Tom Sharkey v Tommy Burns

Sharkey rolls right over him. Much stronger, harder hitting and durable. Nobody back then put Burns in Sharkey's class as a fighter. Nor should they now. Burns is a bit underrated, true. But his style plays right into Sharkey's hands.

Sharkey KO 3

 

Burns once said, "I look small, but I weigh just what Sharkey weighed at his best. And I’m faster and a more clever boxer."

Robert Edgren said, “People who think that Burns hardly qualifies as a heavyweight champion because he is a pigmy compared with the great Jeffries might remember that Burns is an exact duplicate of the Sailor [Tom Sharkey] in stature – in height and weight – but has a reach just equal to that of Jeffries and Fitzsimmons, and is as clever as Jim Corbett.”

 

due to nothing other than being canadian, i pick burns

 

Wow Jeffries looked so much bigger than midget Burns. Even a 1910 version of Jeffries would have knocked out Burns.

 

Squires is just horrible here, a bar room brawler and not a particularly good one. Burns moves in and out but in straight lines. However, his timing and power are very good. (I am commenting on the better available filmed version of this fight)

I will tentatively give Burns the edge over the best version of Sharkey.

 

Quite right. Sharkey too strong.

 

Yes, Squires was the betting favorite over Burns. I discuss this in In the Ring With Tommy Burns. First of all, at that time, Australians had a good boxing reputation. Squires was known as a very big puncher, with a very impressive knockout record in Australia, and he was being hyped as the next Fitzsimmons. He had no tests in the U.S. for the experts to pick him apart and denigrate him. Plus, Burns was coming off some controversy in the O'Brien fight, where he had agreed to throw it in order to get O'Brien into the ring, then double crossed him. Some thought that Burns could be bought, and they feared that Tom might be induced to throw the fight to Squires, which would set up a mega-payday of Jeffries-Squires, because Jeff said he would re-emerge from retirement to bring the title back to America. So the conspiracy theorists were predicting that Burns would get KO'd and then Jeff would fight Squires. But, as usual, they were wrong.

It turned out that Squries did not show his best form in this fight, and many agreed afterwards. This was in part because he fought sloppily and in an overconfident fashion. He was in love with his power and did not concern himself with defense in this fight, thinking that Tommy was too small to hurt him and too little to take his punch. He said so afterwards, that once he saw Burns his confidence shot through the roof, much to his detriment. Tommy was short and pudgy looking, but looks could be deceiving, as most of his foes found out.

 

Burns wasn’t a slick boxer by any means. He was tough and game, but far from slick. Sharkey was a whirlwind of action, full of power with plenty of stamina and guts.

This would be a fans fight while it lasts. It should be noted that Sharkey arguably defeated better fighters and based on styles has the edge. If fighters like Choynski , Maher, and Jeffries could not stop Sharkey, neither could Burns. I like Sharkey here via mid round KO.

 

Put Burns in with Sharkey's opposition. We shall see how "unmarked" he remains