BoxRec

.
San Francisco, Mechanics Pavilion, 1896

In the fall of 1896 the most talked about event in the city was the upcoming Robert Fitzsimmons – Tom Sharkey face off, with Federal Marshal Wyatt Earp serving as the third man in the ring.

All week long rumors swirled about the city that the ‘fix was in’ and before the fight Marshal Earp felt obliged to address the crowd and declare his intentions to “call things as I see them, and not as someone else may want them called.” What Wyatt Earp could never have imagined was how prophetic his words were about to become.

In the eighth round of the fray Ruby Rob landed a hard uppercut to Sailor Tom’s jaw and followed it up with his infamous solar plexus punch (aka the Fitzsimmons shift), which landed profoundly low on Sharkey’s groin. Sharkey withering in pain fell face first to the canvas and fainted. The Sailor’s seconds removed him from the ring while he was still unconscious.

Back in the dressing room an examination, by a physician, of the Sailor’s testicles, as witnessed by Wyatt Earp, confirmed the low blow to the groin, and the famed marshal stayed true to his words and did indeed call it as he saw ‘them,’ awarding the fight to Sharkey on disqualification, turning over the $10,000 prize money to Sharkey’ manager.

The crowd, not privy to the examination, hotly criticized the decision.

love reading these tales of the early game, something almost romantic about those times although the reality was probably extremely harsh

littlepug wrote:love reading these tales of the early game, something almost romantic about those times although the reality was probably extremely harsh

I've read sailor Toms biography and it's great. Rough times indeed. I think it's crazy how guys like Sharkey became famous after just a few wild fist fights on ships and in ports. Mad times.

Tomasino wrote:

littlepug wrote:love reading these tales of the early game, something almost romantic about those times although the reality was probably extremely harsh

I've read sailor Toms biography and it's great. Rough times indeed. I think it's crazy how guys like Sharkey became famous after just a few wild fist fights on ships and in ports. Mad times.

I know makes for great reading though, love the tales about the old mid west with guys like Dempsey and ketchel riding the rails an all that, paid their dues those boys !

littlepug wrote:

Tomasino wrote:

littlepug wrote:love reading these tales of the early game, something almost romantic about those times although the reality was probably extremely harsh

I've read sailor Toms biography and it's great. Rough times indeed. I think it's crazy how guys like Sharkey became famous after just a few wild fist fights on ships and in ports. Mad times.

I know makes for great reading though, love the tales about the old mid west with guys like Dempsey and ketchel riding the rails an all that, paid their dues those boys !

Rose to the top the hard way amoungst many desperate and tough guys. I think Joe Choynski is a great story too. Just a little guy but he had the power to knock anyone out and tried to do just that.

Tomasino wrote:

littlepug wrote:

Tomasino wrote:

I've read sailor Toms biography and it's great. Rough times indeed. I think it's crazy how guys like Sharkey became famous after just a few wild fist fights on ships and in ports. Mad times.

I know makes for great reading though, love the tales about the old mid west with guys like Dempsey and ketchel riding the rails an all that, paid their dues those boys !

Rose to the top the hard way amoungst many desperate and tough guys. I think Joe Choynski is a great story too. Just a little guy but he had the power to knock anyone out and tried to do just that.

will have to research choynski, cheers

littlepug wrote:

Tomasino wrote:

littlepug wrote: I know makes for great reading though, love the tales about the old mid west with guys like Dempsey and ketchel riding the rails an all that, paid their dues those boys !

Rose to the top the hard way amoungst many desperate and tough guys. I think Joe Choynski is a great story too. Just a little guy but he had the power to knock anyone out and tried to do just that.

will have to research choynski, cheers

.
An addendum

Fitzsimons’s manager obtained a court injunction preventing Sharkey from cashing the prize money check, charging that Earp’s decision had been ‘determined in advanced.’ A San Francisco newspaper, whose owner purportedly had lost $20,000 on a Fitzsimmons' wager, printed a scathing attack on Earp’s character, making it a national scandal. A compromise was finally reached when a team of six different physicians, three of which were chosen by Fitzsimmons’s people, reconfirmed three days later that Sharkey had indeed suffered genital trauma. The newspaper printed a retraction.

This was no ‘get on your knees and breath it out’ shot; two years later James J. Corbett got lucky, the ‘Fitzsimmons' shift’ landed where it meant to, in the solar plexus, Corbett only lost his title.

Tomasino wrote:

littlepug wrote:

Tomasino wrote:

Rose to the top the hard way amoungst many desperate and tough guys. I think Joe Choynski is a great story too. Just a little guy but he had the power to knock anyone out and tried to do just that.

will have to research choynski, cheers

great pic

Caractacus wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ3tqIukBKg

APerno wrote:

Caractacus wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ3tqIukBKg

Great ring entry music for Tom Sharkey!

littlepug wrote:

Tomasino wrote:

littlepug wrote: will have to research choynski, cheers

great pic

Amazing