Jack Johnson vs Tom Sharkey

Considerable.

He beat Jim Corbett. Dosnt matter if Corbetts seconds fouled out, Sharkey was stuffing him big time.

He beat Gus Rhulin who was a big win at the time. Sharkey was the underdog in this fight.

He beat the barrier champion "Joe Goddard". Not an insignificant feat back then.

 

Many beleive the Corbett fight was a fix,,and Ive read accounts that Corbett was in front when his second entered the ring ,dsq him,Goddard was 36 years old when Sharkey beat him ,Sharkey knocked him down ,Goddard struck his head on the ring floor ans was unable to continue,the Ruhlin win was creditable at the time,my point is that Sharkey,s resume isnt that great ,with the glaring absence of the better black fighters of the day,Isee nothing to suggest he would have beaten Johnson.Ruhlin gained his revenge by koing Sharkey later,as I said the Sailor could be stopped.

 

The Corbett fight was not fixed. Not a chance. Corbett was too egotistical to throw a fight. Sharkey was getting the better of it when one of Corbett's seconds entered the ring. Who says the Sharkey Corbett fight was fixed? I never read that.

Sharkey was not legtimatley stopped until his 46th fight with Ruhlin, and like I said, Shakrey started to slip a bit after the 2nd Jeffries fight. A prime Sharkey was a very hard fighter to stop.

Pre 1900, Sharkey's resume is far better than Jack Johnson's.

Sharkey fought Fitz, Jeffries, Choysnki, and Maher in their primes. All four fighters are in the hall of fame. So is McCoy who Sharkey Ko'd. While
Goddard was older, he was on a good winning streak. Ruhlin, and Billy Smith were contenders. Bottom line is Sharkey fought quality fighters in his era. He didn't catch anyone green, and asside from Goddard none of them were past their primes.

 

Corbett was involved in a couple of peculiar fights the Sharkey fight was one the McCoy another.The McCoy fight ,with Corbett being declared the winner,resulted in thre NewYork State repealing the Horton Law,which led indirectly to the no dec contests up until the Walker law of 1920.Sharkey was stopped by a body shot from Fitz ,with the referee Wyatt earp declaring the legitimate punch low,this is common knowledge.Sharkey,s main fights werewith Fitz ,who kod him but was dsqd,Maher in which the police intervened ,making it a draw,a ko over goddard who was 36. a ko over Ruhlin which was a good result,though later avenged,Ruhlin as you know was very inconsistant,rahter like the little girl when he was good he as good but when he was bad he was awful, awin on a foul when Con Mcvey Corbetts second entered the ring,and a good win over Choynsky by ko Choynsky was a fine fighter but could be nailed as his chin didnt match his punch or ability.,in an earlier fight Sharkey went the 8 rds distance and claime d a win over Choynsky,.To sum up there are a few clouds hanging over Sharkeys,s wins,I can quite understand your motives for building up Sailor Tom ,it makes Jeffries wins more noteworthy ,eg Johnson,s win over Burns was a victory over a smaller man ,but Jeffries over the 5 8 Sharkey is a tremendous acheivment ,no matter that Johnson played with Burns ,and that Sharkey gave Jeffries life or death for 45 rounds,which Jeffries confirmed,"I was sure one of us would be killed".Billy Smith ?Are you talking about "Australian Billy Smith"?Who did he beat to make him a contender?Bottom line is Sharkey did fight quality fighters in his era,no question,but some of his "victories" have serious question marks over them.

 

If you read the news accounts of Corbett vs McCoy, you will learn it was a hard fought and heated battle. I think your taking half truths from the web that are not carefully researched.

Read the report:

[url]http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E05E5DA1039E733A25752C3A96E9C946197D6CF&oref=slogin[/url]

If you read the news account on Cobett vs Shareky, Sharkey was getting
to Corbett late when Corbett's second entered the ring.

Knocking out Choynski is something Johnson could not do. Rhulin was more accomplished than anyone Johnson beat pre 1900.

While I do think Fitz Ko over Sharkey was legit, some say there was a foul.

Yes, Sharkey did well vs a green Jeffries, and an injured Jeffries, but he was floored in each fight, hurt and lost both decisons. IMO, beating Sharkey twice ( at his best or near best, when you are green or hurt ) is far more impressive than beating a 5'7" 168 pounds Burns once. And as we know Burns was ill.

Sharkey had a good career. He fought the best out there, but his style meant he had lots of wear and tear on him, and after 1900 he was in decline. In another era he could have been champ. I think he had the right type of stuff to be a contender in just about any era.

 

If you think Fitzs ko over Sharkey was legit ,why did you say Sharkey wasn,t legitimately stopped earlier?I think th ejurys still out on the Sharkey Corbet fight,the Choynsky result was very creditablle ,as I said,Ruhlin was in and outer,as you would agree.What is your source for Burns being ill during the Johnson fight? I read thre accounts of Corbett v McCoy and noted the rumours that preceded it.I have no wish to tear down Sharkey,Jeffries said "no braver man ever lived",since he was talking about his two fights with Tom,I guess we can include Jeffries in that statement.Sharkey was a rough tough pocket battleship ,possibly an early Marciano without quite the one punch power,but some of his bouts have questions unanswered about them I think.

 

Working backwards, Kid McCoy was a controversial person known for tricks. In court, he and his lawyer put on a wrestling show in court to justify murder. In real life, he suckered Tommy Ryan into thinking he was ill and need money for a fight. Ryan did not train hard. McCoy did, and beat the daylights out of him. McCoy was Ko'd legitimately by Corbett from hard punches. Read the report. McCoy tried to spin it.

Burns had jaundice. His weight was low, and his skin yellowish. Burns begged promoter H.D. McIntosh to postpone the match for another week, but McIntosh said all the tickets are sold and the show must go on as planned. Burns was at a very low weight of 168 pounds. His normal weight was 180-185, and he needed the extra weight badly vs Johnson. Things like this are not mentioned in TV / media docs, but the historians know the truth. The foremost historian on early black prizefighters KSmith knows Burns was ill as well. Burns was a lively man in other filmed fights vs Squires, and O’Brien. Heck I have his last fight vs Joe Beckett in 1920 and even then Burns fat moves around pretty well. It is hard to say how much the illness took out of him, and how much of it was Johnson. A bit of both I suppose.

As for the Fitz KO over Sharkey in the first fight, it is hard to say. Who says it was a legit KO? Are we going on the web here? Can someone post a news read that clearly says it was a body shot? I'm not 100% sure if it was a body shot, or a low blow. Hence I said Sharkey was not legitimately stopped in his first 40+ fights. I lean towards legal shot because Fitz could end fights by body shots, but the books say Sharkey via DQ.

 

The Eagle reports that Sharkey had the better of the fight throughout. It should also be noted that Corbett was the betting favourite at the outset and that the match got a lot of hype in the run up.

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

 

From your account Corbett was in danger of losing legitimately,is It not possible he took Sharkey lightly and his seconds intentionally dsqd him to save him from impending defeat? PS. I watched the Carpentier Tunney match the other night ,and though Carpentier showed marvellous courage ,he let himself down at the end by claiming a foul had stopped him,it seems Corbett might have been after the same thing.

 

From what I can gather Corbett did take Sharkey lightly and train poorly and I think your explanation for his corners actions is probably correct.