In your opinion is Joe Calzaghe the closest thing to Harry Greb we’ll ever see?

People back then said Ken Overlin was very similar to him as well

 

If I had to guess the closest we've probably had is Armstrong? Or maybe Mickey Walker? In my head I draw from Cal's slappin swarming style to fill the blanks a little so I guess in my head canon they're the same "Type" of fighter. Though he probably fought more similar to Papke then Cal because of the era he belonged to.

 

"Overlin was considered something of a watered-down, clownish version of Greb in style; tricky and dominant, but lacking Harry’s ferocity and drive."

 

What about Aaron Pryor ?

 

Hi Buddy.
Regarding the Armstrong comparison ( you are not the first ) in reality the styles were not at all similar, well maybe in 1 sense, that being they both applied pressure, I have a few posts a while back that I believe shines a light on Grebs very( I would say unrivaled ) unique way of fighting, briefly, he would rush, not march, forward with both arms flailing away at incredible speed, the punches were ( in the main ) not aimed at any particular part of the opponent's anatomy, rather at ALL of the opponent's body and head, Harry didn't aim his shots, he couldn't they were too fast, he just stayed in close, punching and pulling, pushing and shoving, non stop aggression, that you couldn't avoid or evade,then just when the fighter thought it was time to throw punches back at Greb, he was gone, you were hitting air, wasting your energy, confusing your mind, he had circled around the back of you, yes he was now behind you, as you turned round to engage, you were again subject to the ignominious fate of having the whole process repeated, worse still ( if there could be as such ) his pace and punch's increased over the rounds, so you were now faced with the prospect of getting hit more often, and still unable to land any shots of significance, a daunting thought.
Greb was a complete one off, unlike the big punches, or the great boxers, of which there have been hundreds, there simply wasn't a fighter like Greb, prob nether will be, pressed to liken fighters who fought like him ( sort of ) if you had a melting pot and threw in, Pryor, Hamed, Calzaghe, and gave it a good stir, you might, just might have a fighter like Greb.
stay safe buddy.

 

While height and reach for the weight is very different, Cal might be in the ball park w speed, stamina, heart and output. based on being dropped by Jones and Hopkins I doubt he had the Greb insane chin though ... Pryor was too hard a hitter ..

 

Definitely well above Grebb.

Everytime I hear about Grebbs "windmill style" I think of Lisa Simpson charging Bart with her head down and her arms flailing about aimlessly.

I would love to see a fighter try to come and fight like that today....there's probably a reason a million guys try to copy Floyd's shoulder roll, but no one's ever bothered to recreate Grebbs ridiculous windmill.

Also, Calzaghe took on the best black fighters of his era. This is a huge step up in class compared to the protected segregation era of Grebbs day.

I think Grebb probably would have looked up in awe at Calzaghe

 

I would not compare the 2. Calzaghe may be a borderline ATG but he does not quite make the list in my book

 

Who? Tiger flowers? Didn't he lose every time?

 

There is still no available footage for Greb and newspaper accounts can only do so much. Whereas all or damn near all of Calzaghes career is available to watch for public consumption. All his big fights definitely r.


I know this gets regurgitated but seeing a performance for yourself can't b replicated it doesn't matter how vicariously u live. No disrespect to Greb as by those accounts he's still a legend but we're just going by speculation n other ppls opinions without proper footage.

 

It's difficult to say, we don't have actual footage of Greb in action. What's been written about him is that he was a crude and dirty brawler who clinched a lot and was often booed for his fighting style. That said, he was good enough to defeat the best of his day from 160-175. That includes Tunney, Brennan, Gibbons, Flowers, Gunboat, Norfolk, Levinsky, Loughran, Wison, Walker, Rosenbloom. He must have been doing something right.

 

Alright pie, I’m just gonna do this. And if you get eaten, it’s your own fault

 

Yea you know exactly what I'm talking about!!