How Techniaclly Skilled was Harry Greb?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by bman100, Dec 31, 2010.


  1. dpw417

    dpw417 Boxing Junkie Full Member

    9,461
    348
    Jul 13, 2007
    Edgren had a reputation for being very fair.
     
  2. klompton

    klompton Boxing Addict banned

    5,667
    39
    Jul 6, 2005
    and he also had a reputation for being one of greb's biggest critics...
     
  3. bman100

    bman100 Well-Known Member Full Member

    1,795
    27
    Jan 6, 2010
    so why be fair with every other fighter and not Greb? to be fair though i read he thought everyone was inferior to Fitz:

    "In general, Mr Edgren was fair and objective in his summations of fighters. He was also extremely knowledgeable and possessed a rare, instinctive feel for boxers and boxing technique.

    He maintained to the end that no middleweight could compare to the astonishing Bob Fitzsimmons. However, lest you should think that Edgren was obsessed with the fighters of his day, consider what he said as an older man when comparing Mickey Walker to past legends of that weight class. Edgren’s observations, published shortly after Mick’s storming victory over Ace Hudkins in 1929, might well surprise you as much as they did me.
    “Barring Fitzsimmons, Walker looks just about as good as any of the middleweights. There is a glamour and a glory about past champions that makes them seem greater when they are gone from the ring than they seemed when we looked at them in action.


    “Tommy Ryan was a great middleweight, but if you analyse his fights, they were no better than Walker’s. The same could be said of any of the rest – barring only Fitz.


    “Harry Greb never knew much about boxing. He was a tireless windmill in action, swinging from bell to bell and able to sop up any amount of punching."


    “Even the great Stanley Ketchel doesn’t figure so much better than Mickey if you look at facts and cut out the past glory. It took Ketchel 32 rounds to beat Joe Thomas, a clever middleweight, for the championship. Of course, in four fights he ruined Thomas completely, but I doubt that this tough egg Ace Hudkins would go through as many rounds with Mickey without being sent to the pugilistic dump.


    “Jack Kearns always says that Mickey Walker is ‘another Joe Walcott’. He is like Walcott in build, although with bigger legs in proportion. Walcott was 5’ 1” tall when he was welter champion, and his neck and arms measured just 16 inches. He had the fighting equipment of a big heavyweight as far as strength was concerned.


    “In the Hudkins fight, Walker showed amazingly good condition. I never saw him in better shape, even as welterweight champion. He was baked to a dark brown by the hot sun of the Ojai Valley and looked like a thick-set Jack Dempsey. When they fight for Kearns, they have to be aggressive.”



     
  4. dpw417

    dpw417 Boxing Junkie Full Member

    9,461
    348
    Jul 13, 2007
    How so? What/why would he hold against Greb?
     
  5. SLAKKA

    SLAKKA Boxing Addict Full Member

    3,829
    25
    Jun 4, 2009
    Its been posted ad nausem, Greb blew the whistle on certain ny boxing writers who made it clear $$$$ would sure help matters.
     
  6. klompton

    klompton Boxing Addict banned

    5,667
    39
    Jul 6, 2005
    Just as stated above. He was critical of Greb's style and minimized his abilities in the majority of articles I have written by him about Greb. To say Greb never knew much about boxing is ridiculous. How do you explain his success over thirteen years and 300 fights, and his ability to accurately gauge fighters strengths and weaknesses from both outside the ring and inside regardless of whether he was fighting them or betting on/against them. Furthermore, the accounts of Greb's ability to change his style multiple times in a round, much less a fight are legion. He would go from wild, tear in slugger, to classical stick and mover at the drop of a hat. The guy boxed with broken hands, broken arms, cracked ribs, concussions, boils, etc etc. He fought against men smaller and much larger. Soutpaws and orthodox. Boxers and punchers. Fighters who fought out of a crouch and extremely tall fighters who laid back and jabbed. Furthermore, in fighting this vast array of styles, body types, strengths, etc. Greb was facing men who are almost universally recognized today (and in Greb's time) as some of the best in the history of the sport at what they did, not mere ham and eggers. In other words, Greb saw it all and to suggest he was simply a one dimensional, unskilled and unschooled fighter is a bit too much to believe (can we really assume that a guy didnt learn anything in 300 fights and 13 yrs in the ring and ONLY relied on his physical ability, even when that ability was greatly diminished by age, injuries, and blindness... PLEASE!), especially in light of the vast wealth of opinion to the contrary, both in New York (where Edgren wrote from) and outside. So, in light of that, what else is there but to assume Edgren, for whatever reason, did not like Greb's style and was unduly hard on him.
     
  7. goat15

    goat15 Active Member Full Member

    926
    0
    Nov 10, 2010
    so in other words, he didn't want to fight moore at all.
     
  8. dpw417

    dpw417 Boxing Junkie Full Member

    9,461
    348
    Jul 13, 2007
    And Edgren was one of those??????......How bout some proof, boys. Here's your chance to blow the whistle.
     
  9. klompton

    klompton Boxing Addict banned

    5,667
    39
    Jul 6, 2005

    Ive got a better idea, why dont you post a bunch of articles by Edgren where he is being fair and balanced in regards to Greb...
     
  10. The Morlocks

    The Morlocks Boxing Junkie Full Member

    8,717
    8,944
    Nov 21, 2009
    plus his wife said before she died that he was a very cunning linguist
     
  11. SLAKKA

    SLAKKA Boxing Addict Full Member

    3,829
    25
    Jun 4, 2009
    u got one article wherein Grebs receiving some faint praize and his victim, Walker, getting
    touted for his greatness.
     
  12. burt bienstock

    burt bienstock Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

    18,285
    400
    Jan 22, 2010
    Now, that is hitting below the belt.!:patsch
     
  13. The Morlocks

    The Morlocks Boxing Junkie Full Member

    8,717
    8,944
    Nov 21, 2009
    :smh:asskiss:cheers:drink:tits:drink:lol:
    always drink more beer
     
  14. dpw417

    dpw417 Boxing Junkie Full Member

    9,461
    348
    Jul 13, 2007
    Well no one is denegrading Greb here. I think he is near the top and have commented as such for a long time. I find it hard to believe however that everyone who did not share a 'pristine' view of Harry Greb was on the take...and Edgren's credentials spoke for themselves.
     
  15. dpw417

    dpw417 Boxing Junkie Full Member

    9,461
    348
    Jul 13, 2007
    I'm not the one into insinuation and innuendo about Edgren being on the take...So instead of continuing with that (as per your norm) Why not show some proof. You and slakka have insinuated it time and again, and this time, you both have mentioned Edgren...A man who was highly esteemed in his time...so why don't you back it up with evidence!