Did Jack Sharkey say that a black fighter could never beat him?

Cheers Mate ,awful !

 

Different times...

Sharkey targeted the ethnicity of all his opponents because as a Lithuanian, he felt a little “picked on” by the larger ethnic groups that ganged together as he was growing up because nobody knew where Lithuania was. Unlike the Jews, Irish and Italians he couldn’t find a Lithuanian gang to join.

He had a chip on his shoulder about that. But he fought everybody.

 

Yeah. I agree.

 

Sharkey was from Lithuanian stock and immensely proud of it.

 

It was very common, however, back in the day to 'Americanize' ones name to ingratiate themselves into the fight public. So many became Irish names or simple names for those fight posters, such as Jackie Fields, Kid McCoy, Sammy Mandell and the Dundee brothers.

 

You'd think if he hated the Irish which was posted, I'm don't know if he did, that he would use an Anglo or Teutonic name rather than an Irish one.

 

Yeah, this amuses me that they did that then. Because “Americanising” a name did not mean including Native American sounding names. Technically they Anglicised names.

White guys in America were European-Americans. Then and now. So you would think any European name would have been acceptable. Apparently they were not. Seems certain groups were more acceptable.

With English becoming the chosen tongue for this new made up country the English and Irish names were really in vogue.

 

Those of Italian stock took Irish names.

 

Yessir...that ol' Jack Sharkey was the Bernard Hopkins of his time all right!!

 

Ha ha ! Yeah. His actual name was Joseph Zukauskas, hence he changed it to something the ring announcers would find easier to handle. Also, an Irish monicker was more marketable back then. As I said elsewhere on this thread, it was apparent from his Boxing News interview in the mid 80's, he had a psychotic hatred of Irish Heavyweights.

 

Precisely. Names from English speaking Euro countries.

I still want to know what an American name is.

 

My appreciation of Sharkey has grown a lot recently. Damn the guy fought nearly everyone.

 

I saw an interview recently of Sharkey I think in '73 where he says Ali, Foreman and Frazier are the best of a so-so bunch

 

In fairness to old Sharkey, he did fight all the top black heavyweights, that nobody else wanted any part of!