Had Darcy not died prematurely, would this have been a great rivalry? How do you see it playing out? ....and what about Darcy and Walker? Jack Dillon?
Darcy would have been Greb's true rival, not Tunney. Darcy was willing to fight everyone n' anyone when he first set foot on American soil and Tex Richard was ready to match him up with all the big talents, starting with Jack Dillon. Darcy was a fabulous talent; strong, fast and measured - he had a defensive stance (right foot back, parry glove up) like Jack Johnson, bounced on his feet like Benny Leonard, and teared away at you on the inside with clever, short shots. Nobody was stronger than him in the ring, he could out box an slug the best and could cruise through tough, 20 round bouts. It's maybe the biggest shout in boxing, but Darcy may well of gone onto overrule Greb as the P4P king of the era - there was nothing he did not have and his record was stellar up to his death; capping it off with a dominant stoppage of Greb's bogey man, George Chip. Had Darcy chose to of attend to his infection earlier before it went septic, we may well be sitting here today with him on top of the heap of the greatest fighters. Darcy would of gave Greb all he can handle. Ted Spoon will make a video of ’The Maitland Wonder’ soon, as not many have seen him.
I think some might give Darcy a little too much credit. His wins over great american fighters were done on his home turf when he was THE bread winner for snowy baker and H. McIntosh, in short he had everything in his favor. Would he have had as much success had he been fighting all over america in front of hostile crowds against hometown favorites? Thats a big if. Also take into account that Darcy was fat as a pig when he got to the US and probably weighed well into the light heavyweight limit if not heavyweight. Would he have been as successful having to lose that weight, if he didnt lose it would he have been as successful with all the extra poundage? Furthermore, promoters were eager to match him with guys like Willard and Fulton. Im inclined to believe Darcy would have been thrown to the wolves here in the USA, beaten badly, ruined as a fighter, and sent back to australia as a flop. However, had Darcy not died, had he been able to get back down to middleweight (despite being fat and growing), and had he and Greb fought in 1919 or 1920 when Greb was in his prime I see no reason why Greb wouldnt win. That being said, if they had fought in 1917 as they came close to doing it would have been a 50/50 fight. As for Chip being Greb's boogey man I dont know where you get that. Chip was a tough, feared, hard punching, championship calibre fighter when he defeated Greb the first two times they fought. When they fought again in 1917 Greb was starting to hit his stride and easily beat Chip, after their last fight in Cincinnati Chip refused to face Harry again because he was beaten so badly. When Chip fought Darcy he gave Darcy all he could handle for five or six rounds before Darcy took over, whats not generally known is that Chip fought Darcy very shortly after having arrived in Australia with barely any training time. Many felt that Darcy was lucky to get a win over George KO Brown in their first fight. Greb beat Brown easily everytime they fought. Did Greb ever lose to Jeff Smith who could be termed Darcy's boogey man? If not for being in the hip pocket of the referee's brother Darcy would have lost their first fight on a knockout. Isnt it a little odd that Jeff Smith, one of the cleanest most scientific boxers of the early era lost his only DQ early in the second fight to Jeff Smith and was immediately banned for life and sent home? There is a lot more to that story than meets the eye. Having everything in your favor makes a huge difference in boxing which is why Germans and Brits generally prefer home cooking. It would have been interesting to see if Darcy was as great in America as he was in his own backyard.
Very loosely used was the 'boogey man' term, he was just one of the very few fighters who gave Greb as good as he got for a time, as Jeff Smith did to Darcy, until both men further developed. Darcy knocked out both George Chip and Eddie Mcgrooty (x2), which is something nobody else was achieving in victory. On film he looks very adept and has some stellar performances. Weight is an interesting subject, as Darcy was a big middleweight, but the guess is he would have mixed it with them all, as did Greb, and dead at just 21 suggests that he was only going to get better. Richard would have accommodated for Darcy, he liked his style and viewed him as a real marketing tool. Strong home team or not, there is film of Darcy, on his own, in the ring placing an unconscious Eddie Mcgrooty on the canvas, and battering Jimmy Clabby into the ropes like a bull - Darcy would have undeniably made a big wave in America. The real question is how would he have effected Greb's reign of terror because he had a real shot to do just that.
Rickard actually dumped Darcy very quickly when it was apparent that the public would buy into someone that had shirked his duty in his home country in order to make a buck. Darcy quickly bounced from promoter to promoter, all of whom wanted to try to match him as tough as possible right off the bat in order to make a quick buck before finally settling with Memphis promoter Billy Haack. He died very shortly there after and the rest is history. A more interesting argument is whether or not Darcy could have defeated Mike Gibbons (who was top dog when Darcy was here).
If a fighter had an edge to be promoted like Darcy had, then Richard would exploit it. He had a rocky road with Dempsey, who was viewed in the same position, but he made good of that. Darcy was too good not to get stuck into the contenders of the day despite his scowl-worthy decision not to be drafted. Again, he was so young when he died, he was bound to make it to America and make a splash.
BIG DEE HERE= Greb would have won the fight with Les Darcy but would have had a helluva time doing it. Darcy was a talent that comes along once in a great while as he had it all including great punching power. Darcy had a great chin that was almost impregnable against everyone he fought as he was never KOed in his career. When Greb and George Chip fought Greb hadn`t reached in prime yet. Chip on the other hand was in the middle of his prime as a fighter and had won and lost the middleweight title. After he beat Greb twice he never did it again as Greb was master of the middleweight division from 1917 on beating any Middleweights and Lt. Heavyweights who would step in the ring with him. Greb was a fighter of immense talent with the fastest pair of feet and hands ever given to a middleweight. Greb`s chin was even better than Darcy`s as he was never KOed after his second year as a pro by George Chip`s brother Joe Chip who was a terrific puncher. I know Greb broke his arm against Kid Graves but that wasn`t getting hit on the chin but an accident. Greb wasn`t a swarmer only like many think but a boxfigher-swarmer who would circle his prey like a cat especially if the opponent was big and then when he had him in the right position Greb would pounce on him getting on the inside and beat the hell out of the guy. The fighter would have to fight Greb off of him as Harry would throw 6 to 10 punch combinations from all angles. HARRY GREB WAS A GENIUS AT THE ART OF DIRTY FIGHTING AND AT THAT HE WAS THE BEST OF ALL TIME. FRITZIE ZIVIC COMING IN A CLOSE SECOND. HARRY GREB WINS A 15 RD DEC OVER LES DARCY. LIKE THE MICKEY WALKER FIGHT IN IS A WAR THE WHOLE WAY.
