I know everyone in their overestimation of Floyd's recent triumph is ready to move on to the subject of the Chip Brothers... But I have a few questions about George Chip... A devastating hitter, no doubt, and a tough customer even to his last, declining days, how exactly would one quantify his record even given that he fought so many newspaper decisions? Where do we place him in the annals of middles? A transition champion or a significant but under appreciated figure in the division?
Beat a young Greb, an aging Dillon, and fought the best and more than held his own in one of the three deepest 160 pound divisions of all time.
Chip was just a tough, rugged guy with little skill who could go all day, take it all day and hit like a landslide. The best of the best usually beat him (he only managed one win in his twelve bouts vs Jack Dillon and Buck Crouse had his number). Hard to know where to place him. I call him a fighter who would give any middleweight an uncomfortable night.
Reading Compton's Greb book and it's interesting to see what a roadblock the Chip bros were in that circuit and to realize that Greb was just a comer at the time (1915-1916) and still below the best tier.
He developed the old fashioned way. Greb's career seemed to have a smoother arc than most, but his highs were as high as anybodies and his lows not as low.