can someone tell me more about harry greb

[boxingking500]

i often see him ranked second, or third on people's "greatest of all time" list... behind SRR of course, but is this guy like, good, i don't know much about him.....

does he have a good resume?, was he skilled?, can someone tell me more about him

and why he is one of the greatest fighters of all time?

[JAB5239]

i often see him ranked second, or third on people's "greatest of all time" list... behind SRR of course, but is this guy like, good, i don't know much about him.....

does he have a good resume?, was he skilled?, can someone tell me more about him

and why he is one of the greatest fighters of all time?

His resume is arguably the greatest in history and by all accounts he not only beat some of the greatest fighters in history, but dominated them. Was the only fighter to beat Gene Tunney and by most accounts of the day should have been 2-2-1 in their series instead of 1-3-1. He thrashed Dempsey in sparring to the point where Dempsey wouldn't fight Greb but instead chose to fight several fighters Greb had already beaten on more than one occasion. His workrate was said to be so great his opponents descibed fighting him being like fighting an octopus or having a ceiling full of boxing gloves drop on them. He never drew the color line when it was common and average more than 23 fights a year over a 13 year career and 299 fights.

[Sugarj]

Its borderline criminal that there is no fight footage of the guy. Someone will have something somewhere, but I'm not aware of anything in the public domain.

The only film I've ever found is some sparring footage, which to be honest doesn't do him or his abilities much credit. Even Ali looked ropey in sparring.

[JAB5239]

Its borderline criminal that there is no fight footage of the guy. Someone will have something somewhere, but I'm not aware of anything in the public domain.

The only film I've ever found is some sparring footage, which to be honest doesn't do him or his abilities much credit. Even Ali looked ropey in sparring.

That isn't sparring footage in my opinion, but two guys goofing around. O'Brien was into his 40's and had been retired for years and you can clearly see both men laughing and smiling.

[Barn]

Well right off the bat these numbers are incredible, he beat 13 members of the hall of fame and 18 former, current or future world champions and all these champions were essentially "lineal" at one point considering back then there was only one title per weight class and also making it even more difficult only 8 weight classes!

He routinely fought with huge size disadvantages for example winning against the around 200 pounds Meehan while he weighed 166 and KO'ing the HW Gunboat Smith! He beat two fighters that make the Top 20 and sometimes top 10 on almost anyones list, handing Gene Tunney his only loss and decisively beating a prime Mickey Walker in one of the best wins in boxing history.

Most of the great opponents he had beaten he did so more than once, for example going 6-0 against the LHW King Levinsky and 4-1-1 against the ever skilled Tommy Loughran.

Here is a list of his best wins courtesy of Henry Hascup.
Gene Tunney (1) – Hall of Famer – World Heavyweight Champion – Beat Dempsey twice
Tommy Loughran (4) – Hall of Famer – World Light Heavyweight Champion
Jimmy Slattery (1) – Hall of Famer – World Light Heavyweight Champion
Maxie Rosenbloom (1) – Hall of Famer – World Light Heavyweight Champion
Jack Dillon (2) – Hall of Famer – World Light Heavyweight Champion
Battling Levinsky (6) – Hall of Famer – World Light Heavyweight Champion
Mickey Walker (1) – Hall of Famer – World Welterweight & Middleweight Champion
Billy Miske (2) – Hall of Famer - Fought Dempsey for Heavyweight Title
Tommy Gibbons (2) – Hall of Famer – Went 15 rounds with Dempsey for Heavyweight Title
Mike Gibbons (1) – Hall of Famer – Fought Dempsey for Heavyweight Title
Tiger Flowers (1) – Hall of Famer - World Middleweight Champion
Kid Norfolk (1) – Hall of Famer
Mike McTigue (2) – World Light Heavyweight Champion
Al McCoy (2) – World Middleweight Champion
George Chip (2) – World Middleweight Champion
Johnny Wilson (3) – World Middleweight Champion
Eddie McGoorty (1) – Claimed World Middleweight Champion
Willie Meehan (2) – Beat Dempsey twice
Gunboat Smith (2) – Top Heavyweight
Bill Brennan (4) – Fought Dempsey for Heavyweight Title
Augie Ratner – (2) - Defeated four world champions in his career
Jack Blackburn – (1) – Hall of Famer as a trainer

He amassed 4 defences of his MW title and also won the American LHW title, although his title reign isn't amazing he fought many bouts inbetween these title bouts against top opposition and as they say. It;s the opponents you beat not the strap of ***ellery you have on while doing it.

He was robbed a few times in his career. Against Tiger Flowers both times but, it worse in the second with many fans were disgusted by the decision and threw bits of paper, hats, cans whatever they could find into the ring Gene Tunney also commented it was a horrendous decision but, the AC refused to overturn it and grant Greb the title back as they feared they would be accused of discrimination as Flowers was black.

He was also horribly robbed in the second Gene Tunney fight, and even Gene Tunney agress with a newspaper stating the decision was "unjustifiable." In the 4th, 2 out of 3 Newspapers had Greb winning and one calling it a draw.

And all while being blind in one eye.

Here is some quotes I found about Greb.

Historian Eric Jorgensen stated, “Greb may have been the greatest fighter, pound-for-pound, who ever lived. Certainly, he was among the top 2 or 3. He combined the speed of Ray Robinson, the durability of Jim Jeffries, the stamina of Henry Armstrong, and the unbridled ferocity of Stanley Ketchel with a will to win unsurpassed in the annals of sport. At his peak, he was unbeatable, defeating virtually every middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight of his generation. A great, great fighter.”

Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey said that Greb was “The fastest fighter I ever saw. Hell. Greb is faster than (lightweight champion) Benny Leonard.” In 1920 Greb, who was in training for Billy Miske, sparred Dempsey a few rounds. The sparring sessions were so good that thousands of fans showed up just to watch. According to eyewitnesses Greb “slapped the crouching heavyweight champion around, and bounced away before Dempsey could do more than **** a punch.”

“Greb, a human perpetual motion machine if there ever was one received the decision of the judges Tommy Shortem and Eddie Hurley and Referee Billy McPartland.” The Times reported, “Tunney tried with every ounce of strength and every trick of the trade to offset the speed and remarkable ability of his rival. But the defending champion could find no defense for the rain of blows which met him at every turn.”

Walker said in Peter Heller’s In This Corner, “Harry Greb was the greatest fighter I ever fought. He was one of the greatest that ever stepped in the ring.” The July 3, NY Times reported, “Greb retained his world middleweight title when he battered his way to the decision…in as savage and furious a ring encounter as either boxer has ever experienced.” The Times continued, “Walker left the ring badly used up. He had a split lip, a bruised and battered nose, and a cut under his right eye which was puffed and almost closed. Greb was unmarked, although he absorbed punishing blows to the body through every round.”

[Sugarj]

That isn't sparring footage in my opinion, but two guys goofing around. O'Brien was into his 40's and had been retired for years and you can clearly see both men laughing and smiling.

Quite right. Thats why I said it doesn't do his 'abilities much credit'.

Its a shame its all we have. Surely at least one of his fights with Tunney would have been filmed, even in ropey flicker vision. Someone, somewhere will have something......

[McGoorty]

That isn't sparring footage in my opinion, but two guys goofing around. O'Brien was into his 40's and had been retired for years and you can clearly see both men laughing and smiling.

I said the same thing on an earlier thread a few months back........... They are goofing around just as you say, in facy most early sparring films are the same..... there is some very good sparring stuff from old-timers, but very rare. And if O'Brien looks a bit stiff, I'd say it was because he WAS OLD.......... What that film shows is a different side to a guy that people saw in the ring....... News Flash... Greb was human,... he had a sense of humour,.... and that makes me like him more.

[Joeyzagz]

Sonnyboyx2 had an unhealthy hatred of Greb. Other than that jackass, Greb is universally liked.

[SBleeder]

Sonnyboyx2 had an unhealthy hatred of Greb. Other than that jackass, Greb is universally liked.

I would venture to say that Trojanboy probably hates him too.

[JAB5239]

Sonnyboyx2 had an unhealthy hatred of Greb. Other than that jackass, Greb is universally liked.

That's only because his hero Dempsey ducked him and he couldn't own up to it.