Born John Joseph Killion in Greenpoint, New York, he took the professional name of "Jake Kilrain" to protect his parents from the embarrassment of his questionable career. He lost the heavy-weight championship contest to John L. Sullivan in a bare-knuckle fight that went 75 rounds in Richbourg, Mississippi, on August 7, 1889. The story uses his name to help describe how the hunters in Yoknapatawpha feel about their sport: "Boon and the conductor and the brakeman talked about Lion and Old Ben as people talked about Sullivan and Kilrain or Dempsey and Tunney" (187, 218).
John L. Sullivan was the last heavyweight American prizefighter to win his championship without wearing gloves ("bare knuckle"). He won the championship by defeating Jake Kilrain at Richburg, Mississippi on August 7, 1889. "Boon and the conductor and the brakeman talked about Lion and Old Ben as people talked about Sullivan and Kilrain or Dempsey and Tunney" (187). The narrator Quentin's comparison elevates the great dog and the great bear to national championship figures.
