Subscribe to download
Jake Kilrain

Era - 1880s / 1890s - Boxing - Heavyweight

In the last fourty years, championship bouts went from fifteen rounds to twelve, in an attempt to preseve the health of the fighters. Go back eighty years from then, and Jake Kilrain fought bouts that lasted fourty, seventy five and an unfathomable hundred and six rounds against some of the best boxers of his time.

Kilrain, born in Greenport, Long Island in 1859, grew robust working in a Boston mill and started his athletic exploits as an oarsman, winning championships as a rower. His professional career in boxing began around 1880, building up his reputation through a number of solid wins, tough earned draws and prematurely stopped bouts, courtesy of the police, as prizefighting was not entirely in the realm of full legality in the 1880s.

In 1886, Jake Kilrain took on Jem Smith for the Championship of England, and their fight was the one that went 106 rounds, an unmatched marathon that ceased only due to the eventual disappearance of the daylight, forcing a draw. This fight, however, was the catalyst that propelled Kilrain into title contention against John L. Sullivan.

On the day of July 8, 1889, the final championship bout to be decided under the bare knuckle London Prize Ring rules took place in Richburg, Mississippi. A train filled with the attendees departed from New Orleans in the morning, evading the authorities, who were well prepared to shut down the proceedings.

Sullivan, who, in his prime, was an absolute destroyer, crushing his inferior opposition with ease, had to work extremely hard to work off the consequences of hard living, but the innovative training of William Muldoon had him back into fighting shape. Kilrain had trained hard to become more technical and elusive, and in the early going, was the better man. But as the fight went on, the power and aggression of Sullivan took a toll, forcing Kilrain back. Even so, Kilrain continued working the body, yielding some results as the fight went on, but as the rounds piled up, it was clear that while the spirit was abundantly willing, the body was no longer able to carry on. And at the start of the seventy sixth round, cornerman Mike Donovan threw in the towel, likely saving Kilrain's life and giving Sullivan the victory.

While this was the end of an era, and the end of Kilrain's pursuit of the Heavyweight title, it was not the end of his pugilistic career. Kilrain continued on under gloved rules, and had a number of quality wins after the Sullivan fight, most notably, defeating the original George Godfrey in a fourty four round fight culminating in a knockout.

As with all my edits, full AI-Moveset-Parameters are set.

Attire:
1. Tan tights and blue belt
2. Black tights and green belt
4. Red tights, tan belt and gloves
4. White tights and grey belt