Hall of Fame boxing legend John Sullivan was the sport’s top star in the 19th century. Not only is Sullivan credited as the first heavyweight champion when fighters began wearing gloves, he is the last recognized heavyweight champion of the sport’s ‘bare knuckles’ era (under London Prize Ring Rules).
Sullivan dominated the sport, winning and retaining heavyweight titles in the 1880s. For more than a decade, he went undefeated. Sullivan’s final bout was with Jim Corbett and was the only loss of his career. He essentially retired after that defeat, but would continue to fight in exhibitions on occasion. Later, he even became an actor and sports reporter of sorts.
19th century trading cards of Sullivan have been the subject of more increased interest from collectors in recent years. His most popular card from his fighting days is arguably his 19th century N28 Allen & Ginter card. Even though it is one of his more common cards, it still commands several hundred dollars for low-grade examples in decent shape.
Sullivan’s other ‘Champions’ series cards are both significantly rarer and more expensive. His colorful card in the N162 Goodwin Champions set can sell for twice as much, depending on the actual condition. The same goes for his even rarer card from the N184 Kimball Champions set. It is not uncommon to pay $700, $800, or even $900 for lesser graded issues from either set.
Sullivan’s post-career cards from the 20th century, of course, are usually much cheaper. However, collectors wanting affordable earlier cards of the boxing great will find them in his cabinet cards.
John Sullivan’s Champions of the World Cabinets
Like many popular personalities, sports or otherwise, Sullivan is found on several different cabinet cards. Essentially, cabinet cards are usually a larger style of card with a photograph affixed to a cardboard backing, intended as more of a display piece. Many cabinet cards found today feature non-famous subjects. Families would have their pictures taken with the cards created for their own enjoyment. However, the most valuable cabinets are typically the ones that picture sports or other famous subjects. Some of Sullivan’s cabinet cards are a bit more affordable than his tobacco cards.
One somewhat common cabinet series featuring Sullivan are the Champion of the World cards. Some of Sullivan’s cabinets are standalone issues. However, to date, I have found four known cards in what can be classified as a set. Each Champion of the World card carries a distinctly different pose.
Perhaps the most popular of the group is the full body pose of Sullivan. This one pictures the champion in a fighting pose with bare knuckles. It is the only that features Sullivan in an actual boxing stance.
Two additional images are both portrait poses. One pictures Sullivan bare-chested with arms crossed while the other shows him in a suit. Sullivan, a significant celebrity of his time, is also pictured in a full suit/plain clothes on other cabinet and tobacco cards. The bare-chested pose has Sullivan facing right while the card with him in a suit has an image with the pose facing left.
The reason these cabinets can be considered as part of a set is because they all have the same cardboard backing and style. All three are printed on a dark-colored backing. More importantly, they all carry his name at the bottom along with the ‘Champion of the World’ inscription.
The imprint is printed in a lighter gold color but is often difficult to see in person as it is faded on many examples. While other Sullivan cabinet cards can include a variety of printing on the back, the backs of these particular cards have all been blank in my experience with them.
Exact production dates for these cabinet cards are not known. But given that all declare Sullivan as Champion of the World, a title he held until late 1892, it is difficult to imagine them being issued later. As a point of reference, PSA has graded some examples as c1890.
In addition to these three, there is a fourth that exists but is slightly different.
A Fourth Champion of the World Cabinet and Other Variants
While the other three cards all clearly belong together, a fourth slightly different variant does exist.
The fourth cabinet, shown here, also pictures Sullivan in plain clothes and includes a 3/4 body pose. While similar to these cabinets, some might be inclined to leave it out of this series as the fonts used on this card differ from the others. On the three cards above, Sullivan’s name is printed in all capital letters while the Champion of the World title is in mixed capital/lowercase. This fourth card has the font in the opposite manner and are a different type.
While it is possible the fonts can vary on the other three issues, to date, I have never seen one that does. I would tentatively include this fourth card as part of the set because the same type of backing is used and it includes the ‘Champion of the World’ inscription. However, some might consider it to be a standalone issue because of the font variances.
Additionally, collectors should be aware that other variants of cabinets similar to this series are known to exist. I have spotted the bare-chested variation, for example, on a backing that does name Sullivan but does not include the Champion of the World inscription. Whether or not all of the other cabinets here can be found in a similar manner is unclear.
Rarity and Price
None of the four cabinets should be considered as commonly-found. Even on eBay’s large marketplace, collectors will not usually find more than a handful available for purchase. While it is difficult to know exactly how many exist, they are somewhat difficult finds.
Prices for the cards vary quite a bit. Fixed price sale options on eBay are often listed on the high end. However, in straight auction opportunities, lesser-grade examples usually can be bought starting around $150-$250. Given the rarity and in comparison with Sullivan’s 19th century tobacco cards, they can be considered a bargain of sorts in that range.
