Jack Sharkey

File:Juozas Žukauskas.JPG

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

Jack Sharkey (born Joseph Paul Zukauskas, Template:Langx, October 26, 1902 – August 17, 1994) was a Lithuanian-American boxer who held the NYSAC, NBA, and The Ring heavyweight titles from 1932 to 1933.

Boxing career

He took his ring name from his two idols, heavyweight contender Tom Sharkey and heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, to gain acceptance in the Irish-dominated boxing world of Boston.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 engaged in fierce infighting with Dempsey who had a slight lead on the scorecards. In the seventh round, Sharkey turned his head to complain to the referee about an alleged low punch and Dempsey landed a classic left hook that knocked Sharkey out.

In 1928 Sharkey fought heavyweight contender Tom Heeney to a draw and defeated former light-heavyweight champion Jack Delaney. Early in 1929, he 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."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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 was the first time in boxing history that the heavyweight championship was won on a foul since Joe Goss in 1876.

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. This meant that Sharkey was the first heavyweight champion in history to both win and lose the championship against a European fighter. Floyd Patterson repeated this feat when regaining the title against Ingemar Johansson, having lost it to the Swede in their first fight. Oliver McCall then became the third such heavyweight champion when he beat Lennox Lewis for the WBC title in 1994 before losing it to Lewis's countryman Frank Bruno the following year. In recent years, with the proliferation of European-born world heavyweight champions, fighters such as Chris Byrd and Hasim Rahman have also won and lost their championships against European opposition. Sharkey's distinction is noteworthy, however, as Schmeling and Carnera were, respectively, only the third and fourth Europeans to win the world heavyweight championship.

Later in life, Sharkey would allege that his second fights with both Schmeling and Carnera were fixed.Template:Citation needed He took a year off, fought four mediocre fights, and then fought Joe Louis on August 18, 1936, losing by knockout in the third 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."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite AV mediaTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV mediaTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Both bouts were world televised in black and white from Canada, with commentary and post-fight interviews.

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

Template:BoxingRecordSummary All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Age	Location	Notes
55	Template:No2Loss	37–13–3 Template:Small	Joe Louis	KO	3 (10)	Aug 18, 1936	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	37–12–3 Template:Small	Phil Brubaker	UD	10	Jun 25, 1936	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
53	Template:DrawDraw	36–12–3 Template:Small	Tony Shucco	PTS	10	Apr 14, 1936	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
52	Template:No2Loss	36–12–2 Template:Small	Tony Shucco	UD	10	Feb 7, 1936	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	36–11–2 Template:Small	Unknown Winston	KO	2 (10)	Nov 22, 1935	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
50	Template:No2Loss	35–11–2 Template:Small	Tommy Loughran	SD	15	Sep 27, 1933	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
49	Template:No2Loss	35–10–2 Template:Small	King Levinsky	UD	10	Sep 18, 1933	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
48	Template:No2Loss	35–9–2 Template:Small	Primo Carnera	KO	6 (15)	Jun 29, 1933	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	35–8–2 Template:Small	Max Schmeling	SD	15	Jun 21, 1932	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	34–8–2 Template:Small	Primo Carnera	UD	15	Oct 12, 1931	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
45	Template:DrawDraw	33–8–2 Template:Small	Mickey Walker	PTS	15	Jul 22, 1931	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
44	Template:No2Loss	33–8–1 Template:Small	Max Schmeling	DQ	4 (15)	Jun 12, 1930	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	33–7–1 Template:Small	Phil Scott	TKO	3 (15)	Feb 27, 1930	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	32–7–1 Template:Small	Tommy Loughran	TKO	3 (15)	Sep 26, 1929	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	31–7–1 Template:Small	Young Stribling	PTS	10	Feb 27, 1929	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	30–7–1 Template:Small	Meyer Christner	MD	10	Jan 25, 1929	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	29–7–1 Template:Small	Arthur De Kuh	PTS	10	Dec 10, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	28–7–1 Template:Small	Leo Gates	KO	3 (10)	Jun 21, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	27–7–1 Template:Small	Jack Delaney	KO	1 (15)	Apr 30, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
36	Template:No2Loss	26–7–1 Template:Small	Johnny Risko	SD	15	Mar 12, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
35	Template:DrawDraw	26–6–1 Template:Small	Tom Heeney	SD	12	Jan 13, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
34	Template:No2Loss	26–6 Template:Small	Jack Dempsey	KO	7 (15)	Jul 21, 1927	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	26–5 Template:Small	Jim Maloney	TKO	5 (15)	May 20, 1927	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	25–5 Template:Small	Mike McTigue	TKO	12 (15)	Mar 3, 1927	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	24–5 Template:Small	Homer Smith	TKO	7 (10)	Dec 15, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	23–5 Template:Small	Harry Wills	DQ	13 (15)	Oct 12, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	22–5 Template:Small	George Godfrey	PTS	10	Sep 21, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	21–5 Template:Small	Orlando Reverberi	TKO	3 (10)	Sep 13, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	20–5 Template:Small	Bud Gorman	DQ	1 (10)	Jun 25, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	19–5 Template:Small	Pat McCarthy	PTS	10	Apr 19, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	18–5 Template:Small	Emilio Solomon	PTS	10	Apr 1, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	17–5 Template:Small	Eddie Huffman	PTS	10	Feb 12, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	16–5 Template:Small	Mexican Joe Lawson	KO	2 (10)	Jan 18, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	15–5 Template:Small	Jim Maloney	PTS	10	Dec 11, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	14–5 Template:Small	Johnny Risko	PTS	10	Sep 17, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
20	Template:No2Loss	13–5 Template:Small	Bud Gorman	PTS	10	Aug 17, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	13–4 Template:Small	Emilio Solomon	PTS	10	Jul 31, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	12–4 Template:Small	Jim Maloney	DQ	9 (10)	Jun 5, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	11–4 Template:Small	George Cook	SD	10	May 25, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	10–4 Template:Small	Jack Renault	PTS	10	Apr 6, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
15	Template:No2Loss	9–4 Template:Small	Charley Weinert	PTS	10	Feb 10, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	9–3 Template:Small	Sully Montgomery	UD	10	Jan 20, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	8–3 Template:Small	Jack DeMave	PTS	10	Jan 8, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
12	Loss	7–3 Template:Small	Charley Weinert	NWS	12	Dec 15, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
11	Template:No2Loss	7–3 Template:Small	Jim Maloney	PTS	10	Nov 5, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
10	Template:No2Loss	7–2 Template:Small	Quintin Romero Rojas	TKO	9 (10)	Aug 29, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
9	Win	7–1 Template:Small	Young Jack Johnson	NWS	6	Aug 20, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	7–1	Al Roberts	PTS	10	Jul 23, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	6–1	Homer Smith	PTS	10	Jul 15, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	5–1	Floyd Johnson	PTS	10	Jun 23, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	4–1	Eddie Ricord	KO	7 (10)	Apr 25, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
4	Template:No2Loss	3–1	Eddie Ricord	PTS	10	Mar 18, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Dan Lucas	KO	2 (8)	Feb 26, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Pat Hance	DQ	2 (10)	Feb 8, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Billy Muldoon	TKO	1 (8)	Jan 29, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small

Unofficial record

Template:BoxingRecordSummary Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Age	Location	Notes
55	Template:No2Loss	38–14–3	Joe Louis	KO	3 (10)	Aug 18, 1936	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	38–13–3	Phil Brubaker	UD	10	Jun 25, 1936	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
53	Template:DrawDraw	37–13–3	Tony Shucco	PTS	10	Apr 14, 1936	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
52	Template:No2Loss	37–13–2	Tony Shucco	UD	10	Feb 7, 1936	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	37–12–2	Unknown Winston	KO	2 (10)	Nov 22, 1935	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
50	Template:No2Loss	36–12–2	Tommy Loughran	SD	15	Sep 27, 1933	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
49	Template:No2Loss	36–11–2	King Levinsky	UD	10	Sep 18, 1933	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
48	Template:No2Loss	36–10–2	Primo Carnera	KO	6 (15)	Jun 29, 1933	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	36–9–2	Max Schmeling	SD	15	Jun 21, 1932	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	35–9–2	Primo Carnera	UD	15	Oct 12, 1931	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
45	Template:DrawDraw	34–9–2	Mickey Walker	PTS	15	Jul 22, 1931	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
44	Template:No2Loss	34–9–1	Max Schmeling	DQ	4 (15)	Jun 12, 1930	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	34–8–1	Phil Scott	TKO	3 (15)	Feb 27, 1930	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	33–8–1	Tommy Loughran	TKO	3 (15)	Sep 26, 1929	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	32–8–1	Young Stribling	PTS	10	Feb 27, 1929	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	31–8–1	Meyer Christner	MD	10	Jan 25, 1929	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	30–8–1	Arthur De Kuh	PTS	10	Dec 10, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	29–8–1	Leo Gates	KO	3 (10)	Jun 21, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	28–8–1	Jack Delaney	KO	1 (15)	Apr 30, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
36	Template:No2Loss	27–8–1	Johnny Risko	SD	15	Mar 12, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
35	Template:DrawDraw	27–7–1	Tom Heeney	SD	12	Jan 13, 1928	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
34	Template:No2Loss	27–7	Jack Dempsey	KO	7 (15)	Jul 21, 1927	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	27–6	Jim Maloney	TKO	5 (15)	May 20, 1927	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	26–6	Mike McTigue	TKO	12 (15)	Mar 3, 1927	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	25–6	Homer Smith	TKO	7 (10)	Dec 15, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	24–6	Harry Wills	DQ	13 (15)	Oct 12, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	23–6	George Godfrey	PTS	10	Sep 21, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	22–6	Orlando Reverberi	TKO	3 (10)	Sep 13, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	21–6	Bud Gorman	DQ	1 (10)	Jun 25, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	20–6	Pat McCarthy	PTS	10	Apr 19, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	19–6	Emilio Solomon	PTS	10	Apr 1, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	18–6	Eddie Huffman	PTS	10	Feb 12, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	17–6	Mexican Joe Lawson	KO	2 (10)	Jan 18, 1926	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	16–6	Jim Maloney	PTS	10	Dec 11, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	15–6	Johnny Risko	PTS	10	Sep 17, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
20	Template:No2Loss	14–6	Bud Gorman	PTS	10	Aug 17, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	14–5	Emilio Solomon	PTS	10	Jul 31, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	13–5	Jim Maloney	DQ	9 (10)	Jun 5, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	12–5	George Cook	SD	10	May 25, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	11–5	Jack Renault	PTS	10	Apr 6, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
15	Template:No2Loss	10–5	Charley Weinert	PTS	10	Feb 10, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	10–4	Sully Montgomery	UD	10	Jan 20, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	9–4	Jack DeMave	PTS	10	Jan 8, 1925	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
12	Template:No2Loss	8–4	Charley Weinert	NWS	12	Dec 15, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
11	Template:No2Loss	8–3	Jim Maloney	PTS	10	Nov 5, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
10	Template:No2Loss	8–2	Quintin Romero Rojas	TKO	9 (10)	Aug 29, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	8–1	Young Jack Johnson	NWS	6	Aug 20, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	7–1	Al Roberts	PTS	10	Jul 23, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	6–1	Homer Smith	PTS	10	Jul 15, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	5–1	Floyd Johnson	PTS	10	Jun 23, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	4–1	Eddie Ricord	KO	7 (10)	Apr 25, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
4	Template:No2Loss	3–1	Eddie Ricord	PTS	10	Mar 18, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Dan Lucas	KO	2 (8)	Feb 26, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Pat Hance	DQ	2 (10)	Feb 8, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Billy Muldoon	TKO	1 (8)	Jan 29, 1924	Template:Age in years and days	Template:Small

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

• NYSAC heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
• NBA (WBA) heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)

The Ring magazine titles

• The Ring heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)

Regional/International titles

• American (ABA) heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)

Undisputed titles

• Undisputed heavyweight champion

See also

• List of heavyweight boxing champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Template:YouTube
• Boxing Hall of Fame
• Fighty City Biography -- Jack Sharkey
• Massachusetts Memento Mori: Jack Sharkey and Ernie Schaaf