The first? Yes. Norfolk had the advantage in the first 5 rounds. After that Greb pretty much shut him out. Harry's speed and stamina were too much for the Kid. Referee Yock Henniger said he would have scored for Greb. But it was close.
I believe more newspapers sided with Harry in the first fight than with Norfolk. The ref who didn't have an official verdict in the fight said Greb would of been his choice of victor had he a say on matters.
The newspaper reports were split down the middle. Basically the fight hinged on who thought which fighter won the fifth round as Norfolk won rounds 1-4 and Greb won rounds 6-10. Norfolk scored a flash knockdown in round 3 but tired badly and took a lot punishment over the last half of the fight. In the final round Greb was battering Norfolk. Despite suffering an injury to his eye that would result in his total loss of vision in this fight Greb fought one week later. Norfolk was laid up in the hospital after the fight and was forced to cancel all of his scheduled matches for the next four months. Norfolk also sported a 17 pound weight advantage.
Both fights seem to have been very close and hotly contested .. that being said, Greb routinely fought and defeated many of the best heavyweights of his day and only against Norfolk do I always read about Harry giving up weight to justify the closeness of the bouts ... shows the Kid must have been pretty terrific in his own right ..
Norfolk was great and very underrated for many years. Greb overwhelmed many bigger fighters who were not as good Norfolk, the fact that he was on the verge of overwhelming Norfolk at the end of the first fight is extremely impressive.
Just imagine any middleweights the last 50 years spotting a Kid Norfolk SEVENTEEN pounds and doing half as well ? The more we learn about Harry Greb, the more surreal he seems to be IMO. I loved one description of Greb from an opponent of his. He called Greb "a seven year itch"...
