Could Sailor Tom Cut It Today?

Don't see why not. His punches would hurt as much now as they did then. He would be just as brave and durable. He would need to adjust to the modern tempo and conditions but I don't see that as too much of a problem. The best fighters can adjust,The core elements are already there.

 

I think so. As with Barbados Joe, a modern trainer would turn Sharkey into a bobbing and weaving fighter, where I see him having a lot of light-heavy or cruiserweight success. I'm sure they could tone down his temper a bit too and teach him how to use it to his advantage.

 

At Light Heavy or Cruiser weight sure?

At Heavyweight? He would be too short to beat the Kilitschko's, but could be a top 5 guy with a puncher's chance vs anyone. I think the limitation of 12 rounds would hurt him, much like it could have hurt Marciano.

 

Anybody could cut it today.

There are so many divisions and sanctioning bodies, and the threshold for title fight is so low, that it is hard to imagine somebody who reached world level when there were eight titles not having some career success.

 

He would have lost to most of the lineals, but he would have had a chance against the weaker ones. I would make him a favourite over Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, and Michael Moorer. I would give him a chance against Briggs and Rahman. What would make him a dead cert to have some success, is the fact that he would have three weight classes and a whole myriad of alphabet titles to target. Even if he did not end up holding some version of a title, it would be easy enough to establish him as a serious contender.

 

I always feel that old timers must be measured on an individual basis … some would have been highly competitive as is, others had the skill sets to adjust and excel if given the time to do so while some simply could not have made the adjustment ..

I feel Sharkey , with his strength, speed, power, chin and stamina would have been a terrific natural force … if trained he would have excelled … in as is he could easily be a cruiser Juan Roldan type ..

 

I think that Sharkey often gets overrated relative to his own era, due to his competitive fight against a one armed Jim Jeffries. Even so, we must regard him as an effective pressure fighter, since he was the only person who was ever really up on the cards against Jim Corbett. I also regard his power as being among the best we have seen in a fighter of his weight.

 

Nor do I.

A bit of an oversimplification, don't you think? I'm sensing a note of contempt and maybe even a bit of personal indignation here.

Tom started off as a face first, take one to give one fighter. If you read the accounts of his fights he evolved from that and learned some semblance of defense and other skills. Today he would be trained like (and ultimately fight like) Rocky Marciano.

 

Don't forget that he did pretty well against the two-armed version, too

 

It's hard to tell too much. The film is shoddy and the perception of his contemporaries is based on watching competitors of a nascent era of hte sport. I love the character of Sharkey, the attitude and general demeanor but I think it's much more probable that he would be a tough man competitor in today's world. The real heavies of today would squash him from a distance. The slicker super middles and light heavies would make mincemeat of him.

And tho he did improve in skill over his career, he was still an aggressive face first fight... and shortly afar that supposed improvement came his significant decline in effectiveness.

 

For their first fight? You are correct. For the second one, the one where Sharkey beat him, he was in good fighting shape.