Mickey Walker -vs- Jack Sharkey 7/22/31 (16mm Transfer & Restoration)

Former middleweight champion Mickey Walker was reaching the peak of his career when he fought future Heavyweight Champion Jack Sharkey to a 15 round draw in 1931, though AP at ringside had Sharkey the winner. Sharkey went on to with the Heavyweight Championship the following year, and though Walker had several more victories ahead, he was knocked out by Max Schmeling in 1932, ending his heavyweight champaign.

Film & Restoration

The film of the Walker-Sharkey fight was one of the poorest of the era. The high view over Sharkey's corner is at an angle that makes the action difficult to follow. In addition, this print, taken from the master was badly overexposed. Worst of all, the camera was pointed so low that Sharkey and Walker's heads are often above the frame.

As it turns out, the actual picture frame is larger than what viewers see. This is called "Overscan". It means the TV or film projector automatically covers the outer portion of the film frame obscuring the edges. This makes the picture look clean all the way around. In the case of the Walker-Sharkey film, there was more picture at the top of the screen to work with. After transferring the film with the top frame all the way down, I edited a new version of this film with a slightly better top view. The fighters are still obscured much of the time, but it better than the neck high view that's been seen up to now.

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