How TF did Greb KO Gunboat Smith in one round?

Report says something about getting hit in the eye bothered Smith. Smith was washed up losing almost every fight

 

It’s pretty obvious if you study the film.

 

Ask the same regarding Nunn vs Kalambay..

 

Surgeons were summoned to examine Smith when "Greb, after a few clinches, landed a hard left on Smith's right eye, injuring the optic nerve and blinding him. A second later he landed a right on Smith's jaw, knocking him out." Tacoma News Tribune Doubts were expressed that Smith wsould recover the use of his right eye, but of course he did so. Greb displayed blinding speed during his attack. The ring was erected in front of the baseball stands in Springbrook Park and "illuminated by an array of iights extended to the four corners of the ring." 2, 000 fans attended.

























Auditorium, Milwaukee
W-TKO
6/10

 

So we could perhaps speculate a thumb being involved?

I’ve not read Smith’s making any comment on the Greb figh but he did say he was on the slide by time of the second fight with Langford in which he was KO’d and that he was basically a shot fighter by age 30. He said he became “old”.

 

I understand that Smith always resented Greb for it.

 

Lol.

Here’s “some” film to study. Not credited but I do believe this to be The Gunner wrastlin’ and then sparring with Jack Johnson.

No, they’re not showing off their skills as southpaws - the original film has been inverted.

This content is protected

 

Ive got suspicions about Grebs eye sight being a factor with him not having a shot at the Heavyweight title myself.Did the commission's know it was bad?

When exactly did Harry's eye go bad,45-0 in 1919 without any kind of lasting damage using them gloves?

Vs George KO Brown

Greb won the newspaper decision by five rounds with five even. (Wheeling Post Intelligencer) The Pittsburgh Post said that Greb made an uncharacteristic slow start and the first three rounds were even. In the 4th, Brown roughed up Harry inside and on the ropes that they both fell out of the ring. That riled Harry and he went to work and gave Brown a beating in the remaining rounds. His right uppercut found Brown's jaw time and again. He drove George "around the ring with sledgehammer blows."

These are the kinds of fights he was involved in.

Was his own eye targeted after the Gunboat Smith fight? Smith said himself early in the year of 1920 that "The ol eye's gone" Couple of fights didnt seem to be on the level if you read the reports,Smith goes the distance with

Tony Melchior 10
Chuck Wiggins 10
Texas Tate 12
Bob Roper 15
Bob Roper 10 (Greb went on to have brutal fights with Capt Bob Roper,A friend of Smiths perhaps)

Then vs Greb Gunboat is KO'd in 1 round

There is a marvellous documentary out there with a host of Welsh fighters inside Eddie Thomas's house in Merthyr Tydfil filmed in the 1970s.One of the fighters is Frank Moody a opponent of Harry Greb

Cant remember the exact words but he goes on about cuts & eye damage with fighters having respect for each other,Fighter A wouldnt touch Fighter B's already damaged eye or cut for him to make a few quid/dollars the next week

Did Greb break the rules in this fight,The fighters unwritten rules between them? Written reports at the time of the fight do not paint a nice picture of Greb

"Smiths right eye was completely driven back from its socket"


https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...ith+&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=16



Larry Lichesnstein


"Greb jammed his glove encased thumb into the eye of Smith blinding him.." Larry has plenty more to say in this article with him saying Greb is known for this?



https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...ith+&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=17


Smith did not mention Greb in the book "In this Corner" by Peter Heller.Perhaps there is a interview with him about this fight

Accident or not,Was this the fight that Greb was seen as a dirty fighter and became a marked man by fighters,newspapermen and promoters? Extremely unfortunate for him if it was a accident.Yes he became middleweight champion but the Worlds Heavyweight title was on another planet at the time

Perhaps Tex Rickard put a block on it with him spending obscene amounts on outdoor arenas,He didnt want Greb with his reputation spoiling the occasion with a foul.He wasnt the only promoter out there but he could guarantee major money for the Worlds Heavyweight Championship fight

 

That would make sense - I believe those 2 were friends & sparring partners.

Was it uploaded by Boston police?
(followers of the Karen Read trial will get it ...)

 

The initial injury that ultimately resulted in blindness is generally attributed to the 1st Norfolk fight (Norfolk himself also suffered lasting eye damage in a fight, vs. Lee Anderson IIRC).

 

He was past his prime, but still lasting the distance in most of his preceding fights. Only the biggest HW punchers (i.e. Langford, Dempsey, Fulton) seemed to be capable of KOing him prior to Greb.

I think Greb's win over Smith gets lost among so many other amazing career achievements.
For almost any other MW, bombing out a former #1 HW contender in 1 would be the defining moment of his career. But for Greb, it was Tuesday.

 

After reading the title of the thread, and before reading any of the posts, my guess was that it was a shot to the eye followed by something else. My reasoning was that, with the very small gloves of the era, it would be very easy to hit a guy in the eye and blind him at least temporarily and that would freeze him.
The possibility of it being a thumb is probably the most likely thing. I have no way of knowing if it was intentional or deliberate, and I won't speculate as to whether Greb was a 'dirty' fighter or not. But every account of his fighting style talks about him throwing an insane number of punches, very fast and from any and every angle. And he didn't score very many knockouts. It seems a logical step to guess that he didn't always deliver punches with a closed fist, that his hand were partly open. This would increase the chances of somebody catching a thumb. Ali and Holmes often jabbed with open hands and had similar results.

 

There are some details that vary according to who you believe...

Kalamazoo Gazette

"Harry Greb... required just two minutes' time to take measure of Gunboat Smith. Greb fought Smith in the open at South Bend lsat night, and in the two minute space knocked Gunboat down three times and closed both his eyes. Smith never laid a glove on Harry Greb."

Salt Lake Telegram
"Greb, after a few clinches, landed a hard left on Smith's right eye, injuring the optic nerve and blinding him. A second later he landed a right on Smith's jaw, knocking him out."

Oakland Tribune
"The fight lasted exactly two minutes. Greb caught Smith with a left hook to the right eye ball that blinded him and followed this with a shower of punches that sent the Gunner down for the count... Gunner had been offered five thousand berries (?) for taking one on the chin from Jack Dempsey and now that match if off."

 

That one to me is much more understandable upon watching it a few times.

Sumbu obviously had issues with understanding how to fight a southpaw (he also lost to Kalule, getting knocked down in that bout, and an early fight to a lefty named something like Aldo Buzzetti — so half his losses were to southpaws).

It’s easy to see it when you watch the Nunn fight. Before the KO, he steps forward with his left foot inside Nunn’s right foot, almost knee to knee, and you can see Nunn take note even though he doesn’t react quickly enough to take advantage … but I think he’s waiting for it the next time. Stepping inside the lead foot like that is stepping right into the southpaw’s wheelhouse, basically making him a target for the left hand with nowhere to go to minimize or get away from it. Nunn was ready to pounce when it happened again and obviously loaded up the left in anticipation.

So I don’t think that was a fluke at all. If Sumbu stepped into that position twice in the short span that bout lasted, he was bound to do it again and again if it went on and eventually he would have run into that loaded-up left power punch.