“Cassius Clay wouldn’t know where he was once Greb began to swarm and climb all over him. He would bewilder and confuse Clay.”—Ray Arcel, 1966
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“I don’t put nobody over Greb. He could have licked Dempsey, Tunney and Louis, all in the same week.”—Whitey Bimstein
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“All Abe Simon had to do to make Joe (Louis) fumble like a novice was to feint him fast, and you can imagine what Billy Conn will do to a fellow who fumbles like that. And he had Joe very tired by the ninth round. If Joe tired under a pace like that imagine what a fast-moving Conn will do to him. He'll gore the champ to death. I shudder to think what Harry Greb would have done to Louis last night.
I was in Dempsey’s training camp when Jack Kearns ran in Greb as a sparring partner. It was murder. Greb was too fast and hit from too many angles. We had to chase him out. It’s going to take speed to beat Louis, and Greb had speed. He was on top of you before you knew what had happened, with both hands working….I think he would have given Louis a bad headache. You can’t afford to let Louis get set. It was always hard to get set against Greb.” —Tommy Walsh
“In my opinion, Louis would have had as much trouble handling Harry Greb as anyone else.”—Grantland Rice
.
Over the decades, several respected boxing persons who saw them fight in person have given the opinion that Greb could have beaten Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. Now even the great Ali can be added to that list.
Many people who never saw Harry in action chuckle at the notion that he could beat these all-time greats of the heavyweight division. And perhaps justifiably so. But keep this in mind:
Nobody ever talked about Stanley Ketchel, Tiger Flowers, Mickey Walker, Sugar Ray Robinson, Carlos Monzon, Marvin Hagler or any other of the middleweight greats as having a chance vs Dempsey, Louis or Ali (nobody even mentions them as having a prayer against Gene Tunney on the night Harry beat him either).
.
Only Harry Greb is ever mentioned as having a real chance. Not just to be competitive against these heavyweight greats, but to win. Whether we agree or not, it's still a notable trend.
.
Tony Galento, who actually fought Joe Louis and many other top heavies, stated that Harry would have beaten him "and everybody else....he was the greatest fighter I ever saw. No one else was close to him."
Even Jack Blackburn, who fought Greb and trained Louis, admitted that Joe would have major problems dealing with Harry’s awkward, elusive attack.
Out of all the all-time middleweight champions, it is only Harry Greb who is considered a match for the greatest heavyweights in history. And not by fanciful historians in their dreamy flights of fancy, but by expert eyewitnesses who saw both Greb and these heavyweights firsthand.
As they say online these days, let that sink in.
When you consider that Louis did not perform well vs. movers and Harry Greb was definitely a mover, had to hit cleanly, and a boxer with great speed and had uncanny accuracy vs. the mostly stationary and very orthodox and stationary. A Louis who lacked footwork defense and had a low guard, a Greb victory is not out of the question, as he could out point Louis! Louis said he didn't like to be crowded either by his own words.
Boxing can be all about how fighters match up, and IMO Greb brings the right mix to the table to make things hard on Louis. He is very fast, a can crowd people well, if hard to time and hit, and has the chin to survive the occasional bomb.
Thoughts?
.
“I don’t put nobody over Greb. He could have licked Dempsey, Tunney and Louis, all in the same week.”—Whitey Bimstein
.
“All Abe Simon had to do to make Joe (Louis) fumble like a novice was to feint him fast, and you can imagine what Billy Conn will do to a fellow who fumbles like that. And he had Joe very tired by the ninth round. If Joe tired under a pace like that imagine what a fast-moving Conn will do to him. He'll gore the champ to death. I shudder to think what Harry Greb would have done to Louis last night.
I was in Dempsey’s training camp when Jack Kearns ran in Greb as a sparring partner. It was murder. Greb was too fast and hit from too many angles. We had to chase him out. It’s going to take speed to beat Louis, and Greb had speed. He was on top of you before you knew what had happened, with both hands working….I think he would have given Louis a bad headache. You can’t afford to let Louis get set. It was always hard to get set against Greb.” —Tommy Walsh
“In my opinion, Louis would have had as much trouble handling Harry Greb as anyone else.”—Grantland Rice
.
Over the decades, several respected boxing persons who saw them fight in person have given the opinion that Greb could have beaten Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. Now even the great Ali can be added to that list.
Many people who never saw Harry in action chuckle at the notion that he could beat these all-time greats of the heavyweight division. And perhaps justifiably so. But keep this in mind:
Nobody ever talked about Stanley Ketchel, Tiger Flowers, Mickey Walker, Sugar Ray Robinson, Carlos Monzon, Marvin Hagler or any other of the middleweight greats as having a chance vs Dempsey, Louis or Ali (nobody even mentions them as having a prayer against Gene Tunney on the night Harry beat him either).
.
Only Harry Greb is ever mentioned as having a real chance. Not just to be competitive against these heavyweight greats, but to win. Whether we agree or not, it's still a notable trend.
.
Tony Galento, who actually fought Joe Louis and many other top heavies, stated that Harry would have beaten him "and everybody else....he was the greatest fighter I ever saw. No one else was close to him."
Even Jack Blackburn, who fought Greb and trained Louis, admitted that Joe would have major problems dealing with Harry’s awkward, elusive attack.
Out of all the all-time middleweight champions, it is only Harry Greb who is considered a match for the greatest heavyweights in history. And not by fanciful historians in their dreamy flights of fancy, but by expert eyewitnesses who saw both Greb and these heavyweights firsthand.
As they say online these days, let that sink in.
When you consider that Louis did not perform well vs. movers and Harry Greb was definitely a mover, had to hit cleanly, and a boxer with great speed and had uncanny accuracy vs. the mostly stationary and very orthodox and stationary. A Louis who lacked footwork defense and had a low guard, a Greb victory is not out of the question, as he could out point Louis! Louis said he didn't like to be crowded either by his own words.
Boxing can be all about how fighters match up, and IMO Greb brings the right mix to the table to make things hard on Louis. He is very fast, a can crowd people well, if hard to time and hit, and has the chin to survive the occasional bomb.
Thoughts?
mrbig1
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