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Show ' wrW V J GMM7WD If j JACK SHARKEY, once heavy-weight heavy-weight champion of the world, and Lefty Gomez, one of baseball's greatest lefthanders, are on their way to the fighting front with Freddie Cochrane to entertain enter-tain the troops for the Red Cross. Before leaving, Jack Sharkey gave ' me the best story of a single round that I've ever heard from the ancient lore of the ring and the ropes. ( :- V '.'I was to meet Jack Dempsey Jack Dempsey," Sharkey said, "in the summer of 1927; ten months after Tunney had taken away Dempsey's title. I've lost to many punks, but there were always two men I knew I could beat. One was Dempsey the other was Tunney. And I'm not kidding. You know I didn't have to meet Dempsey. Demp-sey. I had the Tunney match sewed f up with Rickard. I just wanted Dempsey for a good workout. I mean the Dempsey of 1927 not the Dempsey of 1919. "On the night of the Dempsey fight in New York what few pals I had left, including my own stable, came by and looked at me as if I was a corpse, waiting to be buried. I finally got sore. I said to them 'I'll stop this bum in a round the first round.' The Famous Round "There was more than a million dollars in the. gate that night," Sharkey said, "and I could see an- other two million with Tunney later on. And I couldn't see how I could lose to either. Maybe some guy like Risko but not to-these two. "I'd been hearing so much about Dempsey the great champion that I got sore. I was even sorer when Dempsey got a big hand and I was booed. My first thought was to show these punks how cockeyed they were. "Dempsey and I met in the middle of the ring and after a few seconds he cocked that left. I beat him to it. ' I nailed him with a right smash on the chin. I followed this with a left hook to the chin and then I nailed him with another right. His eyes were glassy and rolling. The guy was out. All I had to do then was to give him a push. One more punch and he would have been out for two minutes. "But what does the smVt Sharkey do? I stepped back and said to the crowd 'There's your punk champion, cham-pion, look at him! He's out in the first round. He can't even get his hands up.' And he couldn't. You can call it anything you want to call it. Stupidity, arrogance, crazi-ness, crazi-ness, dumbness, no head they all belong to me. "Here I have Dempsey helpless and ready for a half tap. And ahead of Dempsey I have Tunney, one guy I know I can beat and so does Tunney. Tun-ney. And what do I do? Finish oft Dempsey who at the gong later couldn't even find his own corner? Who had just had his brains knocked out, with both knees buckling up? No, the smart Sharkey has to put on an act to show up his handlers and the crowd that booed him. By that time, Dempsey, who can recover quicker than a wounded cat, as Tunney Tun-ney found out, is able to grab me and finish the round." Dempsey Dazed "What happened after that?" I asked Sharkey. "Dempsey' was still dazed and half gone for the next three rounds. But he was a tough guy. He hit me high and low, but I'm not complain-, ing about that. He had a terrific body punch, and that didn't help me a lot. I was sore at myself for not cleaning him out in the first round when I had him helpless. Most of v the time I got sorer at myself for the dumb things I'd done than I ever felt towards an opponent. I had no feeling about Dempsey. Tunney was the man I wanted and Sharkey was the man Tunney never wanted. I an prove that. Tex Rickard could tell you if Tex was still around. Tunney had his chance to pick me but he named Tom Hecney, a game, strong, short-armed fellow who could neither box nor punch. I don't blame Tunney, when he could get by with it. The Tunney-Heeney fight drew around $.300,000. A Tunney- , Sharkey light would have passed a ! million sure. But Tunney already had his million. The stupid Sharkey and I never was smart passed up two chances to meet Tunney, two million-dollar chances, when he was my pigeon. Bums could beat me, but Tunney couldn't. i "Now I'll give you the pay off," : Sharkey said. "I was 011 some card with Dempsey in Boston. Just a show of some sort for charity. That night I explained to Dempsey and the crowd how I could have beaten him in that first round in New York by simply pushing him. 'All I had to do, Jack,' I said, "was to give you one push and you'd have fallen on , your face.' " 'Why didn't you?' Dempsey asked with a grin. I didn't have an answer. I'm just a dumb Lithuanian. Lithu-anian. They've all been too smart for a dumb sailor. I |
