The Greb Myth: Why do people still believe Greb existed?

These are lost mysteries of boxing history, but I'm confident that the answers will eventually be found.

Whatever the answers are, though, they certainly don't lie with positing a mythical ATG superman who's never appeared on film.

It's possible that Flowers and Walker didn't face Greb, but rather another man (or series of men) by the same name.

 

I seem to remember a contemporary docu-drama made about that case, starring Jimmy Stuart as the Tunney stand-in. Obviously, the names were changed for legal reasons. Sad situation all around, really.

 

Surprising and sad.

Why invent fictional characters like Greb when you have awesome real-life greats like McMustache?

 

"It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of boxing history. Of course the great wastage is in the journeymen and trial horses, but there are hundreds of contenders who can be got rid of as well. It isn't only the contenders; there are also all the stepping stones along the way. After all, what justification is there for a foil who is simply the first opponent on the record of some other heavyweight you've also never seen on film? Take Joe Grim, for instance. If you have a fighter like Scrap Iron Johnson, who was filmed, what need is there for a fighter like Grim? Johnson will do just as well--better, because he's on film, and his nickname immediately tells you what he's about, which Grim's does not. Or again, if you have a slugger like Wilder, what sense is there in having a whole string of useless punchers like Slavin, Maher, or all the rest of them? Wilder fits the bill, or Shavers, if you want a puncher stronger still...In the end, the whole need for big punchers is covered by only six filmed heavyweights -- from one country. Don't you see the beauty of that, Winston?"

 

Besides, any film of Greb would immediately have to be met with a demand to produce film of the people filming Greb.

Better to give up the whole enterprise. If you want a picture of the future, imagine Roy Jones knocking people out to the sound of rap music -- forever.