Sport-o-Grafs Jack Sharkey vs William "Young" Stribling Jack Dempsey 1929 Miami

Description

Sport-o-Grafs Program for Jack Sharkey, future world heavy weight champion and William "Young" Stribling bout in Miami, 1929. Promoter Jack Dempsey. Flamingo Park. Also includes an 8 x 10 photo of Young Stribling made at Palm Studio in Miami. The fight was organized by Tex Rickard who died a month before the bout.
Some details from Arne Lang of IBP: "Jack Sharkey vs. W. L. (Young) Stribling (Feb. 27, 1929)
A big fight, as I define it, doesn’t have to be a blockbuster. An important fight that produces an upset automatically becomes a bigger fight in hindsight. The Sharkey-Stribling fight of 1929 didn’t draw an immense crowd by Jack Dempsey standards, but the turnout, reportedly 35,000, far exceeded expectations and the fight – which preceded Miami’s first Orange Bowl football game by six years — really established Miami as a potentially good place for a big sporting event.
Promoted by the Madison Square Garden Corporation, the bout was originally headed to a dog racing track but it quickly became obvious that a larger venue was needed. A stadium was erected on a Miami Beach polo field, taking the name Flamingo Park (not to be confused with the thoroughbred track of the same name).
Slated for 10 rounds, the bout was conceived as one of two “eliminators” to find a successor to Gene Tunney who had retired. What gave the fight it’s primary allure, however, was the North-South angle. Sharkey, born Joseph Zukauskas, hailed from Boston. Stribling, born into a family that traveled the fair circuit with a variety act, was from Macon, Georgia."
Please see photos and feel free to email questions.