Was Greb a dirty fighter, or just a rule bender?

What's the difference again?

 

OK, Greb was definitely a dirty fighter.

 

seems like a dirty fighter, but that doesn't bother me in general so i have no problem saying it about my favorite fighters (not that greb is one of them, saddler is tho).

 

Yeah, I like 'em dirty.

 

It is a fallacy to insinuate that Harry Greb was a "dirty" fighter ! Recent disclosures have proven that Harry Greb took a shower before every bout and AFTER every fight, thus proving that he was NOT a "dirty" fighter...Case
CLOSED...

 

On further consideration, I think he falls into both categories.
So I suppose we could say he was a dirty bender.

 

Better than a fender bender !

 

If'n we care about either sportsmanship or general ethics, we should care about cheaters. Especially when they not only try to win unfairly, but do not mind, let alone like, the illegality of hurting men in the service of victory.

Even if our sense of right & wrong is on the fritz, we should care for RATING fighters. Since dirty tactics effect how well they do.
If everyone was willing to use all the same tactics, a guy who is very dirty would not do as well. Whether a little less well or somewhat more.

 

After the eye injury suffered in the Norfolk fight, well into his career, his style seems to have changed. He become more of an inclose mauler type who used distance less in order to compensate for his lack of depth perception, one might suppose. Or maybe his legs were getting stale after so many fights and he needed to exercise "politics by other means"...

 

Old pros are the dirtiest.

 

Seamus is right. Greb knew all the tricks but papers in his prime remark often about how clean and sportsmanlike he was. After his vision was effected he lost his depth perception and the result was that he would grab a guy with his left and shower him with rights. This is the most common foul mentioned in relation to Greb, holding and hitting. Im not saying he didnt use other tricks at times but those accusations come primarily from New York where Greb was unpopular and had a feud with writers. But, even then Greb was most commonly accused of holding and hitting. Even late in his career some papers outside of metro New York would make remarks like "having never seen the Pittsburgh battler perform we expected to be met with a fighter who flaunted the rules, this being his reputation. The surprise of the evening was the clean and sportsmanlike contest the Smoky City champion put on for ring bugs." I think its probably been overblown based on a few fights but who knows.

 

Holyfield anyone?