Would love to learn more about this near forgotten terrific fighter. Funny how Greb is hailed as an exceptional fighter (which he was) beating so many larger fighters but when the Norfolk fights are mentioned it is always prefaced w how much weight Greb was giving up. He destroyed Tiger Flowers twice He gave Siki the beating of his life. He twice thrashed Miske. I'd like to know much more about his Wills and Gibbons bouts and his career in general. He seems to be another great black fighter screwed by the color line. I'm sure Klompton's book will tell a chunk based on the Greb bouts.
I think Dempseys buddy Miske laid it on the line with Jack Stay the fk away from this guy!!! Thanks to the late Johnny Bos I was a guest in his Harlem home now lived in my his elderly daughter I sat in his easy chair and thumbed through his scrapbook that featured heavily the obits of one Harry Greb. Talk about goosebumps!
I checked out a video of him. He was in with a tall dude. He was slippin', dippin' and clinchin. I also checked out that video of Greb sparring. He was jabbing to the body, rolling and slippin', looking a little like Duran.
JLP, the only film of a "moving" Harry Greb we see today is when he was training for his bout with Mickey Walker in July 1925. It shows Greb being trained by Phil Jack O'Brien [the old LH champ] on the roof of O'Brien's gymnasium on Bwy in New York. They sparred lightly for the camera and it shows Greb playing handball bouncing around on his toes....This film was found in a college archives about 20 years ago...
This content is protected Hopefully that works for you He'zzy Grant. He kinda c'ocks that right hand as he throws it. Watching do his slow punching he was doing that. The session doesn't look that serious but then again it doesn' look light. It looks about mid speed. Good enough to see the skills that Greb had. He looks like a warrior with good skills.
If you check the city directory of nyc from 1930 31 ish you will see a william ward up on edgecombe and thats where daughter minerva was up until a few yrs ago. Also, moi bozman and lou debella collective got Kid a proper headstone up at old st raymond's cemetery bronx ny. His grave was unmarked when I found it.
Norfolk was a pound for pound great, for all the same reasons that Greb and Dillon were. It was his misfortune to share an era with Harry Wills, otherwise we might be talking about how Dempsey avoided Greb and Norfolk.
Boy, that was funny! I love how he kinda bangs his chest like "where's the work at?!" Clears the ring and when the guy comes back he puts him on the ground and gets in his face "like, don't make me really hurt and the lady...get out of the ring, Now!" Finally posing like "is there anyone else?"