Sugar Ray Robinson would have cut Greb to pieces

I can hardly bother responding to the ANTI-Darcy sentiments except to answer the question, Darcy left for two obvious reasons, these reasons are so well known that I cannot believe that an expert on that era can even ask the question with a straight face because I know this "expert" reads up on all this, this is part of folklore..... The money had dried up in 1916 because of this little event called the first world war, a war where per capita (per population) Australia had lost the most lives of all Allied nations in the entire war and manpower was running out, I think our total population was about 4 to 5 million (without fact checking here) yet we had like half a million people directly involved. There simply were not enough men around to fill the stadium like it had always been and Billy Hughes the prime minister was putting the squeeze on one and all, darcy was his main target because Darcy represented the entire sporting world of Australia, he was by far the most famous sportsman in the country, twice as famous as Victor Trumper, Dally messenger or Andrew "Boy" Charlton who were very prominent then, their respective sports were huge (cricket, rugby league and swimming) but compared to boxing they were eclipsed. Darcy was not yet of legal age and he had stated time and time again that his first priority was to make enough money to pull his large family out of the extreme poverty he was born into.

Another reason he went to America was that because the squeeze on boxing was on the great Americans were not traveling there anymore, only in dribs and drabs and darcy wanted to fulfill his ambition of becoming the undisputed number one in all boxing, his ambitions were not small, he wanted "the other belt" he wanted Mike Gibbons too, then he wanted the Light Heavyweight title and the Heavyweight title as an admirer of the great one, Bob Fitzsimmons why wouldn't he, he knew he had the talent and was not impressed with any of the middleweights he saw in America, he saw Dillon fight and most of the others as well and felt very sure he would have little problem with them. he must have had some doubt with the bigger men out there as he was only 5 feet 7. Not once have I read anywhere about the government wanting Darcy in the army did they ever say he would be looked after, it looks just like they were just gonna chuck him into the trenches and let him be blown to pieces like most of the rest. You know the death toll was unprecedented in world history, he gets killed then his family are going to struggle, AND THEY DID after he died in Memphis, they were however better off than they were before he became a great fighter, he bought his parents a decent house but when he died there wasn't much left thanks to all the scum that were bleeding him dry.... he was a boxer so this sort of thing happened to the very best and the average, just like Joe Louis in fact.... how many times have we heard stuff from old fighters like, :everyone loves you when you are champ, everyone wants to take all the money and run when you ain't. I expect some complete dismissal of all I wrote here but this isn't for you Compton it's for all here.

As for your opinion of the subject of the thread, fine most of what you said was reasonable except where you say Greb is too fast for Robinson ???? what the ?????... Sure Greb must have been quick but Robinson was lightning himself... you have seen Robinson fight but never Greb so that is just a load of cods. Is greb too big for Robinson ? well if he is then so is Darcy who was a more impressive physical specimen than Greb and stronger but in my opinion Robinson can probably outpoint les on Sunday night and outpoint Harry the next friday unless he gets busted up in beating Darcy. Is Harry too good for Robinson ??? well if you are right then thousands of fighters and experts are wrong.

 

And that is about as fair a response as possible, I hope others think so, I know there is one I can never please and couldn't care a darn.

 

Sure Greb fought a lot of bums and some of the real name fighters he fought were in a lot of ND bouts quite a few were just 6 rounds and 8 rounds... a joke I think personally, to me these were fights to keep guys in shape and most of them are not really trying to hurt the other guy too bad and to avoid likewise, there would have been a few guys who always went hammer and tongs going always for a finish but in this era they will NOT last long, I can see that many fighters burned out after just a few short years because you simply have a limit to how much punishment the human body can take. I am sure Greb chose when and where to really step up the gears, certain fights he would have seen as more important than others... so why did these guys fight so often, usually at least every second weekend ?? The answer is obvious, boxing was not just huge, it was ENORMOUS every capital city across two continents and the Islands of Britain had fights on at least twice a week so tough guys everywhere were in demand and most of them only made enough money to ensure they were back in a few short days to entertain tens of thousands who boxing was their favourite sport.

Now you said Robinson never ducked anybody and I believe that too but your silence on this about Greb seems to indicate you think Harry greb ducked somebody or some guys..... total garbage, simply put I never heard that claim about him ever in my life... I really hope you are not suggesting he did. Greb is not may favourite fighter but I have total respect for him, I do think saying he is the GOAT a bridge too far, I don't think he could have beaten every middleweight who ever lived but he is GREAT, my thread is not made to destroy his name, simply to make him seem more human because he was certainly what Sonny Liston would describe as a MAN, he was not perfect, who is to say that someone like the great Tommy Ryan would have been too good for Greb, maybe stylistically greb may have coped well against Ryan maybe he gets wiped bad, who can say with total confidence that either would happen... I know that Ryan was considered by many to be the best they ever saw but many said Walcott was, many said Dempsey and I will not argue with those who were there, only you guys who certainly were not, there is one exception... Bert Bienstock, I do not necessarily just believe everything he says but Bert saw more great fighters than probably everyone in this forum so he does carry some real weight.

In closing I sorta a free with a lot of what you said but I take offense at any suggestion that Harry Greb was a ducker, to me he is one tough brave and smart MUTHA and rightfully a legend I just think that Robinson in particular was as close to peerless as there ever was but I may be wrong.