Was Jack Sharkey one of the greatest natural talents of all time?

I think there is a case.

Consider that he turned profession with very little amateur experience, and six months later he defeated Floyd Johnson in only his sixth professional fight. Johnson went into the tank after this, but he had been considered a leading title contender only a year earlier.

In the following year he had twelve fights that included wins over Jack Renault and Jim Maloney, and his second year as a professional sees him defeat Johny Risko.

By the equivalent point in his career to the place where Joe Louis has won the title, he has defeated Harry Wills and George Godfrey.

For all of his inconsistency, Sharkey’s record has a whiff of greatness to it.

He was matched harder, earlier, than virtually any heavyweight champion in history, and he fought more elite heavyweights than virtually any other heavyweight champion.

Emotionally he was a volatile and unstable man, but Muldoon might just have been right when he said that he was the best heavyweight in the world from the neck down!

 

Lets frame the debate at heavyweigth, to keep it simple.

 

This is called circular logic.

 

In this case I am impressed by how early he was matched with serious contenders, and how quickly he rose through the ranks.