"Schmeling-Walker"... Was this necessary?

That's another boxing fairy tale
Greb and Flowers had different doctors and were in different locations at there time of death

 

Your thread question was answered by the very first response in this thread, and re-answered again by Maxomer on the 2nd page. Making snipes about Walker "looking fat" is just silly and irrelevant. Heck, Walker was even giving a fair account of himself against Schmeling until finally being broken down toward the end.

 

I don't know, but Walker was a huge draw. So much so that there was even talk about bringing him out of retirment to face Joe Louis.

Ultimately Wlaker was overmatched against Schmeling, but this fight was necesary. Schmeling had to beat him up because nobody else had. Most of the top heavyweights had been given a chance and blown it, including Sharkey.

 

Well, it certainly comes from a time when artistic license was taken with the facts, and one of the very subjects of this thread was a master storyteller himself. However, specific names and locations would be helpful if you're going to debunk this particular yarn.

 

Greb didn't die in a hospital he died in the private sanitarium of Dr Carton B. Weinbergh in his summer city Atlantic City New Jersey on 10/22/26

Attending were Dr Weinberg and Dr Charles S. McGivern.

 

No one knows what Walker or his corner "knew" before the fight - it's just rumor and speculation.

The FACTS are that both were proven leading HW contenders, and worthy of a fight against each other.

Nor was it allowed by the commission in that day either, seeing as the fight was stopped in between rounds, despite it having been about even heading into the 8th round.

 

Does the fact that a blown up welterweight, no matter how tough he was, was competing with and even beating some heavyweights make anyone question the overall quality of the HW division at that time? I do. Could that same Walker have competed in the 70's against the likes of Ali, Frazier, Norton, Foreman, Quarry et al? Or the late 80's and 90's against the likes of Holy, Tyson, Bowe, Lewis, Mercer etc? Posts such as this lend credence to the belief that size...combined with ability does make a difference, especially when comparing firghters from different eras.

 

Luckily there is film to watch and we can see how good they were. :thumbsup So, instead of questioning based on the success of a welterweight go and watch the fights and judge for yourself. Maybe that welteweight just was that good. IMO the tophws of all eras were on a similar level.

 

That's right. We have film of Mickey, already 30 years old, battering a 28 year old Sharkey against the ropes in round 12. This was a pretty good version of Jack, who did not sustain a non controversial defeat between 1925 and 1933, and looked excellent decking and virtually shutting out Carnera in his very next outing.

King Levinski, Johnny Risko 2X, Paul Swiderski 2X (the first while drunk as a skunk) Uzcudun, Bearcat Wright and Arthur De Kuh, among others, were solid HW wins, but the supreme moment was against Sharkey, and here's footage of that legendary episode. (Afterward, Jack was quoted as claiming, "Inactivity BEAT me," essentially conceding defeat.):

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG__MBR7_48[/ame]

 

Bill, what happened to your avatar? :think

Too much of Mr. Daniels again huh?

 

Sure, why not? After all, Jimmy Ellis started as a MW journeyman and competed just fine in that era (including a win over Quarry).

 

Actually the private Atlantic City hospital where Greb died belonged to McGivern. Dr. Berenda Weinberg who was also attending Greb was a specialist who was visiting from Europe.

Flowers died in New York under the care of a well respected physician who catered to boxers and athletes named Dr. Fraalick. I believe it was Dan Daniel who incorrectly began the myth that Greb and Flowers died under the care of the same physician. If anyone does even a little bit of research on the use of ether during that time you will see that there was nothing suspicious about the deaths of either Greb or Flowers.

 

Much of what I post is distant recall of literature I read decades ago. Klompton, I believe it may indeed have been an account by Dan Daniel I read concerning this.

Some excellent clarification here, ESB Classic at it's best. Many thanks.

There has been some discussion on this thread rating Schmeling against Sharkey. When I see these, I always think of how much WW II took away from Max's boxing legacy. The footage of him knocking out Heuser for the EBU HW Title in his comeback from Louis II reveals that he was far from washed up, and may well have retained that championship until the late 1940s if war hadn't come along. He also did make that postwar comeback after getting seriously wounded at Crete. Take away WW II and Sharkey wouldn't even be in the debate with Schmeling, who never should have been expected to recover from Louis II, let alone the war.