I can't claim to be much of a boxing historian, so I rarely venture to this side of the forum, but I was wondering if anyone knows the deal with Jackie Sharkey (nee Giovanni Cervati). Retired 36-48-20 with only one win by KO, yet has wins over Jimmy Wilde, Pete Herman twice, Charles Ledoux and fought a number of other prominent guys. I realize a bunch of his losses came near the beginning and the end of his career, but even during his prime he was regularly losing to nobodies while at the same time beating world class fighters. I've been having trouble finding info on him simply because he's not the most prominent boxer named Jack Sharkey out there. Was he just like the Emmanuel Augustus of his era, a guy whose style made everyone look bad but who could lose to clearly inferior fighters, depending on who's judging that night? Was he connected to the mob (it seems a bit early for that, but he was Italian by birth)? Or is he as much of a mystery to everyone else as he is to me? http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=37689&cat=boxer
I could swear I had a few old Ring magazine articles on Little Jack (also known as Jackie Sharkey), but I can't figure out where they are. I know Sharkey was a very popular attraction, also very colorful and charismatic in real life. Lived in Greenwich Village in NY, and was the talk of the town. From what I can remember, he was known as a talented fighter, but his fast-living and cavalier outside-the-ring lifestyle led to a relatively short prime and held him back from achieving what he possibly could've.
I admit I'd never heard of this fighter till I opened this thread but the Library of Congress site is great for this kind of thing, specially as it stops at 1922 so there's not much chance of getting the wrong Jack Sharkey. Here's some bits and pieces concerning his fight with Jimmy Wilde: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88084272/1919-12-06/ed-1/seq-17/ http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84025828/1920-01-24/ed-1/seq-7/ http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84025828/1920-01-24/ed-1/seq-7/ http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030431/1919-12-08/ed-1/seq-17/ http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1919-12-08/ed-1/seq-16/ http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1920-02-19/ed-1/seq-18/ Interesting thing about this bout was that due to a Wisconsin law banning fights between boxers more than 10 pounds apart in weight, Sharkey (a fairly big bantamweight) was contractually obliged to come in at 116 while Wilde bulked up to 107. Wilde later attributed his poor performance to the extra weight. Evidently Sharkey was taken pretty seriously in his prime and he and Joe Lynch were rivals for a shot at Pete Herman's bantamweight crown. Their second meeting was effectively a final eliminator which Lynch won in the final round of a tough battle. Lynch took Herman's title in his next bout. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1920-12-03/ed-1/seq-34/
