It has to be Harry Greb, on his astounding record alone ! Ray Robinson who I was fortunate to see as a welterweight was the greatest all around fighter who ever lived. No doubt. But Harry Greb beat the greatest array of heavier Hall of Famers, time and again, fighting from town to town sometimes weekly...What made him so astounding was his great handspeed, rubber legs, allowing him to never be in the same spot for more than a second, his offensive volleys from all angles that rained on his opponents always putting them on the defense,and" never giving them the ball", so to speak....And he had an iron chin ,able to absorb heavyweights punches if on occasion needed....Anyone who could go over 280 bouts without ever being stopped, is something special...And of course fighting with one eye for the last 5 or so years of his amazing career...He fought everyone. everywhere, every weight, every color... One for the ages...And licked everyone he ever fought to boot...
I cannot argue with a man that ranks Greb first. I see most people hve Greb outside of the top ten. Burt where to do you put Charles. I have him at 3.
JLP, most people do not study boxing history...They think that before TV there was no boxing. Hell are they wrong... As for Ezzard Charles, I rank him along greatly as a great young middleweight and the best LH along with Billy Conn of recent years... In no order and on my intuition based on their records beating bigger men: Harry Greb NO.#1 Bob Fitz Benny Leonard Ezzard Charles Sam Langford Jack Dempsey Joe Louis Joe Gans Of course RAY ROBINSON Joe Walcott The Toy Bulldog, Mickey Walker Roberto Duran Ray Leonard IN NO ORDER, except for the Iron City Express
U, thanks for reminding me of the human dynamo Henry Armstrong who was IMO the greatest featherweight ever...For penance due to my oversight I shall forsake dinner...Armstrong was a small Harry Greb except that he absorbed more punishment, not having the set of wheels Greb had. Thanks U...:good
I love that Henry is doing well in the voting. I've said it many times - Greb, Robinson, Armstrong and Langford are all equally good choices, Fitz has an outside jab at it. I don't really recognize any other claims, to be snooty about it. It makes me sad that Langford remains the most unfashionable choice of the big four.
I remember once I compared Armstrong to Greb and you took me to the mat. I am glad to see that in some respects, offensively at least, you do actually agree with me. If I could see Greb vs Walker or Tunney I would probably rank him number one. Say if he demolished those guys and I could study how he did it.
Nice catch. He cannot be forgotten. Burt was right there to fix it. I wonder how well Pep moves up in weight. Could he have been a great Lightweight?