Greb and the Heavyweights- Tommy Gibbons

Going to ignore you, you were trying to tell Perry how great you were and that Cavanaugh's skills and research were not as good as yours... you wrote it a day ago so if you wanna lie I will ignore and if you wanna come downunder and fight, you are welcome but from now on I will ignore total ********************************* like you.

 

Now on advice from a friend I am off to find a thread that ain't polluted

 

Lmao

 

So, Vreeland knows little about boxing and reports fight results poorly (apparently/possibly). This doesnt change the direct quotes from Harry Greb does it? Does Vreeland also have a record of making up quotes? It does seem a little strange that a horseracing reporter would go out of his way to make up such a story for no particular reason. It doesnt really do anyone much good. NOt Greb, not Gibbons, not any of the promoters, Not the sport of boxing, not the sale of papers, not the anti boxing cause and not even Dempsey himself. So, why make up the quotes?

Also, when you especially consider that as long as the long list of facts you posted a while back (most but not all of which are true), I think it is also consensus that Greb only rated his chances against Dempsey in a 10 round bout and not in a longer finish fight. Most non exhibition title fights in those days were longer fights, werent they? Isnt this pretty much consistent with this. Greb didnt consider himself a legitimate challenger to Dempsey unless it was a short fight! How are you a credible challenger for the world title (in those days) if you openly admit you cant win a finish fight against the champ? If the writer was assuming that a world title fight would be a 20 round or longer affair, and asked the question accordingly, wouldnt the answers given by Harry Greb be exactly as quoted. (possibly add in a rider that he would give him a go in a 6 or 10 round fight).?

and JUst a side thought i had, is it fair to say that Greb was the first heavyweight to reach top contender status without really have knocked out many fighters at all? I cant think, of any other fighter to reach the top (or close to it) without actually knocking out a string of guys (Technically he didnt even beat them as his fights were nearly all no decisions) but I cant think of anohter heavyweight who didnt/couldnt knock out his victims. Does this make Greb the first/best example of a "skilled" heavyweight that the sport has seen.

 

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1922-03-14/ed-1/seq-16/
Jack Dempsey: "Now, as far as fighting the winner, I'm ready whenever called upon. Though he's lighter than me, he's good enough to get a chance at the title."

 

This can not be correct. I have it on good authority, actually the greatest authority, a man intimately connected to boxing, that no one of any legitimacy thought Greb worth a challenge to the title... not even despite what one would consider the self-evident fact that Greb had defeated 4 of the 6 challengers to the title (and 5th ran away from any possibility of a confrontation at 175)...

You, sir, are either a liar or a scoundrel... and most likely BOTH!

 

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g252/Senya13/19220319PittsburghPressS5.jpg
King Features Syndicate interview with Dempsey later the same week.

 

wanna come to my wig party klompton?

 

Glad i wasn't the only one who found that amusing;-)

 

The issue is why cherry pick the articles that carry one side of the story and at the same time completely ignore the articles like I posted which was written by one of the most well well regarded boxing journalists of the time? As I have written you can find anything you want to find searching through many years of daily nationwide newspapers. It's how you express ALL the evidence that tells the tale of an authors honesty and journalistic ability. Here the person in question decided to produce a book void of a balanced viewpoint either through ignorance or lack of integrity.

 

Article also points out the potential difficulty promoting such a fight.

 

Good article. Greb was a draw, and so was Dempsey. Dempsey should have given him a title shot. This would be a large gate fight. I think the money was there, and this who will promote it ploy by Dempsey is pretty shallow.

Rating *** three ducks out of four ***. Had Greb and Wills fought, the winner would be a four-star duck by Dempsey.