Sharkey was not a small guy. He was a solid 200lbs, on a 30s training regime. Yes he was a cruiserweight by today's standards, but so is Haye, at the risk of stating the bleeding obvious. I would also point out that Sharkey was very successful against big heavyweights. It would be easier to give him the benefit of the doubt against modern heavyweights, than a it would a lot of men from his era!