Anyone here read "Live Fast, Die Young the Life and Times of Harry Greb"?

Bought it a few weeks ago. Been reading it a little here and there when I'm not working or training. About a quarter of the way through.

So far it's a decent read although the writing seems rather unsophisticated like most boxing biographies and autobiographies. Also it's not a good source for a realistic assessment of fighters of the era. It seems every other fighter that Greb fought before 1917 was a world beater. I'm talking guys like Bob Moha, Tommy Burke, George Chip, etc. It's rather ridiculous and readers who don't have a lot of common sense when it comes to this sort of thing could easily fall prey to the fanboyism of the author. I mean, there's always an excuse for everything.

At one point in the first 100 pages Compton talks about a black guy (refers to him as the n-word) who Greb and his friends viciously attack for approaching white women. Compton makes him out to be some sort of superhero. It's disgusting that Compton would okay a hate crime just because Greb was in the wrong. Here's the excerpt from the book:

"On the afternoon of September 26 Harry and a friend named Victor Staubs were in the vicinity of the intersection of Penn Avenue and Mathilda Street when they found themselves in the middle of a commotion. A 28-year old Negro named Clarence Jackson was being reproached for "harassing" a group of white girls. Jackson challenged anyone in the crowd not approving of his behavior to a fight. Greb quickly jumped out of the crowd and before Jackson knew what was happening he was on the ground as a result of Greb's attack. The situation turned far more dangerous and potentially deadly when Jackson drew a revolver and fired. The bullet narrowly missed Greb but Victor Staubs wasn't so lucky. Greb's neighborhood friend reeled back and collapsed on the sidewalk with a bullet hole in his cheek.

In the resulting confusion Jackson made good his escape and fled north with a party of young men, headed by Greb, in hot pursuit. Jackson barricaded himself in a house on Mossfield Street, just a few blocks north of where he wounded Staubs and began firing shots from the second floor..."

 

Not necessarily. Chip defended against the all impressive:

Tim O'Neil who had more losses than wins. Twice.
Gus Christie who was in no position for a title shot winning only 3 of his last 6 fights.
Joe Borrell who was also in no position for a title shot. A 6 round fighter.

Chip is a perfect example of the wrong man having the title.

 

Do you actually believe this or are you just not wanting to admit Greb was a racist? You're not from the US so I don't expect you to be too familiar with race relations in the 20th century. They don't have any sort of curriculum on us history in Europe even close to as extensive as in the United States.

Even in the 1950s even a black child could be brutally lynched for so much as being in the same store as a white woman. [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till[/url]

Approaching was the word I used. Not the people of that time. They used "harassing", that means the black man was doing nothing. Maybe at worst he whistled at the white women or asked them for a date. But this fantasy that a black man in 1910s America in a damn near all white racist area was going to be grabbing asses or "committing sins" is laughable to say the least. The reality of the situation was a black man walked on the same side of the street and spoke to a white woman. White people didn't like that. You realize that's not okay right? Black people are allowed to like white women.

That might seem plausible if you're willing to entertain a racist view of events.

I mean he called the guy the n word instead of a black man or even colored man.

 

I was going to say "I'm sorry if that's how you feel" but in all actuality I don't care for your opinion one way or the other. If you have an alternative view that's supported by facts then you would have put it forth already.

 

It's a form of it. Either way only a racist refers to black people as Negros. Why is this even up for debate?