An Irish Judge in New York

Love this story in our Tom Sharkey book.

After a fight of questionable legality between Sharkey and Peter Maher in 1897 all those involved were summoned to court. But the New York judge was a patriotic Irishman, like the participants.

The judge first called up Maher.

“Peter,” he said, “where were you born?”

“In Ireland, Your Honor,” replied Maher.

“And you, Buck Cornelius?”

“Ireland.”

“John Quinn?”

“Ireland.”

“Peter Lowry?”

“Ireland.”

“Peter Burns?”

“Ireland.”

“Tom Sharkey?”

“Ireland.”

“Tim McGrath?”

“Ireland.”

“That’s enough,” said the judge. “I can’t see any case here. Defendants dismissed!"

His sparring partners were like steers for the slaughter

Sharkey's manager Tim McGrath said that because the Sailor "was a fighter and not a boxer" he was very hard on his sparring partners.

"One of my hardest jobs was to get men to come to his training quarters to box with him," he stated. "I used to get a bunch of them, good and bad, and line them up like a lot of steers waiting to be killed.”

Tom would come out, remembered McGrath, and say, “How many you got?”

“Five or six.”

The “steers” would go in for a slaughter and after a little time, Sharkey would come out again. “How many’s left?”

If there were none to go in, that would be the end of the boxing part of the training and McGrath would go off to hire more sparring partners.

* From I FOUGHT THEM ALL: THE LIFE AND RING BATTLES OF SAILOR TOM SHARKEY

Tom Sharkey's astonishing 50-year rivalry and friendship with Jim Jeffries is one of boxing's most fascinating relationships.

Brutal in the ring, they toured the carnivals later - and then worked together.

Their 25-round world title fight at Coney Island was one of the most compelling encounters ever seen inside a ring.

It sparked a friendship which would last until the two men died a few weeks apart in 1953.

On Jeffries’ death Sharkey – then in hospital and gravely ill himself – was heard to say, “Well, I finally beat him.”

This friendship features heavily in I FOUGHT THEM ALL and is at the heart of my screenplay about Sharkey's life.

I FOUGHT THEM ALL - BACK IN HARDBACK FOR LIMITED TIME

It's been a while but I FOUGHT THEM ALL - the awardwinning Tom Sharkey biography is back in hardback!

Limited to just 45 copies.

Available as a buy it now on eBay.

Not an auction. Cover price only.


"Hugely entertaining and exquisitely researched... It's a great contribution to ring history." --Pete Ehrmann, boxing writer, contributor to The Ring

"I Fought Them All is an excellent read. It's well-researched and is good news for boxing fans everywhere." --Tracy Callis, International Boxing Research Organisation

"It emits quality from the first opening crack of the hard cover until its final satisfying closing." --Marty Mulcahey, Max Boxing

"Gun-slingers, shipwrecks, tragic love stories, gambling, acts of heroism and, of course, gruelling fights. I thoroughly recommend this book."
--Glenn Wilson, Cyber Boxing Zone