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Kill The Body

and the head will die

Jake Kilrain vs John L. Sullivan — record, stats and common opponents compared

🇺🇸HEAVYWEIGHT

Jake Kilrain

🇺🇸UNITED STATES

John L. Sullivan

Jake Kilrain (31-5-8) and John L. Sullivan (47-1-2) are compared on record, finishing method, activity, and common opponents on Kill The Body. The two have met once. They share 5 common opponents.

Kilrain

31

Wins18 KO · 58%

5

Losses

8

Draws46 tracked bouts

Sullivan

47

Wins32 KO · 68%

1

Loss

2

Draws46 tracked bouts

Head to Head

Sullivan leads 1–0

Jake Kilrain and John L. Sullivan have met 1 time; Sullivan leads 1–0.

Jake Kilrain and John L. Sullivan have met 1 time; Sullivan leads 1–0.
Met1889Jul 8Series
Jake KilrainFighter ALLost0–1W–L
John L. SullivanFighter BWWon1–0W–L
ResultKO1Meeting

The Numbers

Kilrain 0 · Sullivan 7 of 7 measurable rows
KilrainSullivan
Record
31-5-847-1-2 (edge)
Win %0–100%
79.5%
96% (edge)
Wins by knockoutmax 32
18
32 (edge)
KO rate0–100%
58.06%
68.09% (edge)
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)†0–100%
60%
86% (edge)
Times stopped†max 5
5
1 (edge)
Title reignslevelmax 0
0
0
Bouts per year‡max 3.4
2.2
3.4 (edge)
Bouts trackedlevelmax 46
46
46

† Counted from bouts Kill The Body has ingested, not a career total. · ‡ Across each fighter's tracked career span. · Bars are scaled per row — percentages on 0–100, counts against the larger of the two. Every figure is also printed as text.

Tale of the Tape

Heightnot held
Jake Kilrain: No height on file
John L. Sullivan: 5′10″
Reachnot held
Jake Kilrain: No reach on file
John L. Sullivan: 74″
Agenot comparable
Jake Kilrain: Died aged 78
John L. Sullivan: Died aged 59
Stance
Jake Kilrain: Not recorded
John L. Sullivan: Orthodox

Jake Kilrain left, John L. Sullivan right, as everywhere on this page. Age is stated, not scored — neither age nor stance carries an edge.

How They Win

Tracked bouts only
Jake Kilrain30 wins · from 46 tracked bouts

Jake Kilrain: 30 tracked wins — 18 by KO/TKO (60%) and 12 on the cards (40%). Counted from 46 bouts Kill The Body has ingested.

18 by KO/TKO 60%12 on the cards 40%

John L. Sullivan42 wins · from 46 tracked bouts

John L. Sullivan: 42 tracked wins — 36 by KO/TKO (86%), 4 on the cards (10%) and 2 by another method or unrecorded (5%). Counted from 46 bouts Kill The Body has ingested.

36 by KO/TKO 86%4 on the cards 10%2 by another method or unrecorded 5%

One square per tracked win. Counted from the bouts Kill The Body has ingested for each fighter — Jake Kilrain 46, John L. Sullivan 46 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

5 shared

5 shared · Sullivan better on 2 · even on 3

Kilrain

Opponent

Sullivan

  • Jake Kilrain

    Loss, PTS

    1890

    CorbettEven

    John L. Sullivan

    Loss, KO

    1892

  • Jake Kilrain

    Draw, PTS

    1884

    MitchellSullivan better

    John L. Sullivan

    1–0–1 against

    Draw, PTS

    1888

    Win, TKO

    1883

  • Jake Kilrain

    Win, TKO

    1886

    HeraldEven

    John L. Sullivan

    Win, TD

    1886

  • Jake Kilrain

    Draw, PTS

    1884

    BurkeSullivan better

    John L. Sullivan

    Win, PTS

    1885

  • Jake Kilrain

    Win, PTS

    1879

    DwyerEven

    John L. Sullivan

    Win, TKO

    1879

Both sides are set at the same size on purpose. Kill The Body does not score a second-round knockout above a split decision — the edge counts losses first and wins as the tiebreak, and the rest is yours to argue. Shared opponents are matched on fighter identity, not on name, so two different fighters with the same name never merge into one row.

Current Form

Oldest left · newest right

Jake Kilrain has lost three straight. Kilrain last boxed on Oct 20, 1899.LDLLL

Slavin Jun 1891O'Donnell Mar 1895O'Donnell May 1895Slavin Sep 1896O'Donnell Oct 18992.2 tracked bouts per year

John L. Sullivan had won one in a row before losing by stoppage to James John Corbett. Sullivan last boxed on Sep 7, 1892.DWDWL

Cardiff Jan 1887Samuells Jan 1888Mitchell Mar 1888Kilrain Jul 1889Corbett Sep 18923.4 tracked bouts per year

Common Questions

With the rows behind them
Have Jake Kilrain and John L. Sullivan ever fought each other?
Yes. Jake Kilrain and John L. Sullivan met once on July 8, 1889, and John L. Sullivan won by KO.
The meeting

LJul 8, 1889 · Sullivan · KO

Head to Head ↓
Who has the better record, Kilrain or Sullivan?
Jake Kilrain is 31-5-8 and John L. Sullivan is 47-1-2. John L. Sullivan has the higher win percentage.
Records · win %

Kilrain31–5–879.5%

Sullivan47–1–296%

The Numbers ↓
Who has more knockouts, Kilrain or Sullivan?
Jake Kilrain has 18 knockout wins and John L. Sullivan has 32. John L. Sullivan has more.
Knockout wins · KO rate

Kilrain1858.1%

Sullivan3268.1%

The Numbers ↓
Do Kilrain and Sullivan have any common opponents?
Jake Kilrain and John L. Sullivan share 5 common opponents: James John Corbett, Charley Mitchell and Frank Herald (and 2 others). John L. Sullivan fared better against 2 of them.
5 shared opponents

James John CorbettLL

Charley MitchellD1–0–1

Frank HeraldWW

Jack BurkeDW

and 1 more

Common Opponents ↓
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Kilrain and Sullivan?
This comparison is drawn from 46 bouts tracked for Jake Kilrain and 46 bouts tracked for John L. Sullivan. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.
Bouts tracked · no edge

Kilrain46bouts

Sullivan46bouts

How They Win ↓

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