BoxRec

who wins this 30s heavyweight matchup???

Max Baer is much bigger than Sharkey and Sharkey doesn't handle the big fighters well. Sharkey has better skills, but if he got beat by a clumsy big man in Carnera, he will not be able to beat a harder puncher and better skilled big man (than Carnera) in Max Baer. I like Baer by 8th round KO.

Max Bear vs Jack Sharkey......

Well for one up until Joe Louis came around, possibly NOBODY hit harder than Baer did. He could box when he wanted to, but for the most part he telegraphed his punches just hoping to land the big one. He broke down guys like Max Schmeling (KO10) and behemoths like Primo Carnera (KO11) and beat classy boxers like Tommy Farr.

Jack Sharkey was a very good, under rated boxer, he was technically sound and yet had alot of snap to his punches. But his psyche was alot like modern day Golota or McCall, when he was in trouble he would complain, do illegal tactics or start weeping. But he beat Schmeling, Carnera and several other fighters of merit.

I would say the closest fight to determine the winner of this, is basing each men's battles with Joe Louis. Baer was over and done with in the 4th and Sharkey was KO'd and beaten around like a rag doll, blew away in 3 rounds. And record wise, Baer lost only 12 x's compared to Sharkey's numerous losses. Also, Bear one time fought an incredible 24x's in 4 months after he lost his title to Jim Braddock (which was a fluke, cause Baer laughed and played to the crowd for 14 rounds saying "Don't worry I can knock this guy out at any time!" and only in the 15th round did he upload big time on the former Light Heavyweight, and Braddock was almost off his feet when the bell rang).

I would say Max Baer would win via KO in 8 rounds, if both men were in their primes.

u guys are really underestimating sharkey.

dont u realize he took a dive against carnera. sharkey won easy 15 round decision over carner months earlier, then in remacth dominated first 5 rounds then suddenly fell to a harmless uppercut.

first of all, sharkey was way past his prime against joe louis.

jack sharkey in his prime almost knocked out dempsey in the 1st round, and outboxed him and was on his way to a win when dempsey cheated and won. i love dempsey but i saw the fight, he cheated. sharkey could have got up but his balls hurt too much from the low blow.

id say it would be an interesting fight, i can see sharkey outpointing max.
sharkey stayed away from schmellings right hand and max schmelling had a powerful right hand.

sharkey became a boxer when he had hand problems, but sharkey had a very underated and pwerful left hook

Brockton, if you can show me some proof that Sharkey took a dive in the championship fight against Carnera, I would agree I am underestimating Sharkey. I saw rounds from the fight and Sharkey did not dominate the first five rounds and even lost some of them. The circumstantial evidence is there of a dive, but I haven't seen any proof. It's like the Ali-Liston II debate.

But without any legit proof, the fact remains that Sharkey lost to a clumsy big man in Carnera and Baer threw much heavier shots than Carnera. Baer, at 6-2 1/2" and 80", had the same reach as Carnera's and he was more nimble than Carnera in the ring. I'm not underestimating him by saying this, but I think the power and styles would result in a KO win for Baer.

Sharkey is something of an enigma, surpassed in that regard, possibly, by...Max Baer. Ray Arcel said Sharkey was the best pure boxer he ever saw at heavy weight. In another book- an excellant collection of bios on each of the HW champs- it was said that he had a better command of all the punches than any other HW. His jab was compared to that of Tunney, and his right and his left hook were each described as potential fightenders. The same source also said that he was as emotional as an opera diva and that iit cost him fights (I believe he lost either 12 or 15). Baer didn't believe is training too hard and sometimes he was a lazy clown in the ring. When serious he was a devastating puncher and a savage fighter capable of taking a great punch. I've seen a fair amount of tape on each of them and if Sharkey has one of his good nights he wins; too much mobility and skill for Baer to handle. Even on a bad Baer night it goes the route as Max took a very good puncfh. Baer on a good night would probably lose to a good Sharkey but not by much, and he stops an emotional Sharkey. If they are both having bad nights the fight would be ruled a no contest

Baer by mid rounds knockout. When Baer wanted to, he could have been an all time great. He had good boxing skills and a powerful right hand. Its a close fight for 4-5 rounds before Baer wears him down and stops him in 7 or 8.

Both were inconsistent. They each had some big wins and losses. I would think Baer would win 2 out of 3.

i think baer would probly win 8 out of 10, i think hes a very solid fighter who just lost his head, if he came out serious every fight and wanted to win BADLY, i think he'd be a top 5 heavyweight of all time, he was just simply that good... he dominated without basically trying hard.. ill take max baer by KO in the 7th

dnahar32 wrote:Brockton, if you can show me some proof that Sharkey took a dive in the championship fight against Carnera, I would agree I am underestimating Sharkey. I saw rounds from the fight and Sharkey did not dominate the first five rounds and even lost some of them. The circumstantial evidence is there of a dive, but I haven't seen any proof. It's like the Ali-Liston II debate.

But without any legit proof, the fact remains that Sharkey lost to a clumsy big man in Carnera and Baer threw much heavier shots than Carnera. Baer, at 6-2 1/2" and 80", had the same reach as Carnera's and he was more nimble than Carnera in the ring. I'm not underestimating him by saying this, but I think the power and styles would result in a KO win for Baer.

I thought Carnera's reach was like 87 inches.

Just b/c a past-it Sharkey lost to Carnera, doesn't mean he loses to Baer.
As BB pointed out, Sharkey had easily SCHOOLED Carnera before. I don't think he took a dive, but he was good friends with Ernie Shaef (who dies after a bout with Primo) and I believe his story that he suddenly froze while thinking about his friend. Sharkey had outstanding reflexes and was a good boxer with some power. I see him easily outboxing Baer over 15.

I don't belive that Sharkey laid down against Primo... everything about the man points to him being far too principled and having far too much pride to do a dive. This is a man who became terribly bitter because of the 'dive' accusations. Having seen tape of it it seems he simply walked into an uppercut.... the sort of punch that could ko anyone.
Primo wasn't the total hapless hulk that people make out... he could fight a bit.
I see a peak, in the right mood Sharkey outpointing Baer. Jack had superior boxing skills and Max tended to throw roundhouse punches while Sharkey was a very straight puncher with a good jab and decent power of his own. He had much better footwork too and this would be the key to beat Baer.

i agree with silkov

I don't believe that Sharkey would've taken a dive for money, but if asked if he would maybe not win, or not get up because of one of the mind games he often played out between himself and the rest of the world...Schaaf, who died after fighting Carnera, though the injury was said to be a left over from fighting Baer, was a protege of Sharkey. I read where Sharkey said he got hit went down and saw Schaaf standing there so he stayed down...I recently watch him (Sharkey) box Young Stribling and I have much less uncertainty about making a pick in this matchup. Barring a lucky punch or a career best effort, Baer isn't beating Sharkey. He was much faster than I had thought and he punched sharply. I don't see Baer catching up to him; more likely he'd either clown through to the end or start fighting dirty and get DQ'd

I would definitely think Max Baer could have whipped Sharkey. Baer was the best heavyweight born between 1900 and 1910. I use a ranking system based on birthdate to simplify ranking the heavyweight.

1870-1880=Jack Johnson
1880-1890=Harry Wills
1890-1900=Jack Dempsey
1900-1910=Max Baer
1910-1920=Joe Louis
1920-1930=Rocky Marciano
1930-1940=Charles Liston
1940-1950=Muhammad Ali
1950-1960=not a clue
1960-1969=Lennox Lewis

..nat fleischer's ring record book lists carnera's reach as 85 1/2 inches.

no way to predict sharkey vs. baer....both guys were nuts...baer in more cheerful mode than sharkey, and both too inconsistent. we're really tallking about four fighters here instead of two.....as each could be so different on any given mood or night. if one came in o a good night and the other on a bad one, the one on the good night would win. what if both came in on a good night in top mental and physical form? the odds aganst that happening are too staggering to even consider.

carnera won the title with a unique punch...a hard uppercut with his wrist over a fighter who had been trying for a few rounds duck into it.

You know it is odd that these two never met in actuality. Baer fought from 1929-1941, while Sharkey fought from 1924-1936. In addition they have several opponents in common, including Schmeling and Carnera and Louis, among others.

I'm thinking Don King's Grandad was involved somehow.