Boxing Biography Short-listed for Award

‘I Fought Them All’, the biography of Irish prizefighting legend, Tom Sharkey, has been shortlisted for a Wishing Shelf Award.

The book is nominated in the adult non-fiction category. The winner is due to be announced in April.

Top major boxing website, Max Boxing, said of the book:  ”It emits quality from the first opening crack of the hard cover until its final satisfying closing.”

Chronicle of a boxing legend

Prize-fighting legend Tom Sharkey led a most remarkable life.

He served in the US Navy before fighting all of the first four heavyweight champions under the Marquis of Queensberry rules. He mixed with characters like Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Theodore Roosevelt and the Tammany Hall politicians who ruled New York.

Sharkey’s epic 25-round encounter with Jim Jeffries is often ranked as the greatest ring battle ever. The two men’s bloody rivalry sparked a 50-year friendship which was only ended by their deaths – just a few weeks apart.

Experts describe Sharkey as the Rocky Marciano or Mike Tyson of his day.

His story is now told in a new book, I FOUGHT THEM ALL.

Top US boxing historian Tracy Callis describes the book as “an excellent read. It’s well-researched and is good news for boxing fans everywhere.”

Veteran Ring writer Pete Ehrmann says it’s “a great contribution to ring history”.

The book is available from http://tomsharkey.blogspot.com