Sharkey’s more dynamic, has more tools, is more mobile and is quicker on his feet. He has also proven he can handle being at a size disadvantage better than Schmeling has; Godfrey outweighed him by 30+ pounds, Wills outweighed him by 26 pounds, and Carnera outweighed him by 60 pounds. Against Baer, Max couldn’t handle being at such a size and strength disparity. He’s masterful at his craft but Sharkey seems to be able to adapt better and against heavies from later eras that will tell.
On balance I would probably disagree with you, but there is a lot less difference between them than people think.
OK, having rejected your initial premise, lets talk about his so called inconsistency. Sharkey had a very short amateur career, and six months and five fights after his pro debut, he is thrown in with Floyd Johnson. This is a man who had been seriously considered as a title challenger for Jack Dempsey, and he gets the win. This results in a series of fights where he is absurdly overmatched, and he starts to pick up losses.
You’re painting half a picture, what about Johnny Risko that beat Sharkey, while Scmeling plastered him all over the ring 4 times. How about Mickey Walker that fought Sharkey to a draw that again Schmeling plastered all over the ring. And what about Joe Louis that destroyed Sharkey but that Schmeling actually managed a win against. Styles make fight, I would say the evidence points to Schmeling being much better against pressure fighters - while he was kind of incomplete against the big guys. Yeah he lost to Baer in an upset but that doesn’t mean someone like Carnera beats him. They had different skill sets for sure, but in there 15 round fight, I believe politics denied Schmeling of a fairly clear win. The first fight ended too soon for a conclusive winner.
Schmeling is spoken of as a great fighter historically. Sharkey is not. Max created a sensation when he came to the US in the late 20’s. He won and defended the heavyweight title as well as being a top heavyweight contender (or heavyweight champion) for a decade. Schmelings ability to construct a brilliant technical game plan vs near prime Louis to score a knockout puts him head and shoulders over Sharkey. Sharkey has no victory at that level on his resume.
For some reason my post got deleted so Ill say again: The three fights used here to characterize Sharkey as head to head better than Schmeling, Wills, Godfrey, and Carnera Im not sure Schmeling couldnt duplicate those results. Wills was shot, Godfrey is overrated by some and had been beaten by the likes of Jack Renault, smaller and not nearly as good as Schmeling, and Carnera could have been beaten by Schmeling as well. As a previous poster pointed out their actual results against shared opponents and against each other point to Schmeling being the better fighter. Its close, they were evenly matched, but Id go with Schmeling. I think they were very close in terms of skill and physical ability with Schmeling being tougher both physically and mentally.
Jack Sharkey always had the chops but he never had the head. He had the potential to not just be better than Schmeling but to be an elite ATG. He didn’t have it in him to reach that potential.
