Jack Sharkey - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jack Sharkey was an American heavyweight boxing champion. He was born Joseph Paul Zukauskas (his birth surname is sometimes given as Cukoschay), the son of Lithuanian immigrants, in Binghamton, New York but moved to Boston, Massachusetts as a young man. Sources report little of his early life until, at the outset of the First World War, teenaged Joseph repeatedly tried to enlist in the Navy. Turned down because of his age, he was not able to enlist until after the end of the war.

It was during his tenure in the Navy that he first showed interest in boxing. Tall and husky for a man of his generation, Joseph was encouraged by his friends in the service to box. He quickly established notoriety as the best boxer aboard any vessel on which he served. During his brief returns home to Boston he took part in his first fights for pay, the first on January 24, 1924, against one Billy Muldoon, whom he knocked out in the first round. By the time of his honorable discharge just short of a month later, he had won a second fight and was already earning write-ups in the Boston papers.

He took his ring name from his two idols, heavyweight contender Tom Sharkey

Tom Sharkey

Tom 'Sailor Tom' Sharkey was a boxer who fought two fights with heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries. Sharkey's recorded ring career spanned from 1893 to 1904. He is credited with having won 40 fights , 7 losses, and 5 draws...

and heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey

Jack Dempsey

William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...

. He won an important fight in 1926 over black heavyweight contender Harry Wills

Harry Wills

240px|rightHarry "The Black Panther" Wills was perhaps the most well known victim of the "color line" drawn by white heavyweight champions after the title reign of Jack Johnson...

, but his first big year was 1927, when he defeated former light heavyweight champ Mike McTigue

Mike McTigue

"Bold" Mike McTigue was the light heavyweight boxing champion of the world from 1923-1925....

in twelve rounds and Boston rival Jim Maloney in five. That put him in the ring on July 21, 1927, with his idol, Dempsey, the winner to meet heavyweight champion Gene Tunney

Gene Tunney

James Joseph "Gene" Tunney was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1926-1928 who defeated Jack Dempsey twice, first in 1926 and then in 1927. Tunney's successful title defense against Dempsey is one of the most famous bouts in boxing history and is known as The Long Count Fight...

for the title. For six rounds Sharkey out-boxed Dempsey, who probed low with his punches. In the seventh round Sharkey turned his head to complain to the referee about Dempsey’s low punches and Dempsey landed a classic left hook that knocked Sharkey out.

In 1928 Sharkey defeated heavyweight contender Tom Heeney

Tom Heeney

Thomas Heeney , commonly called Tom Heeney, was a professional heavyweight boxer from New Zealand, best known for unsuccessfully challenging champion Gene Tunney for the heavyweight championship of the world in New York City on 26 July 1928.Heeney was born in Gisborne, New Zealand, and worked as a...

and former light-heavyweight champion Jack Delaney

Jack Delaney

Jack Delaney was a former light heavyweight boxing champion of the world and contender for the heavyweight crown...

. In 1929, in a fight held in Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...

, Sharkey knocked out former light-heavyweight champion Tommy Loughran

Tommy Loughran

Thomas Patrick Loughran was the light heavyweight boxing champion of the world.Loughran's effective use of coordinated foot work, sound defense and swift, accurate counter punching is now regarded as a precursor to the techniques practiced in modern boxing...

to win the United States heavyweight title. His victory earned him the opportunity to fight for the vacant world title against the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

contender, Max Schmeling

Max Schmeling

Maximillian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling was a German boxer who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights with Joe Louis in the late 1930s transcended boxing, and became worldwide social events because of their national associations...

on June 12, 1930. Sharkey was disqualified in the fourth round after delivering a punch that landed below Schmeling's belt. This is the only occasion in boxing history when the heavyweight championship was won by disqualification.

In October 1931, Sharkey defeated Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

heavyweight, Primo Carnera

Primo Carnera

Primo Carnera was an Italian boxer, nicknamed the Ambling Alp, who became the world heavyweight champion.-Biography:...

, and was then given another chance to fight for the title. On June 21, 1932, at the Madison Square Garden Bowl

Madison Square Garden Bowl

Madison Square Garden Bowl was the name of an outdoor arena in the New York City borough of Queens. Built in 1932, the arena hosted circuses and boxing matches. Its seating capacity was 72,000 spectators. It was eventually destroyed after years of disuse....

in Long Island City, New York, Sharkey defeated Schmeling in a controversial split decision to win the championship. Sharkey lost the title on June 29, 1933 in his second fight with Primo Carnera

Primo Carnera

Primo Carnera was an Italian boxer, nicknamed the Ambling Alp, who became the world heavyweight champion.-Biography:...

. He took a year off, fought four mediocre fights, and then fought Joe Louis

Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...

on August 18, 1936, losing by knockout in the 3rd round. This made him the only man to fight both Dempsey and Louis.

Sharkey then retired with a record of 38-14-3 with 13 knockouts. As the Cyber Boxing Zone website describes him, “Sharkey had good skills, could hit with power, box well and take punishment when he set his mind to fight; But, he was an erratic, 'up-and-down' boxer who never seemed to put all his skills together consistently; when he was good, he was very good but when he was bad, he was awful.”

Sharkey saved most of the money he earned in the ring and, in retirement, owned a bar, worked as a boxing and wrestling referee in the United States and Canada, often earned money from personal appearances, and entertained troops in North Africa during World War II. He also pursued his love of fly fishing, and teamed and toured with baseball great Ted Williams

Ted Williams

Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...

in fly fishing promotions. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame

International Boxing Hall of Fame

The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...

in 1994 and died a few months later, on August 17, age 91, due to respiratory arrest.

While demonstrating fly fishing at the New York Sportsman Show in 1965, he was asked if he preferred fly fishing to boxing. "It doesn't pay as much," he replied, "but then the fish don't hit back."

Professional boxing record

Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...

|KO
|3
|18/08/1936
|align=left|

Yankee Stadium

, Bronx, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

Professional boxing record

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