Was their any real controversy regarding the outcome of the fight? Having read Pollack's excellent interpretation of this fight, it really seems close, with Jeffries having him going at the end. But it seemed like Sharkey had an awful lot of rounds in the bank. Also, did this fight start Sharkey's decline? How bad was the beating? He was fighting three months later for what it's worth.
Sharkey only had one significant win after this fight over Choynski ,so I think that is an indication that he was diminished after the second Jeffries fight. Sailor Tom was a face first come forward brawler ,such fighters usually have short careers,at least at top level. Being basically a big light heavyweight,and only 5'8", must have been a huge handicap when he took on Jeffries .Against the lighter heavies such as Choynski, and Corbett he showed better results. In essence he was irrevocably on the slide at the young age of 26.imo.
There was some controvesy about the outcome of this fight, but most of it seems to have emerged after the film of the fight was released. The last few rounds of the film were missing, which might have hurt Jeffries who seems to have ralied late. Sharkey seems to have been in a prety bad way after the fight with talk of broken ribs. It seems inescapable that the fight must have contributed to his subsequent decline.
Only the last round is missing, it was re -enacted , Sharkey had to be persuaded to go through the motions, because he wanted to go for real.
Not only was he back in the ring a few months later, but he actually ran up a string of impressive KO wins, including a quick and apparently brutal KO of arch-rival Joe Choynski. The fight that signaled the start of his decline was actually his surprising upset loss to Gus Ruhlin the following year. Even then, he still appears to have been considered a top fighter for another year or so after that, as his rematch with Ruhlin was billed as an eliminator for another shot at Jeffries.
I mentioned his win over Choynski as significant. What was impressive about his kos over the following? Yank Kenney 9-7-1, a Johnson sparring partner he had won 2 of his last 8 fights and been kod in 5 of the others. Joe Choynski impressive but according to reports, Choynski,on hearing the bell to end the round dropped his hands and Sharkey let go with a big one ,dropping Choynski who was unable to come out for the next round.So perhaps not as impressive as it looks on paper? Tom Conroy 10-9-3, another third rater he was having his last fight and had won 7 of his last 19. Jack McCormick 8 -16-3 A 4th rater,he had won none of his last 7 and been kod in 4 of them. Jim Jeffords 3-3-0 He had been stopped in his last 2in,in one of which he fell without being hit and quit. Joe Goddard 33-11-7 once a fine fighter, now a relic he had won 2 of his last 15 fights,had another 3 after the Sharkey fight and won none of them, he was also 43 years old. After the Kenney fight ,Sharkey managed one win out of 7 fights a ko of Fred Russell 11-5-2 who was his equal in hot temper, and dirty fighting.The evidence appears to show that Sharkey was still a match for the third raters,but struggled badly in the company he was used to boxing with. The ko by Ruhlin dramatically shows how badly he had slipped ,imo.
Aside from being in a bad way at the end of his challenge of Jeffries, Sharkey afterwards took a brutal shellacking from Gus Ruhlin.
