett. The purse was the largest ever put up in a ring battle up to that time. The purse was $25,000 and the stakes $20,000. Fighting Spirit to the End. _ Sullivan's old fighting spirit re- mained with him to the end. The first fainting spell left him unconscious for ten minutes, and when he rallied, George M. Bush, a friend who lived with him, was applying ice bags to his head. Bush told the former champion to keep quiet, that he had sent for a doctor. _ "I don't want any doctor," John L. said. "I've listened to a lot of them in my life, and I know I am all right and can doctor myself." _ He protested when Dr. Rann, who had been summoned by Bush, told him he had better go to bed for a couple of hours. When Dr. Rann left, Sullivan beckoned Bush. "Is the bath room warm, George?" he asked. "Yes." "Well that's fine. I want to take a bath." _ Ten minutes later he was dead. William Kelley, a 15-year-old boy, who had been adopted by Sullivan, and Bush, his faithfull friends, were with him when he passed away.

Newspaper is 17"x 21"

THE MORNING STAR FEBRUARY 3, 1918 DEATH KNOCKS OUT JOHN L. SULLIVAN THE OHIO STATE JOURNAL SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 3. 1918 JOHN L. SULLIVAN TAKES LAST COUNT THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION FEBRUARY 3, 1918 JOHN L. SULLIVAN IS DEAD

Source: wikipedia: John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 - February 2, 1918) was recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing from February 7, 1882 to 1892, and is generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring rules. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts (now a part of Boston) to Irish emigrant parents, Michael Sullivan from Abbeydorney, County Kerry and the former Catherine Kelly from Athlone, County Westmeath. Sullivan was nicknamed The Boston Strongboy. As a youth he was arrested several times for participating in bouts where the sport was outlawed, and he went on exhibition tours offering people money to fight him. In 1879, he challenged anyone in America to fight him for $500, Sullivan had had won over 450 fights in his career. In 1883 - 1884 Sullivan went on a coast-to-coast tour by train with five other boxers. It was scheduled to comprise 195 performances in 136 different cities and towns over 238 days. To help promote the tour, Sullivan announced that he would box anyone at any time during the tour under the Queensberry Rules for $250. He knocked out eleven men during the tour.

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