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

I agree that a prime Sharkey would give Tunney a good fight ,but that's not the point .
In 1927 Sharkey was in an eliminator with Dempsey , the winner to Challenge Tunney,Dempsey's conqueror. Dempsey kod Sharkey and met Tunney. Meanwhile ,Sharkey met Heeney and could only draw with him1928.Sharkey ,in his next fight lost to Risko 1928 . Heeney had allready beaten Risko,and so had Tunney.Sharkey eliminated himself,so Tunney met Heeney, then retired.

 

McVea, that tournament was horribly rigged. Heeney never even beat sharkey or godfrey to win the elimantor, all he had to do was beat johnny risko. In fact, They kept top contender George Godfrey out of the tournament due to fear of a black man winning the eliminator. They were going to match up godfrey with knute hanson as long as they thought hanson was a gauranteed win. but when hansons manager said they had no chance against godfrey, they removed godfrey from the tourney. Heeney was a joke and never beat sharkey or godfrey to earn his shot.

If dempsey doesnt hit sharkey in the balls, sharkey most likely wins the fight on points and faces tunney next. I thought sharkey outboxing dempsey in that fight was more than enough to qualify him as a future tunney opponent, especially with his wins over wills and godfrey too.

 

The entries to the tournament may well have been rigged ,but the results of those taking part went along on logical grounds. Sharkey lost to Dempsey,drew with Heeney, then lost to Risko.If Sharkey desrves a shot after 3 fights without a win where does that leave Risko? Risko had beaten Uzcudon ,and Scott ,and Godfrey and Sharkey, so thats 4 fights, 4 wins over contenders, surely he deserves a shot more than either Sharkey or Godfrey ,both of whom he has beaten? Trouble is Tunney had allready beaten him. Godfrey was out of the picture ,because he had been beaten by Sharkey and Risko.All this might have been very fortuitous for Tunney but he could justifiably claim that he took on the logical contender, since the only other stand out was Risko ,whom he had allready beaten.
Personally I think Tunney would do to Godfrey what Sharkey did, and I rate Tunney slightly better as a boxer than Sharkey ,with a better chin and more speed so I think he beats Sharkey too,but of the contenders around then an in form Sharkey would be the man I would most fear if I was Tunney.Trouble with Sharkey was ,you never knew if he would be in form ,and neither did he!

 

I see your point McVey. I dont know about risk-sharkey but the risko-godfrey fight was extremley fishy...


Boxing Historian Chuck Hasson claimed about godfrey-risko fight "It was widely understood in Philly that Godfrey agreed to "carry" Risko". His loss to Risko was a case in point as some fair eyewitness scribes have noted that Godfrey easily handled Risko for the first eight rounds at Ebbetts Field then Risko made a courageous stand in the last two rounds and they awarded him the decision"

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New York Times had it 6-4 for Godfrey AP had it 5-3-2 for Godfrey

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Here is a photo of Godfrey and Dempsey. In Siki's book, he claims godfrey knocked dempsey out for 10 count while dempsey was sparring for Firpo.



People don't realize that one leading black challenger Harry Wills was tolerated because of his "good name" with the New York commission but two top black challengers were frowned on. Godfrey and his management (Dougherty) tried to alleviate the situation by attempting to lure Wills into the ring by any means, but of course Wills and Paddy Mullins were not about to risk their position that they earned by taking on young, and very dangerous opponent like Godfrey.

 

Godfrey knocks out Harry Wills by 1925 defintley..wills reflexes had slowed down too much for a superheavyweight with punching skills of godfrey in his prime..Prime for Prime? difficult, I would probably side with Wills there, though boxing historian Kevin Smith who has authored books on Black Dynamite fighters of the past told me once prime for prime he believes Godfrey would win.


Interestingly enough, Godfrey was trained by jack blackburn. it was blackburn that developed him into such a devastating puncher. Godfrey scored 82 knockouts out of 99 wins I believe. Might have been more if he wasnt forced to fight with the Cuffs on vs White fighters.

 

Some historians believe so. I tend to rate wills near my top 10, while godfey is usually around 25-30th....both very underated fighters. I swear if godfey got his shot against tunney without the cuffs on, one of those guys legends would be alot different. we would know the truth. it would have been very interesting indeed to see the outcome.

 

Well put. I agree.

 

Larry Gains in his great Autobiography "The Impossible Dream " said that Godfrey was built like a mountain,and gave off an aura of machismo.We will probably never know how many of Godfrey's fights were straight,and how many were carry jobs, from what I have read , he may have deliberatedly fouled out to Carnera, for example .

 

I'm the most staunch Dempsey defender.

Fair's fair, you nit pick at Dempsey, I'll nit pick at Wills.

I'm sure that's not the case, but lets not lose sight of the fact that this Langford is not a 100% Tar Baby.

This is the point, how good a wins were they? How many levels had Langford fizzled down?

Winning was often with Langford, but there was a time when he smashed all his prey. Catch me drift?

You won't?! It's not like we're going anywhere.

Ok, so you give me your best and then I'll show you whose got the deeper record.

It's harping for good reason.

There was a time when Sharkey was **** hot, which is no exaggeration.

He could dig, box and brawl with lovely fluidity.

Tattooing Dempsey, Sparking Loughran, Battering Schmeling before the DQ and schooling Carnera were no small feats. Actually, outside of Joe Louis it was the best work done at heavyweight for that era.

Suggesting Wills beating McVey is better than Dempsey beating Sharkey when he did is a good one. That Sharkey may have done a number on the ailing Black Dynamites.

 

Unfortunately this is true of everybody.

Godfrey is just an enigma.