Tom Sharkey v Tommy Burns

The film I have seen on Burns doesn't show me that Tommy is in a much higher league in any department than Tom. He's kinda exciting to watch with those Mugabi-esque swings. Maybe he had a few clever tricks in his arsenal, sure. But for the most part he was a mixer (which is why I think Sharkey kills him).

My whole point was that I'd like to see what he would look like if you took a pic of him after fighting a Jeffries, a Fitzsimmons, a Choynski or fighters of that calibre. I don't think he'd be unmarked.

 

Burns could box on the outside but he could also fight on the inside. His career proved it. He'd have one fight where he was inside almost the entire time, and another where he'd be sticking and moving. He was versatile. He knew how to work in close and at long range. He had a very solid chin and recuperative ability. I laugh when people say Sharkey KOs him easily. Who did that, in his entire career? Burns finished every fight on his feet, except when he was pushing 40 and hadn't fought in many years. But while he was an active fighter, he suffered no KO losses, and even against the much bigger Johnson, he kept trying and was on his feet when the police stopped the fight. True Johnson probably would have eventually stopped him, but Johnson was a master defensive fighter, tall, fast, very skilled, with a long reach, and at around 210, much bigger than Sharkey, and just much different than Sharkey overall. Jim Flynn was a strong rushing fighter, like Sharkey, and Burns duked it out with him and outboxed him and stopped him. Marvin Hart was like a Sharkey, a rusher with power, and he was even bigger than Sharkey at 200 pounds, and Burns went 20 and won a decision. So not seeing how folks think Sharkey can blast Tom out of there.

 

Sharkey was tough and strong but I think Tommy is underrated as far as skill and would beat Tom Sharkey at his best vs best....these men were similar in size and both strong,Sharkey stronger but Tommy more talented...both were tough and game....Burns by UD but I would not rule out a stoppage in favor of Burns

 

Hiya Adam. I won't argue against the fact that Tommy appeared to have a solid chin. But how many people on Burns' resume would you say had the KO power to really test it? How many had the power to KO him? I'm not so sure he finishes on his feet if he takes on the type of man Sharkey was or the types of fighters Sharkey fought. What I see are very few quality heavyweights on his resume. A few nice wins, but nothing to get excited about.

I could be wrong, but I see no class-A punchers on Burns' record. And I don't see anything on his ledger that indicates to me that he has the skill or power to stave off Sharkey's rushes, which were described over and over as "terrible" and "of the hurricane order". Burns can't mix with him and he can't get out of the way. I don't see a scenario in which he survives the distance.

 

Stoppage? Wow, that's pushing it, don't you think? Jim Jeffries can't stop Sharkey in 45 rounds but Tommy Burns has a chance to turn the trick?

Tommy Burns has as much chance to stop a prime Tom Sharkey as John Ruiz does to stop David Tua. I have never come across anyone who was around back then and saw both men fight that put Burns in Sharkey's class. There may be someone, but I have yet to find him. And if anyone can find me a single person who felt that Burns could pull off a KO against the near-indestructible sailor, well....let's just say I'm buyin' dinner

 

I think its a matter of styles not power for a stoppage and I think more than likely it would go the distance but in the same regard this would be a high volume punching fight, Burns would throw more punches than Jeffries and the skin and swelling would take its toll and this could result in a stoppage. I said I would not rule out a stoppage because of the volume punching but my prediction was a decision in a close UD for Burns

 

That was my reaction--both Burns and Squires looked like middleweights. All the other guys in the ring--not only Jeffries--seemed to be taller.

I wonder if those weights (180 & 181) were accurate.

I know I'm probably stepping into a hornet's nest, but I wonder if Burns wasn't basically a 170 and down fighter regardless of the listed weights.

 

Jim Corbett and Kid McCoy were also more clever than Sharkey (and certainly more clever than Burns). In fact if boxing experts made a top 10 list of the most clever fighters of the 1890s-1900s you would be hard-pressed not to find both men high up on the list (and Burns nowhere to be seen). Yet their cleverness availed them naught against Sharkey.

So Burns' cleverness is going to somehow succeed where theirs failed?

 

He might have had a better sort of cleverness for the job at hand.

Sharkey was very effective against technical boxers, but a puncher with certain technical prowess would cause him certain issues.

Without weighing in with the Burns camp, he would know how to punish Sharkey for his attacking style.

 

Very true. Burns would be an underdog vs Choynski.

Could Bruns beat Corbett? I doubt it, yet Sharkey got the better of Corbett. Heck, Kid McCoy whom Sharkey KO'd might beat Burns.

Without a doubt, Sharkey fought better fighters, and hit harder.

 

Chins are best tested by punchers who hit them. Burns fought few punchers. Who were the best punchers he fought? Maybe Hart who had a good, but not great right hand and Johnson. Did I miss anyone? Looking at Burns record he did not meet many guys who can hit.

Sharkey hit harder than Hart , Johnson, or anyone Burns fought in the ring.

Who Did Hart KO? He could not even stop past their best verisons of Choynski or Ruhlin. Nor could he stop O'Brien, who did not take a good punch. Wasn't Hart spooked when he fought Burns?

If you examine Sharkey's record, he has many early round KO's and a high KO percentage. This is the sign of a puncher. Shareky sure could end it early. I like Sharkey here via mid round Ko in 15 or 20 round match.

 

Those divisions did not exist back then. Sharkey fought almost every top heavyweight of his day and beat more than his fair share. What top heavyweights do you feel he missed?