Jack Sharkey

Juozas Žukauskas ("Jack Sharkey") when he was 78 years old.

Jack Sharkey (October 26, 1902 – August 17, 1994) was an American world 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.

Boxing career

He took his ring name from his two idols, heavyweight contender Tom Sharkey and heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey. He won an important fight in 1926 over black heavyweight contender Harry Wills, but his first big year was 1927, when he defeated former light heavyweight champ Mike McTigue 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 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 and former light-heavyweight champion Jack Delaney. Early in 1929, signed in a Tex Rickard promotion to fight Young Stribling in Miami, Sharkey and all involved suffered a scare when Rickard died unexpectedly. All preparations ceased, as Rickard was laid to rest in New York. Unhappy with the uncertainty of it all, Jack complained to sportswriter Dan Parker, "That man isn't in his grave yet, and already they're trying to break my contract."^[1] In fact Bill Carey, president of Madison Square Garden saved the day by appointing Jack Dempsey himself to the task. Dempsey, a close personal friend of Rickard, had never handled a promotion, before, but did so now with what might be called "large and largesse". Between leasing the Carl Fisher mansion on Miami Beach, as well as the George Washington Hotel, the latter of which was equipped for the press with a 24 hour bar, the Sharkey-Stribling fight at the old Flamingo Park, drew 40,000 fans, including 423 writers, and did $405,000 at the box office, an amount unsurpassed in the South, until television receipts for Clay vs. Liston in 1964, managed a richer gate.^[2]

A fight held in Yankee Stadium later that year, gave Sharkey the United States heavyweight title, when he knocked out former light-heavyweight champion Tommy Loughran. This victory earned him the opportunity to fight for the vacant world title against the German contender, Max Schmeling 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 heavyweight, Primo Carnera, and was then given another chance to fight for the title. On June 21, 1932, at the Madison Square Garden Bowl 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. Later in life, Sharkey would allege both his 2nd fights with Schmeling and Carnera were fixed. He took a year off, fought four mediocre fights, and then fought Joe Louis 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." ^[3]

Life after boxing

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

Notable bouts refereed

Ex-world heavyweight champion Jack Sharkey refereed the world light heavyweight title defense by Archie Moore against Yvon Durelle on December 10, 1958, at The Forum, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, one of boxing's first championship televised bouts. Moore came off the canvas three times in the first round, and again in the fifth round, to knock out Durelle in the eleventh round. Sharkey also refereed the rematch at The Forum, in which Moore knocked down Durelle four times in the third round before knocking him out on August 12, 1959.^[4][5] Both bouts were world televised in black and white from Canada, with commentary and post-fight interviews.

Professional boxing record

38 Wins (13 knockouts, 25 decisions), 14 Losses (4 knockouts, 10 decisions), 3 Draws [6]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	38-14-3	Joe Louis	KO	3 (10)	18/08/1936	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York, United States	Sharkey down twice in the 2nd round, and twice in the 3rd round.
Win	38-13-3	Phil Brubaker	UD	10	25/06/1936	Fenway Park, Boston	Sharkey down in the 1st round.
Draw	37-13-3	Tony Shucco	PTS	10	14/04/1936	Boston Garden, Boston
Loss	37-13-2	Tony Shucco	PTS	10	07/02/1936	Boston Garden, Boston
Win	37-12-2	Unknown Winston	KO	2 (10)	22/11/1935	Boston Garden, Boston
Loss	36-12-2	Tommy Loughran	SD	15	27/09/1933	Phillies Ballpark, Philadelphia, United States	Sharkey down in 10th. After a "drab fight" one judge had it 7-4-4 for Loughran, the other 7-6-2 for Sharkey while the referee had it a draw (6-6-3) but, as the rules then allowed, gave his decision for Loughran. (New York Times)
Loss	36-11-2	King Levinsky	UD	15	18/09/1933	Comiskey Park, Chicago	Sharkey down in the 1st round. The referee scored it 55-45 for Levinsky, and the referees had it 53-47 and 56-44. Sharkey appeared to win rounds 4, 6, and 7, and Levinsky took all the others.
Loss	36-10-2	Primo Carnera	KO	6 (15)	29/06/1933	Madison Square Garden Bowl, Long Island City, Queens, New York	Lost NYSAC, NBA & World Heavyweight titles.
Win	36-9-2	Max Schmeling	SD	15	21/06/1932	Madison Square Garden Bowl, Long Island City, Brooklyn, New York	Won NYSAC, NBA & World Heavyweight titles. As a result of the controversial decision of this bout, the NYSAC barred any but "boxing experts" (sports writers, referees, judges) from broadcasting descriptions of future matches.
Win	35-9-2	Primo Carnera	PTS	15	12/10/1931	Ebbet's Field, Brooklyn, New York	Carnera was knocked down in the 4th round.
Draw	34-9-2	Mickey Walker	PTS	15	22/07/1931	Ebbet's Field, Queens, New York	There were no knockdowns recorded during this contest, despite a mythical 12th round knockdown supposedly scored by Sharkey.
Loss	34-9-1	Max Schmeling	DQ	4 (15)	12/06/1930	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York	Attendance: 79,222. For vacant NYSAC, NBA & World Heavyweight titles. Sharkey disqualified because of a low blow late in the 4th round. This was the first heavyweight title in history to change hands via a foul.
Win	34-8-1	Phil Scott	TKO	3 (15)	27/02/1930	Madison Square Garden Stadium, Miami	Scott went down for a count of six in the 2nd, and three times from body blows in the 3rd before he finally gave up.
Win	33-8-1	Tommy Loughran	TKO	3 (15)	26/09/1929	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York	Attendance: 45,000. Won American Heavyweight title.
Win	32-8-1	Young Stribling	PTS	10	27/02/1929	Flamingo Park, Miami Beach, Florida	Attendance: 40,000.
Win	31-8-1	K O Christner	PTS	10	25/01/1929	Madison Square Garden, New York
Win	30-8-1	Arthur De Kuh	PTS	10	10/12/1928	Arena, Boston
Win	29-8-1	Leo Gates	KO	3 (10)	21/06/1928	Battery A Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Win	28-8-1	Jack Delaney	KO	1 (15)	30/04/1928	Madison Square Garden, New York	Attendance: 15,000.
Loss	27-8-1	Johnny Risko	SD	15	12/03/1928	Madison Square Garden, New York
Draw	27-7-1	Tom Heeney	PTS	12	13/01/1928	Madison Square Garden, New York	Attendance: 17,000. Judge George Kelley voted for Sharkey, Judge George Patrick called it a draw, and Referee Denning gave Heeney the verdict.
Loss	27–7	Jack Dempsey	KO	7 (10)	21/07/1927	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York	Sharkey took the count of ten after going down from a vicious left hook to the jaw. This was a heavyweight tournament elimination bout, with the winner to meet current World Champion Gene Tunney for a shot at his title.
Win	27–6	Jim Maloney	TKO	5 (15)	20/05/1927	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Win	26–6	Mike McTigue	TKO	12 (15)	03/03/1927	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York	McTigue would have probably gone the distance but the referee stopped it because he had suffered a dangerous gash.
Win	25–6	Homer Smith	TKO	7 (10)	15/12/1926	State Fair Coliseum, Syracuse, New York
Win	24–6	Harry Wills	DQ	13 (15)	12/10/1926	Ebbet's Field, Queens, New York	Wills was disqualified for illegal use of a backhand blow. "Wills was battered about the ring from the start." (AP) Wills suspended 20 days for the foul.
Win	23–6	George Godfrey	PTS	10	21/09/1926	Mechanics Building, Boston
Win	22–6	Orlando Reverberi	TKO	3 (10)	13/09/1926	Laurel Garden, Newark, New Jersey
Win	21–6	Bud Gorman	DQ	1 (10)	25/06/1926	Braves Field, Boston
Win	20–6	Pat McCarthy	PTS	10	19/04/1926	Arena, Boston	This was an easy win for Sharkey.
Win	19–6	Emilio "King" Solomon	PTS	10	01/04/1926	Mechanics Building, Boston
Win	18–6	Eddie Huffman	PTS	10	12/02/1926	Madison Square Garden, New York
Win	17–6	Mexican Joe Lawson	KO	2 (10)	18/01/1926	Armory, Hartford, Connecticut
Win	16–6	Jim Maloney	PTS	10	11/12/1925	Mechanics Building, Boston
Win	15–6	Johnny Risko	PTS	10	17/09/1925	Mechanics Building, Boston
Loss	14–6	Bud Gorman	PTS	10	17/08/1925	Arena, Boston
Win	14–5	Emilio "King" Solomon	PTS	10	31/07/1925	Braves Field, Boston
Win	13–5	Jim Maloney	DQ	9 (12)	05/06/1925	Braves Field, Boston	Sharkey led on points for 7 rounds, but was floored five times in round 8 and once in the 9th before being fouled.
Win	12–5	George Cook	SD	10	25/05/1925	Mechanics Building, Boston	According to the Boston Globe, Cook won decisively and deserved the decision.
Win	11–5	Jack Renault	PTS	10	06/04/1925	Arena, Boston	Some controversy, as one Massachusetts paper, the Lowell Sun, had Renault winning majority of rounds. This was a major blow to Renault's career.
Loss	10–5	Charley Weinert	PTS	10	10/02/1925	Mechanics Building, Boston
Win	10–4	Sully Montgomery	UD	10	20/01/1925	Mechanics Building, Boston
Win	9–4	Jack DeMave	PTS	10	08/01/1925	Manhattan Casino, New York
Loss	8–4	Charley Weinert	NWS	12	15/12/1924	113th Regiment Armory, Newark, New Jersey	Weinert won the newspaper decision according to The Ring and various newspaper sources.
Loss	8–3	Jim Maloney	PTS	10	05/11/1924	Mechanics Building, Boston	Maloney was reported by the Boston Globe to have won clearly, as Sharkey fought too carefully.
Loss	8–2	Quintin Romero Rojas	KO	9 (10)	29/08/1924	Mechanics Building, Boston	This was reported in the Boston Globe to have been a terrific battle.
Win	8–1	Young Jack Johnson	NWS	6	20/08/1924	Fair Grounds Auditorium, Bangor, Maine	Sharkey won the newspaper decision according to the Boston Globe.
Win	7–1	Al Roberts	PTS	10	23/07/1924	Kinsley Park, Providence, Rhode Island
Win	6–1	Homer Smith	PTS	10	15/07/1924	Braves Field, Boston
Win	5–1	Floyd Johnson	PTS	10	23/06/1924	Mechanics Building, Boston	Johnson was down in round 1 and took a bad licking.
Win	4–1	Eddie Record	KO	7 (10)	25/04/1924	Arena, Boston
Loss	3–1	Eddie Record	PTS	10	18/03/1924	Grand Opera House, Boston
Win	3–0	Dan Lucas	KO	2 (10)	26/02/1924	Mechanics Building, Boston
Win	2–0	Pat Hance	DQ	2 (10)	08/02/1924	Mechanics Building, Boston	Hance was floored 4 times, then went down twice without being hit and was disqualified.
Win	1–0	Billy Muldoon	TKO	1 (8)	29/01/1924	Mechanics Building, Boston

See also

• List of lineal boxing world champions
• List of heavyweight boxing champions

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Jack Sharkey from BoxRec
• Jack Sharkey vs Max Schmeling 12/06/1930 – footage on YouTube