A deeper dive on Harry Greb's greatness.

He is the king. The king is him. The one and only. The absolute being who has no equal. The one to look up to. The one that is the pinnacle of all exquisite glory. The one who holds the world in his hands. The king who laughed at hopes and dreams from the depth of his being. The king who did not feel ample enjoyment at simple festivities alone. In the difficult and ugly world of early 20th century pugilism, his heart was having fun witnessing the foolish arrogance of mortal men. Between heaven and earth, everything is his garden, and treading on it for free is a crime punishable by death. Solitary and sublime, everywhere the eye can see is penetrated by his law. Between heaven and earth, there is only one king. So prostate yourselves and dance you peasants, for his sake alone, while he is showing us his unparalleled power. Praise Harry Greb, the great king of kings, at this very moment.

In 1913, he turned professional after his participation in an amateur tournament that he had no business of winning with his limited experience. In those early days, he ignited rivalries with fellow Pitssburgh fighters like Whitey Wenzel, Mike Milko, Fay Keiser, Joe Borrell and Joe Chip. Winning some, losing some and drawing some. He was still mortal back then. In 1915, he faced his first Hall of Famer, Billy Miske. Miske had already shared the ring with fighters such as Tommy Gibbons and fought exhibitions with Mike O' Dowd, Fred Fulton and Billy Papke. Despite taking the fight on short notice, Greb did not deserve worse than a draw. 13 days later he faced a former Lightweight contender and future HoF trainer, Jack Blackburn. The older veteran's experience was not enough to get him the win against the young legend.

After slaughtering a dozen and a half locals, he faced the former Middleweight champion of the world, George Chip. Greb's performance persuaded newspapers that the fight was a draw, which garnered the world's attention to him. Greb was then to face the future #3 rated Heavyweight contender, the HoF'er Tommy Gibbons. It was a fight he clearly lost, getting exhausted in the middle rounds and dropping the decision against the more experienced man, an unheard of scenario in his future reign. He would also lose a month later by method of fractured arm against Kid Graves, and by a more seriously prepared George Chip in june of 1916.

While he continued to feast on old rivals like Fay Keiser, he would also twice beat Jackie Clark, a man who had or would go on to face Gibbons, O'dowd, McTigue and Bartfield. Former NYSAC LHW champ Bob Moha wound up becoming one of Greb's favourite punching bag, while Greb was also busy avenging his loss to Joe Borrell to satisfy his appetite. In 1917, he would face his best opponent yet, Tommy Gibbon's older brother and Middleweight champion of the world, Mike Gibbons. The still green and overly aggressive Greb played right into ATG Gibbon's cool and crafty style, but would still put up a hell of a fight, earning the people's respect in the process.

This is when the frog named Harry Greb started to transform into a king. Following the aforementioned match, Greb would proceed to defeat the former MW champions George Chip and Al McCoy, the HoF'er Jeff Smith twice, as well as fellow Hall of Famers and Light Heavyweight world champions Jack Dillon and Battling Levinsky. Soldier Bartfield, one of the most underrated fighters of the era, would have an early lead against Greb, which helped him eek out a razor thin decision win. Greb didn't let that stop him though, as he would finally take revenge against George Chip in one of his most savage displays of pure meanness and spite. Meehan beating Jack Dempsey didn't mean anything against Greb, as Meehan's fat ass face would be used as a canvas while Greb painted his masterpiece on it.

He would then beat the brakes and tires off a Heavyweight named Terry Kellar, who had faced Heavyweights such as Dempsey, Brennan and Fulton. If people today assume cauliflower ears are a scary indication of someone's ability as a fighter, then imagine what they would think of the cauliflower eyes on Kellar's face. He then beat the ever so underrated Augie Ratner, a man with wins over men such as McTigue, Ted Kid Lewis and Delaney, and with fights against most notable names of the era. Bob Moha again decided to becoming a punching bag for Greb soon after, prior to Greb going toe to toe with the current MW champ and HoF'er Mike O'Dowd. It was a close fight with cases for both men winning, but the title would not change hands due to the lack of a KO.

Greb then proceeded to baptise Jack Dillon, Al McCoy, TSoldier Bartfield (twice) and future LHW champ Mike McTigue, as well as Willie Langford and Clay Turner twice (who fought men such as Gibbons, Levinsky, Jeannette etc), proving once again that Greb threw hands rated E for everyone. He also beat Bob Moha again, because why not. Wins over Battling Levinsky and MW contender Eddie McGoorty didn't hurt either, though the latter was overshadowed by Dempsey vs Fulton, resulting in Greb hungering to feast on the rising Dempsey. He then rematched Billy Miske, who was by now a big and experienced Light Heavyweight who would even fight Heavyweights, the contest was close, with most people thinking Greb edged it with his early lead. There were some men who thought he lost, and Greb did not take that lightly.

So he raged, 45 different nights in the time between the start and end of 1919. The men he inflicted his rage upon include HoF'ers like Battling Levinsky (4 times), Leo Houck (3 times), Mike Gibbons, Billy Miske and Jeff Smith, champions like Mike McTigue, and top or fringe contenders of the era like Chuck Wiggins (twice), Soldier Bartfield, Willie Meehan, Clay Turner (3 times) and Bill Brennan (4 times). Poor Clay Turner and Wiggins would fall victim to him twice more in 1920, so would the crazy Bob Roper, known for having a snake around his neck for one of his bouts with Greb. Bob Moha would become his punching bag another 3 times. So vicious was this run of his, that everyone thought he would beat Tommy Gibbons with the utmost of ease. Greb losing the fight proved to be a major upset, to the point where a lot of his own fans turned on him.

Greb won the rematch, it wasn't close. Blidingly fast, always moving, never tiring, always punching and aggressive as can be, he pummeled Tommy and redeemed himself. In the later months of the year, he also beat the now shot Gunboat Smith, knocking him out in the first round. Jeff Smith also offered him his soul as a christmas gift in his last fight of 1920, before doing so again when 1921 started. He then beat the future #4 HW contender Jack Renault, before drawing with Smith and twice with Chuck Wiggins. Hall of Famer Kid Norfolk was the next to fall, with Greb also being busy beating some of his older foes, like Wiggins (again) and Keiser, Jeff Smith and Tommy Gibbons (tieing their rivalry at 2-2) while also beating another future #4 rated HW, Charley Weinert.

Then, his most famous bout against the future HW champ of the world, Gene Tunney, the one who cemented Greb's immortality. Greb thrashed him about as bad as anyone ever got thrashed, and was the only one to do so against Tunney. Another up and coming HoF'er was rising up the ranks, it was Tommy Loughran, who was way too green to beat Greb, losing in his first 3 fights against him. Tunney proceeded to fight him again, and would win in what was unanimously considered a robbery. Loughran would manage to win a decision over him too, though it was genuine in this case. Not all was unfortunate however, as Greb finally won the title against Johnny Wilson in between. Wins over Wiggins and Bogash would follow, with Tunney winning a decision again in what was probably a draw, and with both Loughran and Wilson losing again.

Then all hell broke loose when he rematched Norfolk, with both of them fouling to no end, and with Greb being unfortunate enough to take the blame. Wins over several ranked fighters would follow, with future #9 rated LHW Martin Burke, #7 rated MW Frank Moody, 10# rated MW Ted Moore, #2 rated MW Tiger Flowers and #3 rated MW Jimmy Slattery all falling to him. Gene Tunney and Tommy Loughran would both get 2 draws against him, although sources having Tunney's 4th fight with him as a draw seems dubious, with many newspapers thinking Greb won.

Grebn then beat the #10 rated LHW Jimmy Delaney twice, before losing his final fight with Tunney, the only one in their 5 fight series that he lost clearly, while past his prime and blind in 1 eye. Several good and great wins would come, against the #5 MW Johnny Wilson, #5 HW Quintin Rojas, Hall of famers and future champions Mickey Walker and Maxie Rosenbloom, 2 wins over #8 LHW Tony Marullo, and against Moore and Delaney again.

Now far past his prime and half blind, he put his title against Tiger Flowers, losing by SD. Prior to the fated rematch, he would beat the #10 rated LHW Art Weigand and the #5 rated MW Allentown Joe Gans. He fought Tiger Flowers once more, and lost again by SD, in a fight he and many think he won. But it was too late for the king to reclaim his crown at that point, and so he retired. The greatest fighter of all time would be dead in 2 months.

As a wise man once said "so basically, as I worked up the courage to talk to my crush, and I noticed a guy, incorporeal, and all. Hair slicked back, high cheekbones, he swept me and her off our feet!"

 

Since I know you like your numbers, here are the stats:

Wins over top 10 rated fighters: Tommy Gibbons x2, Gene Tunney x1, Kid Norfolk x1, Maxie Rosenbloom x1, Mickey Walker x1, Johnny Wilson x3, Jeff Smith x6, Tommy Loughran x4, Charley Weinert x1, Art Weigand x1, Allentown Joe Gans x1, Ted Moore x2, Tony Marullo x2, Martin Burke x1, Mike McTigue x2, Jimmy Slattery x1, Quintin Rojas x1, Jack Renault x2, Tiger Flowers x1, Jimmy Delaney x3, Roland Todd x1, Frank Moody x1 = 39 wins over top 10 rated fighters

Wins over Hall of Famers : Levinsky x6, Dillon x2, M. Gibbons x1, T. Gibbons x2, Loughran x4, Norfolk x1, Smith x6, Rosenbloom x1, Walker x1, Hauck x3, Slattery x1, Tunney x1, Miske x2, Flowers x1 = 32 wins over Hall of Famers

Wins over champions: McCoy x2, Chip x2, Moha x6, Wilson x3, Tunney x1, M. Gibbons x1, Walker x1, Rosenbloom x1, McTigue x2, Flowers x1, Dillon x2, Levinsky x6, Loughran x4, Slattery x1, Norfolk x1 (colored) = 34 wins over champions.

 

That poor *******

 

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Yeah, those started in 1924. Adding pre ring ratings HoFers like Levinsky x6, Mike Gibbons x1, Houck x3, Dillon x2 and Miske x2 makes it a total of 53.

Add wins over pre ring ratings champions like George Chip x2, Bob Moha x6 and Al McCoy x2. That's a total of 63.

He also had several wins over top contenders pre 1924, like Bill Brennan x4, Jack Blackburn, Willie Meehan x2, Soldier Bartfield x3 (or 4, I don't remember that one), Gunboat Smith x2, Chuck Wiggins x9 etc. It could be argued that guys like McCoorty, Turner, Ahearn and Ratner were also considered contenders, which would leave Greb with close to 100 wins over top 10 fighters.