Harry Greb

I AM GROOT

 

Harry Green was the originator of " less punishment, longer career". I don't know if it mentions that quote in the book but it does in a documentary about him. The man was ahead of his time as far as staying in peak physical condition.

Greb vs Toney- D(Draw) Greb could outwork Toney but Toney could counter fast in his youth.

Greb vs Golovkin- depends on if GGG could catch him and if his power was worthy. They fought with smaller gloves in Grebs time. That man had a strong American made, steel, Soviet proof chin and jaw.
You could have torn down the wall in Berlin with Grebs jaw.

 

^^The problem with the older fights (pre 50's,) is the film that was used was nitrogen-based, so because of its chemical composition most of the films of the 1910's until the 40's were disposed of due to being highly flammable. I'm sure there's some choppy, amateur-like footage of him but it hasn't surfaced yet.

It's hard to assess how great a fighter is who has never been viewed before, but studying Greb's incredible career, at least resume-wise he has a strong case of having the best resume of any fighter in history. Aside from the fact he fought guys from MW all the way to HW, he fought a good portion of his career blind in one eye.

Now based off newspaper clips I've read of his decisions, his moniker "The Pittsburgh Windmill" fit him perfectly as he would throw punches in bunches. He was known for jumping in and out on opponents with his combinations, and he was also known for being quite the dirty fighter (something people don't really mention about his style.) Headbutts, elbows, thumbing his opposition in the eyes were all very common tactics he employed (although those were common tactics in general during the roaring 20's.)

Still, this is a guy who's widely viewed as the greatest fighter of the 1920's which was arguably one of the greatest periods in boxing history. There's some that believe the great Jack Dempsey avoided Greb. Harry also holds a win over the great Gene Tunney, one of the greatest LHW's of all time.

If you speak to old timers (although many aren't around anymore,) they'll say he was the greatest fighter of all time. Still, as incredible as his resume was with all those top notch wins (i.e. Tunney, Mickey Walker, Tiger FLowers, Kid Norfolk, etc., etc,) it's hard to hypothesize how great he really is without seeing him perform.

 

I have an old film of Greb I bought at a garage sale in Glastonbury, Connecticut. In it he's fighting Gene Tunney at the old MSG sometime in the 1920's. I can say he'd definitely give Toney and GGG some problems.

 

I haven't seen Greb fight so can't comment.

 

It's impossible to me to talk about a fighter i haven't seen.
But his resume speaks for himself...

 

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Got some mitts on him.