WHO IS GREB

He has the single greatest resume in boxing history.

& I mean the greatest.

 

Like Gene Tunney. In fact, he is the ONLY man to ever beat him. They fought 5 times, with the result being 3-1-1 in favour of Tunney according to Boxrec. But many people thought that Greb got robbed in their second fight, and most accounts had him winning the 4th one in a newspaper decision bout, which was ruled as a draw by Boxrec for some reason. So his actual record against Tunney should be 3-1-1 in favour of Greb.

Do you know of anybody below Heavyweight ? Cause if not, you're going to have a really hard time understanding just how stacked with great fighters his record is.

 

I think it's appropriate this post garnered some more attention https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/a-deeper-dive-on-harry-grebs-greatness.723487/

 

The draw was a 10 rounder Tunney was close to finishing Greb at the end of. Its a coinflip rivalry that could have went 3-1-1 either way and went Tunneys.

 

https://www.thefightcity.com/fight-city-legends-7-smoke-city-wildcat/
https://www.thefightcity.com/may-15...s-jack-dempsey-gene-tunney-pittsburgh-boxing/
https://www.thefightcity.com/incredible-1922-harry-greb-part-one-boxing/
https://www.thefightcity.com/incredible-1922-harry-greb-part-two-boxing/
https://www.thefightcity.com/sept-6...chigan-jack-kearns-tex-rickard-big-bill-tate/
Greatest ever MW, arguably the GOAT, stacked resume, yet no film of him survives apart from this:

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Tunney (ATG LHW / HW champ)
Mickey Walker (ATG WW & MW champ)
Tommy Loughran (ATG LHW champ)
Jack Dillon (ATG LHW champ)
Battling Levinsky (HoF LHW champ)
Maxie Rosenbloom (ATG LHW champ)
Mike Gibbons (ATG MW)
Tommy Gibbons (HoF LHW / HW)
Billy Miske (HoF HW contender)
Bill Brennan (leading HW contender)
Mike McTigue (LHW champ)
George Chip (MW champ)
Eddie McGoorty (leading MW contender/ title claimant)
Johnny Wilson (reigning MW champ)
Gunboat Smith (onetime top HW contender)

& those are just some of the decisive wins ... he was also credited by some sources as outfighting HoFers Kid Norfolk & Tiger Flowers in close battles.

 

The internets pick for GOAT and is likely the MW GOAT. In a world where everyones tired of padded records and the best fighters avoiding each other Grebs resume is the ideal. Grebs got the largest collection of names of any fighter at the higher weight classes. Less than half of those wins were KOs in the newspaper decision age but the modern fan cares more about fighting all comers than anything else. And by that logic Greb probably is the GOAT.

I personally think its hard to put him above Tunney when he lost the H2H, has like 10 more losses and never won or fought for or won the HW belt. Greb is smaller than Tunney but Langford was smaller than Greb and won HW belts and had a higher KO rate fighting at HW. Langford also fought twice as long as Greb but since he fought so many guys 5-10+ times Langford has a less awe inspiring collection of beaten opponents.

If you're trying to contexualize Greb in HW history he was Tunney, Loughrans and Gibbons primary rival at LHW during the late 1910s and 1920s.

 

One has to get their head out of the heavyweight's underwear and do some research. His record speaks for itself. Probably the best resume in history.

 

Bit strange to hold the Tunney fights against Greb when he was half-blind for them and won the series according to the vast majority at ringside. Greb never held a title at HW because Dempsey never really wanted to give him or Wills a title shot. Dunno why you're brining up Langford's weight jumping and power, Greb was never a big hitter but was always more attritional in his style. If fighting guys bigger than yourself and being heavy handed is so important then do you have Jimmy Wilde above Greb too? Not trying to be combative just curious btw.

 

The greatest boxer of all time.

 

I don't think he lost the H2H against Tunney, their second fight was perceived as one of the greatest robberies in boxing during the 20s and every hometown newspaper had Greb winning their fourth encounter.

 

Hi Buddy.
You have had lots of answers already , all on point, and informative, from an array of good posters, the straight forward stats, and a collective of the great fighters he fought and beat, the absurd amount of battles he fought over weeks , and months, the fact he was blind in one eye during his most combative period, the black boxers he didn't bar, when some of his contemporaries did, but he was more than that ( if that's possible ) he was unique, one of a kind, there has been great boxers, there have been big hitters, Greb was neither !
He was, in fact the most original fighter of all time, the tales of his fighting style are legion, he had inhuman stamina, according to his opponents, he would get stronger and more robust the farther the fight went, and when you consider he fought at a frantic pace, that is truly remarkable, his style ( if it could be called as such ) would be to lunge at his opponent with both arms swinging wildly in all directions, conetting on all and any part of the other fighters body, from waist to head, so much so that the challenger could not mount any form of offence, they were to busy trying to ward off the incessant barrage of punches coming their way the punches were not particularly hard, but they stung and cut, and then when they thought of hitting back, he was gone, like a mirage, circling away from the encounter, their punches would hit air, seconds later, the whole process would be repeated, minute after minute, round after round this would have to be endured, even if by chance you did land on him, there would be little effect, he was impervious to punishment, he rarely cut , has Ted Moore stated " it was as if the ceiling had opened , and a cartload of boxing gloves fell on me " he cared not about your reputation, your size, your punching power, meant little to Greb, very few got the better of a prime Greb, what's more he terrorised 3 divisions packed with the good and the great of the time, if we had not seen pictures of him, we would think he was made up, another Keyser Soze, hope the above gives you at least a brief insight to the greatest boxer of all time.
stay safe SL chat soon buddy.

 

In 1919 alone he went undefeated in 45 fights, 11 against Hall of Famers. Let's start there.