Greb would be on his feet and winning over ten rounds and Marciano would be hard pressed to knock him out over the last five. Though I think Dempsey knocks Greb out in 8.
Why does marciano need to wear a little man like greb down? Marciano has one punch knockout power. I say this ends up ala foreman-frazier where greb gets overpowered and blown out like frazier did. marciano TKO 2. We all saw what happened on film when marciano faced a durable boxer under 180lb(Harry Kid Mattews)..All he needed was two short left hooks. Fitz does not last one round vs Dempsey either
I dont think you are alowing for how durable or hard to hit Greb was. The guy was stopped once in over 300 profesional fights and that was by a broken arm. To be honest we are goiung into unknown teritory when we talk about Marciano or Dempsey stopping Greb because it has never really been done. My guess is that Rocky would be hitting a lot of air and when he did fin d Greb he isnt just going to fold.
I read some ring magazine articles during 1970s that said Frazier couldnt be stopped. Then all of a sudden he faces a slugger 20lb heavier much stronger harder hitting and all of a sudden his chin caves. We could be seeing the same situation here. Greb faces his "first" real heavyweight puncher who not only is 25lb heavier but one of the hardest hitting and strongest heavyweights of all time No doubt Greb is one of the best p4p ever, but against dempsey and marciano hes overmatched
Dempsey Satisfied With His Condition New York Times Sept 2, 1920 Benton Harbor, Mich., Sept.- Jack Dempsey put in the hardest day's work today that he has done since he started training for his ten-round championship bout with Billy Miske here on Labor Day afternoon. Besides going through the routine of early morning road work and a couple rounds with the sandbag and pulleys, the champion boxed eight three-minute rounds with only a half-minute rest between. After it was all over he declared himself thoroughly satisfied. Dempsey tackled Bill Tate, Harry Greb and Marty Farrell this afternoon. He took them on in that order, boxing two rounds with Tate and three each with Greb and Farrell. The bout with Greb was a real one. It was the best work-out Dempsey has had. The Pittsburgher was in prime shape, and although he weighs only 165 pounds he gave the champion a real honust-to-goodness battle. Dempsey hasn't seen so many gloves in a long time as Greb showed him. Greb was all over him and kept forcing him around the ring throughout the session. Dempsey could do but little with the speedy light heavyweight, while Greb seemed to be able to hit Dempsey almost at will. Time and again Greb made the champion miss with his famous right and left hooks to the head and countered with heavy swings to the head and hooks to the body. Big Battlers Work Out At Top Speed New York Times Sept 3, 1920 It was Harry Greb who again today gave Dempsey his stiffest workout. The Pittsburgher was in fine fettle after the excellent showing he made against the champion yesterday. He was full of pep. With the call of time signalizing the beginning of activities, Greb promptly rushed Dempsey. The onslaught was so sudden that Jack was caught off his guard and it took a solid left hook into the body, plied with all the force at Greb's command, which is considerable, to jolt Dempsey into action. Then the fur began to fly. It was a whirlwind three rounds that these two fighters staged for the edification of the biggest crowd that has yet shoe-horned its way into the grandstand at the baseball park in front of which the ring is built. There were fully 2,000 people present, and they were treated to as much action in those three rounds as is usually crowded into eight of a real bout. The bout caused the crowd to burst into cheers and prolonged applasuse. In fact, during the intermission between the second and third rounds Ted Hayes, who acts as announcer at the Dempsey camp, was compelled to request the spectators to refrain from urging either of the men to greater efforts. Ring Magazine August 1922 "Even Doc Kearns, who was managing Jack Dempsey, refused to let his tiger in the ring with Greb. They did spar on two occasions. The first time was when Dempsey was getting ready for his title defense against Billy Miske in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Greb ripped into dempsey, punching the heaveyweight champion as he pleased, until Kearns finally threw him out of the ring for being too rough."
Greb slapped the **** out of a prime Dempsey in sparring for the Miske fight many times. Dempsey could not lay a glove on him. Greb campaigned long and hard for such a bout but Kearns wanted no part of it ... http://www.harrygreb.com/homepagewithframeset.html Greb went to war with a prime Tunney who was basically ten pounds lighter than Marciano ... I feel style wise Tunney possessd a much more difficult challange for Greb with his reach and speed than Marciano would.... I would have to favor Marciano over 15 rounds but it could go either way ...a mismatch it clearly is not ...
I'm not at all convinced that Marciano would stop a flighty fighter early. Add a cast iron chin and I think there is a good chance Rocky would need the cards.
I am, especially if that fighter is 160-165lb. This could be foreman-frazier all over again. We dont realize just how powerful a marciano may be against a 165lb man, he could hurt him very badly. Marciano and Dempsey are two of the some of the best finishers of all time. Marciano in his prime had deadly one punch kayo power that would be detrimental on a man 25lb lighter. Greb had a Cast iron chin against middleweights and heavyweight "boxer" types. not against ATG heavyweight punchers.
Good read Janitor, But Sparring is alot different from the real thing. Apparently Burley knocked elmer ray out cold in sparring, and Eugene Hart knocked tim witherspoon out cold in sparring. Alot different from the ring. Sometimes champions would work on different things in sparring and save everything for the ring. When I went to Petronelli's gym, Bowe and Mcbride they used to hold back on eachother at times.
Got to add that Marciano probably had the natural strength of a 210-220 pound guy. He was one of the, if not the, most powerful 185 pounders in boxing history.
Of course things a lot stranger than fiction happen in sparring sessions. Jack Dempsey tended to treat sparring sesions like a real fight and beat up some of his sparring partners worse than he beat up Jess Willard. This leads me to suspect that he wouldnt just have walked through Greb in a real bout. On another note Greb split open Dempseys tongue with an accidental headbut while preparing for the Miske fight.
I did not know that Dempsey had been injured in this way sparring with Greb. Got a source for that Janitor?
McGrain, here's the requested source: This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected