Jeffries W25 Sharkey ....Boxing waves Goodbye to the 19th Century

Sailor Tom Sharkey goes down with Big Cat Williams....Jimmy Young and perhaps Tua as one of the most deserving challengers never to win the greatest prize in sports........Standing at 5ft 8 and 180 he would have been the second shortest Heavyweight Champion in History (Burns)  and though not the most elusive fighter few have had more heart.....A controversial Heavy at times his wins over Fitzsimmons and Corbett both DQs were a little off kilt(losing to Fitz when the legendary Wyatt Earp who was refereeing called a foul on the Brit)

Though he was beating a post-Fitz Corbett when it was stopped on a technicality, (Corbett's handlers jumping in before the bell at the end of the 9th when he was on the verge of being stopped)......Other scalps included the respected Joe Choynski who later had a win over Jack Johnson and no one denied Sailor Tom deserved his crack at the belt..

Jeffries was an unbeaten huge for his time..Dominant champion with a comprehensive title victory over Fitzsimmons.. (Rumour has it before the fight Jeffries pretended to hug Fitzsimmons in a friendly way when in reality he was displaying to him what a big 6ft 2 inch 220 pound bear he was...History believed Fitz turned paler than normal).........Plus Wins over Sailor Tom 1897...Choynski and Jackson also..

Certainly Jeffries was the biggest Heavy of his era and of decades to follow... 6ft 2 and 220 he was bigger than Holmes weighed 80 years later..

The fight in Coney Island has the distinction of being only the second ever filmed Heavy title fight and was the first filmed indoors (Some Youtube footage check it out) also notable for the extreme heat and the fighters burnt hair because of the huge bright lights.....Also it has the distinction of being the last Heavyweight championship fight of the 19th Century.....

As mentioned the two had met in a non title fight two years before which Jeffries had won handily by decision......However this one would be closer and more controversial.

Some experts called it for Sharkey.....Most for Jeffries......But almost all agreed Sharkey was ahead going into the last five rounds of the 2 hour brawl when his two broken ribs and broken nose no doubt led to a struggle for breath as the stronger Jeffries took over.....

Also fight notables include Jeffries glove falling off in the last round...A round in which Sharkey came back to life and took.....and Jeffries penchant for swigging champagne between rounds..(Not out of Panama Lewis black bottle)

Alas it wasn't meant to be for Sailor Tom.......But Jeffries as we all know would reign supreme with two wins over Corbett and a rematch flattening of Fitz......He would also take place in the fight of the century against Johnson years later.....At least for me he is an Alltime Top 10 heavy...

But romantic times and one of my most favourite historic battles along with Fitzsimmons and Corbett's battle in the noon day sun...

Nothing more romantic than a one title Heavy division...Meaningful fights and historic tales some true...Some not.

But what is true is that Sharkey fought a six inch taller and forty pound heavier champion to a standstill in over a 100 degree heat in a fitting end to a fascinating Century...

Great stuff, Truss. Been a good while since we had a thread centred on the very early gloved era and it's a corker.

Jeffries of course was renown for his durability, size, strength and rugged toughness, so when he called Sharkey "The roughest, gamest and most willing fighter in the world" you know it's an opinion you need to take seriously.

As good as his overall chin was, it appears that his powers of recovery once he'd been hurt were just as big a factor in his success as he recovered from some reportedly thunderous knockdowns and came back to win, or at least fight on generally even terms, against the likes of Choynski and Maher (there may be others but not sure off the top of my head). Perhaps had a bit of the Holmes or Fury about him in that respect.

By modern standards he had a pretty short prime but that was par for the course in his era - certainly took a lot of punishment, sometimes giving away height and weight, and you dread to think of what state his body might have been in at the end of his career. A few dodgy stoppages and perhaps questionable decisions on his ledger...But again, given the era you think nothing of that and he's certainly not alone in that regard.

Where does he rank amongst Heavies never to have won the (or a) world title? Hard to say, maybe that could be someone's next article on here. But he'd probably be a name which would warrant some consideration at least, even if he wouldn't trouble the higher end of the list.

Great article, thanks for posting.

Thanks Truss. Not got much to add to what you and Chris have contributed, other than to say I enjoyed reading it and it was a nice reminder of how this board used to be.

Always amazed at the brutality of the conditions that those guys fought in - and in particular, the heat coming off those bright lights in this fight has always struck me as further evidence that the safety of the fighters was, at best, a secondary concern.

I was coincidentally doing a bit of reading on Bob Fitzsimmons yesterday (I rewatched Lewis/Ruddock and he was mentioned) and his fight with Sharkey has always intrigued me. Wyatt Earp entering the ring to officiate with his Colt .45 and the dodgy ending have ensured it will remain a notorious moment in boxing. It sums up the power of Fitz as well that he was able to stop Corbett and Sharkey with his 'solar plexus punch' while the much bigger Jeffries was unable to.

Thanks for the kind words......Read somewhere that though Corbett - Fitz was the first title fight on tape...Fitz one round demolition of Pete Maher was the first recorded fight captured....The year before..

Without doubt if you did a Top 10 p4p punchers list Fitzsimmons would be knocking on the door....

Being a big fan of Gentleman Jim though I would remind that Fitz had been dumped twice and was being outboxed when he took his Wife's advice (Love boxing folklore) and hit him in the slats in the 14th....

(Great watching the two go at it...Feints and all)

But Middleweight..Light Heavy and Heavyweight champ means Fitz deserves a berth among Boxing's greatest ever and a very worthy Man to read up on for sure...Fought Jack Johnson too I believe....Tough Man.