It sounds like when he wanted to sit down on his punches and hit hard he had power but didn't sit down on his punches much Apparently Rosenbloom said Harry was one of the hardest punchers he ever fought as well.
There was a point he went from trying to hit with power to being a volume guy. Too drunk to remember the exact reason why. Injury?
Greb was probably a respectable puncher when he wanted to be, but he didn't sit down on his punches because he was perpetually on the move.
He had broken his hands and wrists numerous times resulting in layoffs. He didnt want anything interrupting his livelihood so he preserved his hands rather than hit with full power, risk a break, and lose money by being on the shelf. He was a heavy puncher when he wanted to be but he wasnt a sam langford. He hit hard enough to drop and badly hurt big strong heavyweights but he also tended to get wild when he had his man hurt which resulted in missed oppotunities.
He took punches from plenty of guys who could punch... Lou Nova, John Henry Lewis, Jack Fox, Leroy Haynes, Walker... Stribling had him in all sorts of trouble in their bout.
Not really. If he had this type of power he'd mix it in when needed and would have had more knockouts. Better stated Greb hit hard enough when needed to get most fighters respect.
Always wondered why Slapsie Maxie vs Loughran never came off. Two all-time featherfisted greats with a combined KO rate of 7%!
Yeah, and I'm not convinced he was correct when he said Greb was one of the hardest punchers he fought. At that point in Rosenbloom's career, yes, undoubtedly. Rosenbloom was just 18 and had not much experience against top level fighters. Seeing as Greb landed a ridiculously high volume of punches on a lot of his opponents without KOing them, I'd say he wasn't much of a puncher.
I am sure Greb could hit when he wanted to, he kept many a great fighter at bay and was never embarrassed...hand troubles are no joke and they can ruin a career but Greb managed very well. Joe Calzage is another guy that could sit on a punch when he wanted to but touched you a lot also...Whitaker was another and Willie Pep but when they wanted to they could hurt you.