How tall was Tom Sharkey???

I have seen other photo's of older Sharkey, where he looks shorter than claimed.

People can actually loose height as they get older.

Their height also varies over the course of a day anyway.

But who knows?

 

Look at the angle of the shoe on the far right. Seems like it's on a slope and I'm atleast 90% sure my mind isn't playing tricks on me. The tile Sharkeys heel is on also appears to be lower than the tile behind, hence that line being darker where the tiles change. The guy at the back shoe's don't appear to be on a level playing field either

 

Sharkey is referred to as 5'8" in books and on Box Rec .His weight fluctuated between175 /185lbs. Cyber Zone lists him as 5'8.5".

 

From all the stories on him he seems relatively unscathed. He looks more like a neighborhod cross guard than an ex boxer.

 

Perhaps he shrunk a bit with age?

 

Ive often wondered about this as well. I dont think the camera is folding space in that photo because despite Sharkey's right foot being out in front you can see his leg is slight extended and his left arm is actually behind and touching Greb's right. Meaning they are indeed shoulder to shoulder and Greb is indeed taller. My guess is Sharkey wasnt as tall as advertised (it wasnt unusual in that era to embellish both weight and height and to make yourself seem more formidable) but probably also shrunk a bit with age.

 

Do you have a definitive height for Greb?

 

I think 5'8" is accurate for Greb. On occasion Ive seen it listed an inch or half an inch taller but thats uncommon and I dont think accurate.

 

I'm betting it was the same time of the day for both of them...

 

Many people lose up to an inch a decade after their 40th...

 

It may be the angle of the picture & Sharkey not standing strait, I was told he was 5"7 so maybe if he stepped back & stood up the difference would not appear as much. If Greb was 5'8 then Sharkey could have been 5'7 or less in his day....another thing notice Sharkeys pants are long & Grebs are short so while Sharkey may have shrunk, Greb looked like his legs got longer