Harry Greb vs. Jess Willard

Talk about an interesting matchup. Willard is so gangly and uncoordinated not to mention slow youd have to think Greb would be able to outpoint him BUT in order to do that Greb would have to spend an awful lot of time in close and I would have to think that Willards weight might wear him down and either cause him to get stopped late or tire enough to slow his activity and allow Willard into the fight. I dont know, I dont see Dempsey as being as much of a problem for Greb as Willard, Fulton, or Wills just because those guys were so huge. I also think Willard is slightly underrated and Dempsey is very overrated. Tough to call.

 

Many questions! How big is the ring? How many rounds?

The larger the ring and the shorter the rounds, I'll go with Greb.

22 x 22 ring and under 10 rounds, I'll take Greb via UD.

Antyhing smaller in ring size or longer in rounds, I'll go with Willard.

 

Provided it wasn't a finish fight, i go with Greb. Dont think ring size matters at all, Harry wouldn't be going anywhere. If McMahon and Smith could outpoint Willard then surely you would have to fancy Greb to do the trick. Probably Dillon and Levinsky(maybe) too.

 

"Welcome to the twilight zone."

 

I'd go with that. As much as i'm not impressed with Willard's skill or ability, a 5'8" come-forward fighter who does not have big puncher power to beat a 6'6" primitive but pretty hard hitting big man is something hard to fanthom over many rounds.

 

How does a big ring help Greb ,he never went backwards in a fight and staying out side gives him no chance imo ?

 

Willard's best chance to land would be if Greb was in the corners or on the ropes. Greb was a mover, and the bigger the ring, the more he could use his legs to out maneuver Willard.

 

Greb was a inside, come forward, hustle and bustle fighter,head on your chest ,or, as in Tunney's case on your nose,how does he beat a giant inside ?Willard was light years behind Greb in ability ,that is a given ,but he was very durable,and had a big uppercut punch,Greb had little power ,as he never stood still long enough to set himself.Let's say it's 15 rds,Greb beats a tatoo on Jess's body,can he get through the fight without taking some big shots,including an 83inch jab? I don't think so.In close Willard grabs him ,outside he gets tagged. Don't forget that as Tunney matured physically he handled Greb more easily.

 

Klompton demonstrates his objectivity. I salute him.

 

There are unknowns here.

Willard is everything that Greb has always destroyed and yet he might just be too much of it.

 

An early example of the Valuev syndrome ,imo.