Harry Greb vs. Muhammad Ali's 60's Opposition

yes Greb was by all accounts an incredibly tricky fighter but no matter how tricky a fighter is against an octopus like Ernie Terrell he gets tied-up, leaned-on, roughed-up and he simply would not be able to beat these heavyweights.. as great as we believe Harry Greb to be it is all hear-say because we have no footage to go on of him in a prizefight, yet if we go by the footage of him sparring which is available. then Greb is a complete myth and would not be aloud in a boxing ring with Ray Robinson for fear of death.. sorry but my eyes do not deceive.. Jack Dempsey we have footage of sparring against 6ft 5ins Bill Tate where Dempsey is bobbing & Weaving and looks like a wild animal who it is clear would hold his own against any fighter.. could you see Lennox Lewis sparring in such an aggresive fashion as what Dempsey was?... Dempsey was fast as a big cat, menacing and powerful with a granite jaw... For Greb to even hit these Heavyweights he would have to commit himself and come within punching range and that would be the end of him.. Cleveland Williams was one of the hardest punchers who ever lived, he KOd more than 50 men hitting one guy so hard he broke the man's back and he had to go around on crutches the rest of his life.. This list of heavyweights are "no slouches" they fought for the heavyweight championship of the world against arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time and they put up a very good performance. let's be real here

 

Yes, in all seriousness, I have no idea how Greb would do against the heavyweights Ali fought.
We only have descriptions of Greb's style, which was considered so unique and unorthodox that we simply cannot imagine it.

 

yes that is quite true, yet guy's like Ray Arcel never shouted Harry Greb's praises, they never claimed him to be the fighter which he is claimed to be on today's boxing forums yet Arcel watched all these fighters live` with him claiming Dempsey is the only fighter anyone should ever talk about when talking who was the greatest fighter of all times.... his words not mine because i was not alive when Greb, Dempsey, Langford, Tunney, Leonard, Gans, Pep was fighting but Ray Arcel was and IMO i feel it cannot come from a greater authority than Arcel.

 

I agree with you on that.
Ray Arcel's words are worth more than all the waffle on this site put together.
:good

(I accept what he said about Dempsey. I don't know what he said about Greb though.)

 

Arcel said Greb would beat Hagler clearly and anydody claiming Greb standing 5'6 is a burnt out.

 

:good

I would certainly have thought so.

 

Ray Arcel also said that he would "never classify Hagler as a great fighter" and went on to state that Rocky Graziano would have beaten Marvin.

While I also respect Arcel and take much of what he says into consideration in regards to the old timers, I don't hold his word as the "Thus Spake Zarathustra!" punctuation in boxing (for reasons best exemplified above).

 

I better upgrade Graziano in my rankings then.

 

Only until you re-watch the footage...

 

Patterson is a bad matchup for Greb because of his speed. I'll take Floyd. I'll take Liston over him too. Doug Jones presents a problem because of good handspeed and power, but the Greb who pasted Tommy Gibbons should be able to handle him.

I see him slapping Chuvalo, Terrell, London, Mildenberger and Cooper silly. None have the speed to catch him. Prime Williams I take over Greb. The bullet-weakened version Harry can beat.

 

From what i've READ about Greb he was a dirty fighter, so with greater emphasis on rules in the 60's i doubt he'd stand much of a chance against the fighters that where mentioned. I'd say his best chance would be against mildenberger