Even if you love Dempsey, it is time for a generation to accept -

Wills certainly tarred up the Tar Baby - inflicting about half Langford's total career losses!

 

Judah KO 1

 

Thank you. I don't know how long it'll last though...

 

so the pathetically untalented Heeney loses to Uzcuden and NEVER beats sharkey yet he gets the title shot? tunney and his management damm well knew sharkey and godfrey were the tougher tests. they publicly denied fights with godfrey for years, and after watching sharkey-dempsey they steered clear of sharkey. Sharkey fought and defeated black fighters tunney wanted no part of. what a waste of a title defense on tom heeeney.

So Sharkey WAS RATED HIGHER THAN HEENEY. yet fat heeney gets the shot instead lol. Heeney NEVER beat the # 3 man, and he LOST to the # 6 man. sharkey kayoed the # 7 in one short round. Also the godfrey-risko match was highly controversial. most sources report godfrey as the winner, and many historians believe godfrey was on the cuffs and was not allowed to open up on risko. surely this takes into consideration.

Lets face it at the end of 1928 when Tunney still could have had one more title defense before retirement, sharkey and godfrey were # 2 and # 4 in the rankings.

He retired because he knew they were very tough fights for him, that he may not win. Thats 3 prime hall of fame heavyweights 1, 2, 3 in the rankings and tunney damm well knew they were there and did not fight one of them. instead he fights butterball talentless tom heeney instead. My father friends with sharkeys grandson went fishing with Jack Sharkey. He said Sharkey spoke very well of dempsey and louis, but said that Tunney completley ducked him and he always wanted that match.

Jack Sharkey more than earned it with his boxing lesson of dempsey, and wins over wills and godfrey. with dempseys retirement, that left sharkey as the highest rated contender.

Godfrey was a consistent top 10 contender dating all the way back to 1928 and he moved up to # 2 in the rankings by 1928...he had been publicly challenging tunney for years, and tunneys camp refused to fight him. I think it had something to do with 6'3 225lb size and high knockout percentage.

I disagree. one win over risko in a "rigged" elimination tournament(that purposely kept godfrey out due to fear he would win) and a NON win over sharkey does not warrant him a title shot over sharkey, not to mention if godfrey had justifiably been awared the decision over risko like he should have heeney shouldnt even be in the top 10.

I think i meant Sundowners

Sharkey was clearly outpointing dempsey until jack won in controversial fashion. This IMO furthered sharkeys reputation. Tunney saw this fight and got scared of sharkeys boxing ability. Sharkey didnt need to beat heeney to earn the spot. just because he had a draw with him(a fight many ringsiders had sharkey winning) on a off night, Heeney needed more than one win over risko to earn a shot considering he lost to paolino uzcuden who godfrey beat. Heeney was terrible.

Jack Sharkey was the HIGHEST RATED contender. His controversial loss to dempsey did nothing to hurt his image...he never lost to heeney. so it was that one risko loss that you can make an arguement for hurt his chances, but thats just one loss and he came back and knocked out delaney. sharkeys controversial loss to dempsey alone should have been enough to warrant him a title shot. somehow a heeney-sharkey draw sparked enough interest in tunneys protective management to give the less talented much less dangerous low rated heeney a shot instead.

Actually there is a basis. Sharkey beat better competittion at heavyweight than tunney, and IMO has skills at the level of gene tunney on film. this would have been a very tough fight for gene. you say he had three chances, well sharkey was outboxing dempsey just as badly as tunney did...difference here is sharkey got cheap shotted and lost controversially, while tunney got knocked out for 14 seconds yet won controversially. Say what you want about Heeney, but Sharkey beat Max Schmeling Harry Wills and George Godfrey at heavyweight...who did tunney ever beat at heavyweight outside of old jack dempsey?

 

SuzieQ-----"Who did Tunney beat at heavyweight besides an old Jack Dempsey?"

To play Devil's Advocate

Johnny Risko and Charley Weinert, both of whom defeated Jack Sharkey.

 

Old Fogster....

Tunney beat a very green Johnny Risko who held a record of 16-8 and going into the bout and had lost 4 out of his last six, one of the to jack sharkey. Not the sign of a world class fighter to me. coincidently, tunney never gave risko a rematch


Tunney beat Charley Weinhert, perhaps his best win outside of jack dempsey which does not tell you much. Especially when you take into account in there first fight, the fight could have gone either war.


Tunney fought just 8 career fights at heavyweight...The rated contenders he fought outside of old dempsey, Spalla, retirement home gibbons, and fat heeney are nothing to be proud of.

 

You should add Ermilo Spalla.

I think he was ranked at the time.

 

Tunney fought just 8 career fights at heavyweight...The rated contenders he fought outside of old dempsey, Spalla, retirement home gibbons, and fat heeney are nothing to be proud of.



Tunneys heavyweight resume is comparable to Michael Spinx

 

I would agree if Spinks had shut Holmes out twice instead of narrowly/ controvertialy beating him twice.

That is really the only point where the comparison falls down.

Incidentaly Spalla outboxed Tunney for much of the fight and gave him no small trouble. Tunneys power bailed him out.

 

The fight report i read suggested tunney gave him a one sided licking, and spalla was more reminisint of a wrestler than a boxer. did u read something else? im interested.

 

My apologees then, I must've been misreading this post here (# 106):

 

I was going by Tunneys own acount of the fight which strangley portrays him as having no small dificulty.