The "debate" on Jack Sharkey on other threads and the position that his low KO % was due to the high level of opposition inspired me to do some research. Sharkey did fight a high level of good opponents. How this effected his KO % might be another matter, though. I used the Ring Annual Ratings for Sharkey & contemporary Max Schmeling. As there were 15 ratings in some 1920's years, I only used the top eleven-the champ & 10 contenders to balance everything out. For Sharkey, as the ratings only begin in 1924, I let in Floyd Johnson (who would have been rated in earlier years) and Homer Smith (who might have been). So my totals-- Jack Sharkey-----fought 55 fights with a record of 38-14-3 & 13 KO's. 25 of Sharkey opponents were ever rated. He went 19-13-3 against them, with 7 KO's. He won 19 out of 20 against unrated opponents (losing only to Eddie Record at the beginning of his career and later reversing the loss) with 6 KO's. While he did slightly better at KO'ing never rated opposition, the difference is not overwhelming. Max Schmeling-----fought 70 fights with a record of 56-10-4 & 39 KO's. 13 of Schmeling's opponents were ever rated. He went 11-6-1 against them with 7 KO's. He was 45-4-2 with 32 KO's against never rated opponents. He was much better than Sharkey at stopping unrated opponents, but also rated opponents. Sharkey beat 17 of the 25 rated opponents he fought, failing to beat Romero-Rojas, Weinert, Dempsey, Heeney, Walker, Levinsky, Shucco, and Louis. Schmeling beat 11 of the 13 rated opponents he fought, failing to beat only Gains and Baer. Schmeling-----KO % rated opponents-----39% Schmeling-----KO % unrated opponents--64% Schmeling-----KO % total opponents------57% Schmeling-----winning % rated foes-------61% Schmeling-----winning % unrated foes----87% Schmeling-----winning % all foes----------80% Sharkey-----KO % rated opponents-----20% Sharkey-----KO % unrated opponents--30% Sharkey-----KO % total opponents------24% Sharkey-----winning % rated foes-------54% Sharkey-----winning % unrated foes----95% Sharkey-----winning % all foes----------69%
It is worth noting that Sharkey's wide edge in number of rated opponents might be somewhat misleading as Ring Magazine was American centered, and so Euro fighters with excellent records such as Michele Bonaglia & Hein Domgoergen, among others, were never rated. Also, while Schmeling's fall off in KO % against rated opponents is no surprise, it is worth noting that he fought and did well against very good competition. He was the only man to KO a young Louis. He was the only one ever to stop Stribling and Hamas. Three of his decisions were against the iron-jawed Uzcudun. He also fought the rugged Baer. On balance, I don't think Sharkey was in against as many tough to KO men. Bottom line-----the 30% KO % against unrated foes pretty much tells the tale about Sharkey's KO power. He was a muscular guy and looks like he should have been a strong puncher, but for a champion he just was not.
Great breakdown! Schmeling though is known as a great puncher by those in the know 40kos. Stopped Hamas, Stribling, as you pointed out and louis. Only man to do if to louis in his prime. I'm not even sure Marciano could stop The Louis Max did. Schmeling > Sharkey And Schmeling deserved the decision against Sharkey Sharkey was very good however. I think the 30s was better than often depicted.
EM, great work, numbers tell a story. Power wise Sharkey could hurt you but was no puncher. Again thanks for putting in the time.
I have never been remotely conflicted in saying that Schmeling was a more dangerous puncher than Sharkey, or in ranking him higher on my all-time heavyweight list. One respect in which your analysis does give me some support, is in the matter that a significantly higher percentage of Sharkeys opponents were rated at some point. This would surely be expected to have some impact on the numbers?
