Jeffries v Sharkey2, How close was it?

Just read an article in an old Ring magazine,[sept 54].
It evaluates close decisions , entitled " Matters For Debate",,by Jersey Jones.One of the subjects is the second Jeffries v Sharkey fight.

Jones noted that Sharkey sustained a couple of broken ribs,but, said he had the better of the early going,and was leading going into the 20th round, after that Jeffries advantage in weight began to tell,and Sharkey tired in the closing rounds.

Jeffries came through with a barn -storming finish.
Jones said there was a heated argument by ringsiders as to whether Jeffries driving finish had overcome Sharkey's lead,and that opinions were divided.
Jones stated ,that when referee Siler held up Jeffries hand the cheers for Jeffries were drowned out by the boos from the dissenters to the verdict.
It is a wonder how the fighters kept going under the huge lights above them ,so low that they scorched the fighters hair.
Siler himself ,collapsed after the fight.

Jones said that the furore over the verdict, lead the Coney Island promoters to plan to match them again ,but they figured to get 3 big pay days out of it rather than one. To this end they matched the men with two aging, and presumably, significantly declined ex champs ,Corbett for Jeffries ,and Fitz for Sharkey.

Corbett gave Jeffries plenty to think about ,before the Boliermaker finally subdued him in the 23rd rnd, but then, Fitz threw a spanner in the works by koing Sharkey in 2 rds.
This not only scuppered any talk of a return between Jeffries and Sharkey ,but ruined Sharkey as a serious contender.
The article got me wondering about how touch and go the fight was,I knew it was an epic struggle fought under very sapping conditons ,but didn't realise that it might have arguably gone Sharkey's way.

 

I would agree that Jeffries does not rank in the top flight as a puncher.Fitz conversely probably does, though how a 167lbs man would weather the punches from 6'3''plus 220lbs co-ordinated big men is another matter.

 

Jeffries record shows us that he got rid of lower tier fighters rather quickly, but the better class ones hung around and turned most of the encounters into wars of attrition Even though they were considerably outweighed and most of them significantly older.
Consequently ,unless you have information that supports your view,ie that Jeffries had damaged hands against Fitz,and Corbett and Sharkey, I would have to disagree with you.

 

Jones said in the article, that both fighters went to hospital after the fight .Ive read that Jeffries had arm problems before the fight ,and accept them ,but what of the first Sharkey fight ,the two Corbett ones, and the two Fitz ones?
The" rounds missing" actually was just the last one I beleive ,which the promoters persuaded both men to re -enact.Sharkey, by all accounts was all for fighting it for real but was eventually persuaded to "go through the motions". Te fact that both men finished the fight under the Krieg lights and Sharkey with two cracked ribs is indeed remarkable.
I thought the article was of interest so started a thread.
It would appear to have limited appeal.
Perhaps its all been said before.

 

I don't think you can make a comparison between Marciano and Lowry, to reinforce the claims for Jeffries as a big puncher.

There are several glaring disimilarities between them.

1.Marciano and Lowry were allmost exactly the same height ,a half inch difference at most.

2. The weight disparity between them was.
Marciano 1st fight 180lbs Lowry 177 3 1 /4lbs 2/1/4 lbs difference.

Marciano 2nd fight 186lbs Lowry 180 3/4lbs 5 1/4lbs difference.

3. Both their fights were over 10rds.

4.Lowry was a known cutie /spoiler type ,he fought defensively.

5. Lowry was known to be durable he was only stopped by Lee Q Murray who had 22lbs on him, Rusty Payne a good puncher,and, at the tail end of his career by Harry Mathews, when he was 33, and losing as many as he won.

In contrast.
1.Sharkey was 5'8'' to Jeffries 6'2'' a 6 inch height disparity.

2.Sharkey scaled 180 lbs 1st fight to Jeffries 205lbs , a 25lbs weight difference.Second fight
Sharkey 183lbs to Jeffries 215lbs a 32lbs weight difference.

3.The 1st Jeffries fight was over 20rds, the 2nd over 25 rds, so much more opportunity for the bigger, heavier man to make his physical advantages tell.

4.Sharkey was a come forward brawler who did not bother about the niceties of defence he was there to hit and kept coming at you.

5.Sharkey had allready been wrecked by Fitz in 8rds with one body shot,though the ref blatanly cheating ,called it low.Fitz would repeat the trick again later.

I think this demonstrates the invalidity of your argument.

In the 70's the Ring invited Dempsey to pick his biggest heavyweight punchers in a debate with Fleischer.

Jeffries did not get mentioned,by either man.