Jack Sharkey: By Mike Casey

That might be the case but isnt it just another argument that Carnera did a Buster Douglas on him.

Sharkey was 60% of his normal self.

Carnera was 110% hungry, focused and had a good fight plan.

The lesser fighter beat the greater fighter on the day.

It happens.

 

I agree with this.

Weigh-in pic:

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Sharkey was 4 lbs lighter than he was against Schmeling ,he just doesn't look as toned to me.I will say that Carnera looks as good against Sharkey as I ever have seen him.

 

I think Sharkey clearly was going back rather badly. He was never to win another fight against a major opponent.

Carnera was one of the weaker champions, but he was at his peak and better than Levinsky and Loughran who also beat Sharkey in 1933.

Those who insist this must be a fix mix up a work of fiction--THE HARDER THEY FALL--with history.

 

Carnera may have been one of the weaker champions but he was a strong man with loads of heart and he improved greatly from the 1st Sharkey fight and Jack was slipping. Primo was a big target but his will to win and heart are evident even in his worse losses (Baer and Louis

 

I think you assume too much ,MANY writers of the time said some of Carnera's fights were fixed ,a fact admitted by Billy Duffy years later.I don't say the fight with Sharkey MUST be a fix ,I say, I think its entirely possible.
Shulberg's book was written long after the accusations ,controversies and arguments over Carnera's KO record were covered with dust and the Alp had retired.You have your point of view ,but because others dont agree does not mean they arrived at their opinion based on a book -later a film.By the way Carnera sued unsuccessfully for damages over their contents.

 

Fair enough, but I would make some points.

1. No one disputes SOME of of Carnera's fights were fixed, but there probably were fixed fights with other champions also.

2. Losing a law suit does not mean the insinuations in the novel or movie THE HARDER THEY FALL are true. Carnera probably lost the law suit because the main character was Toro Morino and not Primo Carnera.

In Robert Penn Warren's ALL THE KING'S MEN, a thinly veiled representatlion of Huey Long, named Willie Stark, is behind the murder of a man while governor of a Southern state. I don't really know a great deal about Huey Long, but I certainly wouldn't jump to the conclusion he was a murderer unless the charge and proof comes from a work of serious history, not a work of fiction.

 

Another guy with low guard Suzie ,add Loughran a master boxer to that list.
ps if a high guard is the way to go ,how come Patterson was allways on the floor ? Just teasing.

 

Well the character was Toro Molina ,but anyway,the book has nothing to do with my perception of Carnera,and your assumption that those that have read the book[or seen the film] ,must have been influenced by it irked me.In the book the Max Baer character "Buddy Stein " is depicted as a sneering sadistic killer ,clearly not the real life Baer,my opinion of Carnera is formed from what I have read about him by contempory writers of the time ,quotes by Jeff Dickson ,who promoted him,Reg Gutteridge whose Father and Uncle seconded him in the UK and Larry Gains quotes.Add to this the fact that his ko's are discounted in the list of ko kings and the year he won the title the Ring refused to award a Fighter of the Year Award,THESE THINGS HAVE influenced me.
Haven't read "All The KIng''s Men " but have seen the film ,great performance by Broderick Crawford.

 

:good Excellent....Just wondering Q, where do you have Sharkey ranked as a All-Time HW and ATG period?

 

I like your posts Suzie ,I admire your enthusiasm, but I disagree with your premise that boxing technique improved in the 50's. I have 50's Ring magazines lamenting the dearth of talent ,and blaming it on TV and the after effects of the War.The 20's had some of the greatest pure boxers there has ever been,men that could hold their own in ANY era let alone the 50's.

Silly Goose? Thats a bit archaic ,don't you think? Or are you trying to be polite to an old man?
PS Marciano was an excellent analyst,his stuff on the Layne Sattefield Fight and Basilio Robinson are Gems!

Another Ps ,I'm sorry but I'm not a big fan of the Petronellis,I beleive one of them learned his "skills" in the Navy.I don't have a high regard for them as corner men ,sorry.

 

On the 1st point: Surprisingly there are people who dispute that any of Carnera's fights were fixed, including the odd contributor to this forum. Seems there's a small group of people hell bent on trying to change history, and they must go around wearing blinkers, just in case they expose themselves to the truth, the whole time. Some fights involving champion fighters certainly were fixed - unquestionably! This fact could not be seriously questioned by anyone with a pulse.

On the 2nd point: Would be interesting to find out why Carnera's legal action failed. The book and the spin-off movie clearly portray Carnera. People can argue all day long about which bits were based on truth and which were purely fiction - but anyone who thinks Morino was based on anyone other than Carnera is absolutely dillusional - even the law, as blind as it can be at times, could not help but see that!