This content is protected I was really looking forward to this one. It's the first heavyweight superfight of the 30s imo. 1-The round was close, but Sharkey was more aggressive. I was surprised at how well Sharkey boxed in this round, whereas in previous fights he seemed mediocre other than in terms of some head movement and hand power. Looking back now, the pattern of the fight was set from this round, both fighters in their chosen positions and styles. It was a cautious fight from the start. It was clear that with both lauded for the power, and Schmeling for his trickiness, that neither was eager to instigate some kind of firefight. Sharkey's weapon was of choice was a good jab and his position, upright. Schmeling, on the other hand, was throwing less, evidently trying to succor Sharkey into one of his counterpunching traps. His position was to fight out of a crouch. It was not an ATG-opening, but the brilliance of it already had me glued. Even. 2-Both began the round more aggressive, but quickly settled back down to the careful pace of the first. Close round, Sharkey. 3-Interestingly enough, Schmeling is more lauded for his straight right hand, and I know from other fights, that he has the better one, but it was Sharkey who landed the straight right hand again and again in this round. All were good punches. Schmeling responded with tenacity though. He was un-phased by punches that felled all of Sharkey's previous opponents I had seen on video. Sharkey. 4-Not much happened for most of the round, until the end came, of course. The end was quite abrupt, really. Schmeling leaped in on Sharkey, and Sharkey landed a hard left that strayed south, and Schmeling went down. Of course, the rest is history as they say. Schmeling is the heavyweight champion of the world. I'm sure he didn't want it that way, though. I'm going to delay the verdict to say a few things: 1. I imagine most of us were disappointed at the premature ending to this fight, as were the fans who attended. I am certainly among them. Although the fight was cautious, I thought it was pretty close, and had the makings of a good fight. I tend to think Sharkey would have won, but the whole time Schmeling looked like he was setting Sharkey up for some killer punches. Having watched some better performances by Schmeling, I wouldn't put it past him to have knocked out Sharkey that night. 2. My first impression of Schmeling. Obviously this is limited. He actually did little throwing, but I liked his stance and defense, and he did flash a couple good right hands. I know it will get better. 3. My impression of Sharkey after this fight. I had never seen Sharkey box so well before. It was probably his best performance. That or Jim Maloney IV. Any other do not compare. I think it deserves mention as a performance above Maloney though, because he showed both power and boxing ability in the fight with Schmeling. Also, he did something more courageous and more complicated in the Schmeling fight. I would say it's easier to go toe-to-toe with a B or maybe C-level fighter like Jim Maloney than to engage in a chess match with a technical genius like Max Schmeling. Verdict: Fantastic chess match. I enjoyed it thoroughly. You all may find it unworthy of your attention, but I differ. I also thought Sharkey gave a good performance.
With only 4 rounds completed I find it difficult to call a winner for a 15 round fight. Sharkey was clearly on in this fight. He looks exceptionally sharp. Schmeling however was a notorious slow starter. This had the makings to be a great fight. I find it odd how much different Sharkey fights in the rematch. Constant retreat off the back foot and little more than a feeble jab. It certainly helped prevent him from being ko’d but looked nowhere near as good.
Great analyses, I`m a bit biased, cause I read Schmelings book. Schmeling stated (as already mentioned), that he was more a slow starter (also in other fights). He needed often some rounds to warm up. Unfortunately, this fight was over too fast. His title win was really controversial. He was fully accepted as worldchampion, after his first defense against Young Stribling.
Agree with your take here. Sharkey looked good and won two of the first three rounds, but it was too early to say how the fight would have gone. It was clear Schmeling was fouled. Looking forward to more Schmeling fights.
I'm glad you said that the fight was close, a lot of Sharkey fans believe that he dominated Max before the DQ - which is not close to be the case on tape. Can't wait to see your threads with Schmeling!
Me neither, I've seen a few of his fights, and now I will enjoy future ones. But I'm also looking forward to Sharkey's bigger matches in the future, with Carnera, Walker, Louis, and the Schmeling rematch.
