Yankee Sullivan
Yankee Sullivan (James Ambrose) (March 10, 1811 – May 31, 1856) also known as Frank Murray and James Sullivan was a bare knuckle fighter and boxer. He was a Champion of Prizefighting from 1851 to October 12, 1853. He considered himself to be the inheritor of Tom Hyer's title and lost any claim to that title after losing a fight to John Morrissey.
He was born James Ambrose in Ireland and became a prizefighter at an early age. There is no authoritative source for the location or date of his birth.
Sullivan arrived in New York in the early 1840s and gained a reputation as a prizefighter and a political enforcer. He was sentenced to two years in state prison for his involvement in the promotion of a fight between Christopher Lilly and Thomas McCoy which resulted in the death of McCoy. He received a pardon after two years on the condition that two men put up two hundred dollars and that he agree not to fight for two years. During his time in New York he was the owner of a saloon known as the Sawdust House on Walker Street.
On February 7, 1849, he fought Tom Hyer in Still Pond, Maryland. Billed as a contest between undefeated fighters, the men left Baltimore by boat accompanied by a party of two hundred specitators and chased by a group of local militia. The ring was fashioned from the ships ropes and stakes handmade from forest wood on the spot. Sullivan was knocked out after eighteen minutes and taken unconscious to an area hospital. Following the fight Hyer retired temporarily. Based on the retirement Sullivan claimed Hyer's status as a champion as his own on very dubious grounds.
Sullivan's claim to being a Champion of prizefighting from 1851 to 1853 was based on the logic that Hyer was a champion, Sullivan's only loss was to Hyer, Hyer had retired and therefore Sullivan inherited the Championship on the basis of being a fighter second only to the retired Hyer.
On October 12, 1853. he fought John Morrissey at Boston Corners on the New York/Massachusetts state line. Sullivan was the dominant fighter for the first ten rounds but wore down as fight went on and was taking a serious beating by the thirty seventh round. The fight broke down into a brawl involving Sullivan and the seconds of both fighters. Morrissey stayed out of the fight and was given the winners money (two thousand dollars) as a result.
He later moved to California where he had a criminal reputation. He was arrested by the San Francisco Vigilance Movement, and he died in his prison cell from slit wrists. The circumstances of his death are unclear, and it is very possible that he was murdered by the Vigilance Movement or a rival. He was buried in the Mission Dolores cemetery in San Francisco, California. Initially buried in an unmarked grave, a grave marker was erected by Tom Malloy two years later. He was finally buried at Mission Dolores Cemetery near Dolores and 16th street San Francisco. The headstone bears the inscription "Remember not, O Lord, our offenses, nor those of our parents. Neither take thou vengeance of our sins. Thou shalt bring forth my soul out of tribulation and in thy mercy thou shalt destroy mine enemies."
Selected coverage in the New York Times
- New York Times; January 5, 1877. "How The Commodore Whipped 'Yankee' Sullivan. Among the stories told about Commodore Vanderbilt is the following, related by an old and well known resident of Staten Island."
- New York Times; June 30, 1856. "Yankee Sullivan No More. Yankee Sullivan has gone to his last account. His last round is fought. His name passes away from among the ranks of the active 'Fancy.' Like many of the 'fighting men,' Sullivan had enough in him to make a smart man; but as it was, he was smart and shrewd only in a bad way."
- Washington Post; May 2, 1910. "John Morrissey's Fight With 'Yankee' Sullivan. Prize Fighter, Adventurer, Politician -- Began in a Paper Mill, and Made Millions. Elected to Congress in 1866 -- Never Beaten in a Fair Fight During Career. From the New York Herald. As the first period in the history of the prize ring ends with 'Tom' Johnson and the second with 'Tom' Spring, so the third closes with the brief championship of 'Tom' King. From the sixties on the ring became less and less an exclusively British institution, the influence of America, and later Australasia, changing conditions and traditions."
In Popular Culture
Primus recorded the song "Fisticuffs" about Sullivan on their Brown Album. It should be noted that in the song, the lyrics state that "Lilly and McCoy were shy 140 pounds, in 1842 they went 118 rounds," However, by all accounts, Thomas McCoy died in the 77th round.
Notes
Various sources report his birth as April 12, 1813 or April 12, 1815.