Was Greb really that good?

I've never been a Greb hater. I just think people tend to overrate him because they need a hero to look back to, an anti-Mayweather. Nostalgia taken too far.

 

We only have footage of Johnson's championship reign, virtually of his opponents were bad even by the standards of the era, not to mention his exhibition with Ketchel and the Willard fight which he later he confessed to taking a dive. So we've never really seen Johnson at his best. What the footage does reveal is that Johnson was a clinch fighter, he liked to grip his opponents biceps, loosening up to create false openings and counter his opponent, while on the outside Johnson neutralised his opponents' attack by parrying and catching punches. None of this would work today. Not only do thumb attached gloves make it impossible to slap away punches with an open hand but boxers today use upper body movement + mobile footwork to find openings for combinations, it's impossible to rely entirely on your hands to push away punches these days. Johnson was a big heavyweight for his time and he could easily manhandle his opponents on the inside, again, heavyweights from the 20s onward, with rare exceptions, were above 190 pounds and it would be hard for Johnson to control their arms. His style simply wouldn't be effective today.

 

He for the most part fought heavies around his own size, but his way of trapping his opponents' arms simply wouldn't be effective on the boxers that came after him. Dempsey, Louis were mobile, used their feet and upper body movement to defend themselves and find openings, they'd easily reach Johnson and avoid getting tagged by his punches.