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"Sailor" Tom Sharkey (b. November 26, 1873 in
Ireland, d. April 17, 1953 in San Francisco, CA)
was a legendary boxer who fought two memorable
fights with  famed heavyweight champion James J.
Jeffries. Sharkey's recorded ring career spanned
from 1893 to 1904.  He is credited with having won
41 fights (with 37 KOs), 7 losses and 5 draws. 
Sharkey was named to the Ring Magazine's list of
100 greatest punchers of all time.

Sharkey's colorful story began when he ran away
from home and went to sea as a cabin boy.  In
1892, Sharkey landed in New York City and joined
the United States Navy.  He was eventually
deployed to Hawaii where he began his pro fighting
career.

Standing 5 ft 8 in or 5 ft 9 in (1.73 or 1.75 m)
tall, Sharkey was a standup brawler, who came
right after his opponents.  Sharkey was easy to
hit, but rough and tumble and a hard puncher.  He
had unusually broad shoulders for a man of his
height, and sported a tatoo of a star and
battleship on his barrel chest.  In 1900 he also
acquired a large cauliflower ear, courtesy of a
brawl with Gus Ruhlin, that added to his persona. 

Sharkey's first bout against a front line fighter
occurred 1896 when he fought Joe Choynski, who was
later to knockout legendary heavyweight Jack
Johnson (boxer)|Jack Johnson, in an eight round
match.  Sharkey followed that fight up by
challenging "Gentleman Jim" Corbett.  The two met
and the fight was ruled a draw after four rounds
due to police interference.

On December 2, 1896 Sharkey fought a controversial
battle with future heavyweight champion  Bob
Fitzsimmons.  In the eight round Fitzsimmons
dropped Sharkey, and appeared to have won the
bout.  The referee, famed lawman Wyatt Earp,
inexplicably disqualified Fitzsimmons and awarded
the bout to Sharkey on an alleged foul.  The bout
had been billed for the heavyweight championship
of the world, as it was thought that the champiom,
James J. Corbett, aka Gentleman Jim, had
relinquished the crown.  Accordingly, Sharkey then
claimed the title.  The claim evaporated when
Corbett resumed his fighting career, and continued
to be recognized as champion until he was knocked
out by Fitzsimmons in a title bout.

Sharkey was involved in another controversial
fight when he faced Corbett on November 22 1898. 
In this bout Sharkey manhandled the shifty and
elusive Corbett.  He threw him to the ground, hit
him with hard punches to the body and head and
seemed on the verge of imminent victory when one
of Corbett's seconds jumped into the ring in the
ninth round.  The referee promptly disqualified
Corbett and awarded the bout to Sharkey.

On January 10, 1899, Sharkey faced another ring
legend, the tricky Kid McCoy.  Sharkey KOed McCoy
in the tenth round thereby securing a shot at the
heavyweight title then held by James J. Jeffries. 
The two had met previously fighting a hotly
contested 20 round slugfest on May 6, 1898.  The
decision went to Jeffries in a close fight. 
Nevertheless, Sharkey vowed to beat the 6'21/2
burly Jeffries in the rematch.

The two fought a memorable twenty-five round bout
on November 3, 1899 in Coney Island, New York. 
The match was filmed, and the lights required for
the filming were so hot that they burned the hair
from the top of both fighter's heads.  The last
round of the fight was not recorded, however,
because the camera operator ran out of film.

The fight was a ring classic.  Sharkey took the
early lead when he battered the larger Jeffries
during the early stages of the bout.  Jeffries,
however, was very powerful and gained control of
the fight in the later rounds.  Both fighters,
despite suffering severe injuries during the bout
went all out in the fianl round, which most
believed was won by Jeffries.  In any event the
bout was awarded to Jeffries, although many felt
Sharkey had won.  During this fight the
indomitable Sharkey suffered a broken nose, two
broken ribs, and his left ear swelled to the size
of a grapefruit.

After this fight Jeffries and Sharkey became
friends.  Jeffries always claimed that Sharkey
gave him his hardest fights stating that Sharkey
was the roughest, toughest and bravest man he ever
fought.