Harry Greb

Harry Greb
Statistics
Real name	Edward Henry Greb
Nickname(s)	The Pittsburgh Windmill
Rated at	Middleweight Light Heavyweight
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Reach	71 in (180 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	June 6, 1894(1894-06-06) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died	October 22, 1926(1926-10-22) (aged 32) Atlantic City, New Jersey
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	304
Wins	261
Wins by KO	48
Losses	19
Draws	18
No contests	6

Harry Greb (June 6, 1894 – October 22, 1926) was an American professional boxer. He was the World Middleweight Champion from 1923 to 1926 and American Light Heavyweight title holder 1922–1923. He fought a recorded 303 times in his 13 year-career, against the best opposition the talent-rich 1910s & 20s could provide him, frequently squaring off against light-heavyweights and even heavyweights. Widely considered one of the best fighters of all time, Greb was named the 7th greatest fighter of the past 80 years by The Ring Magazine, the 5th greatest fighter of all-time by historian Bert Sugar and ranked as the #1 middleweight and the #2 pound-for-pound fighter of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization.

He had a highly aggressive, very fast, swarming style of fighting and buried his opponents under a blizzard of punches. Greb was also a master at dirty fighting and had no qualms about employing all manner of dubious tactics, such as spinning his opponent and using the heel and laces of his gloves. Greb often got as much as he gave and unbeknownst to the press continued to fight a number of matches even as he became blind in one eye, due to an injury suffered in an earlier match. The 'Pittsburgh Windmill' was also very durable, suffering only 2 TKO losses. The first was in his seventh bout and the second happened 3 years later when Greb broke the radius of his left arm. Greb finished the round but was unable to continue the fight. The second was in a bout where Greb was heavily outweighed.

Professional career

Born as Edward Henry Greb to Pius and Annie Greb, he began his professional boxing career in 1913, fighting mostly around his hometown of Pittsburgh. By 1915, he was fighting world class opposition, notably hall of famer Tommy Gibbons and reigning middleweight champ George Chip, whom he faced twice during the years 1915-1916 in non-title fights. Greb would lose both fights by "newspaper" decision (at the time, the rendering of an official decision at the end of a fight was prohibited, so newspapers covering the fight would render a decision), losses he would later avenge.

Greb would fight 37 times in the sole year 1917 (a record), winning 34 of those fights either officially or unofficially. Among his victims that year were the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion Battling Levinsky (in a non-title fight), former Light Heavyweight Champion Jack Dillon, middleweight George Chip and heavyweight Willie Meehan, who had beaten future Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey earlier in the year.

Despite all these great results, Greb was still denied a chance to fight for a title. A February 1918 newspaper loss to Mike O'Dowd, who would go on to win the middleweight title during the year, didn't help in his effort. After that setback though, Greb would go unbeaten for over two years. During that stretch, he would beat future light heavyweight champion Mike McTigue, heavyweight contenders Gunboat Smith, Billy Miske, and Bill Brennan, and defeat Battling Levinsky no less than five times in newspaper decisions. Levinsky was the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion at the time.

Vision problems

In 1921, during a fight with tough light heavyweight Kid Norfolk (real name William Ward), he was thumbed in the right eye and is believed to have suffered a detached retina, which permanently blinded him in that eye (Greb would later lose some of the vision in his good eye and his gradual loss of sight led him to always go to bed with the light on). But Greb fought on, winning by a KO in the eleventh round, and he finally got a shot at a title.

Greb vs. Tunney

On May 23, 1922, Harry Greb was matched with Gene Tunney, the undefeated American Light Heavyweight Champion (The World title was then in the hands of Frenchman Georges Carpentier). At the end of fifteen rounds, Tunney was a bloody mess and Greb was champion. This was the only professional loss in Tunney's career.

After defending his title against Tommy Loughran, Greb granted Tunney a rematch. In a hotly-disputed battle, fought at Madison Square Garden in February 1923, Tunney regained his title by decision. The two men would meet three more times, with Tunney successfully defending his regained title in another fifteen round bout and then splitting a pair of no decision battles (Greb got the nod of two of three local newspapers in the fourth bout while Tunney easily won the fifth, after which, Greb told Tunney that he didn't want to fight him again, as he saw that Tunney was better. The two became great friends). Tunney would go on to beat Jack Dempsey for the heavyweight title. Greb remained the only man ever to have beaten Tunney, and the latter would be among the pall-bearers at Greb's funeral.

Middleweight champion

One month after losing his light heavyweight title to Tunney, Greb faced Johnny Wilson for the World Middleweight Title, with Greb winning a comfortable 15-round decision. Greb would defend the title four times, most notably against reigning Welterweight Champion, Mickey Walker, whom he outpointed in July 1925. Walker, a great fighter who would win the middleweight title the following year, stumbled upon Greb at a nightclub after their fight, and, according to the legend, fought an impromptu rematch there. Greb KO´d him easily.

At 32, Greb was past his prime when he was matched with tricky southpaw Tiger Flowers in Madison Square Garden in February 1926. Flowers, a defensive specialist, countered the Smoke City Wildcat's attacks well and won a disputed decision after fifteen rounds to annex Greb's middleweight title. Flowers beat Greb again in their rematch six months later - on an even more controversial decision - in what was Greb's last fight.

Retirement and death

Around that time, Greb had second thoughts about his career, and began to claim he had retired following the second Flowers loss. Having declined a job as Jack Dempsey's sparring partner in preparation for Dempsey-Tunney I (Greb declaring: "I'd feel like a burglar taking Jack's money. Nobody can get him in good enough condition to whip Gene"), Greb checked into an Atlantic City clinic for surgery to repair damage to his nose and respiratory tract caused by his ring career and several car crashes. However, complications occurred and he died on October 22, 1926, never waking up from the anesthetic.

Greb was buried at Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Record

His official career record was 106 wins and 8 losses with 3 draws, but including newspaper decision wins brings his tally to about 260 wins in around 300 fights. Some boxing historians consider Greb the greatest middleweight in history (he is also considered one of the 10 or 20 best light heavyweights of all-time, despite being a natural 160-pounder).

Official professional boxing record

104 Wins (48 Knockouts), 8 Defeats (2 Knockouts), 3 Draws, 1 No Contest
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	104-8-3	Tiger Flowers	PTS	15	1926-08-19	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	For World Middleweight Title
Win	104-7-3	Allentown Joe Gans	UD	10	1926-06-15	Artillery Park, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Win	103-7-3	Art Weigand	PTS	10	1926-06-01	Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York
Loss	102-7-3	Tiger Flowers	PTS	15	1926-02-26	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Lost World Middleweight Title
Win	102-6-3	Owen Phelps	PTS	10	1926-02-12	Capital City Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Win	101-6-3	Jimmy Delaney	PTS	10	1926-02-03	Oakland Auditorium, Oakland, California
Win	100-6-3	Buck Holley	TKO	5 (10)	1926-01-29	Legion Stadium, Hollywood, California
Win	99-6-3	Ted Moore	PTS	10	1926-01-26	Los Angeles Arena, Vernon, California
Win	98-6-3	Joe Lohman	PTS	10	1926-01-19	Omaha Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska
Win	97-6-3	Roland Todd	PTS	12	1926-01-11	Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto, Ontario
Win	96-6-3	Soldier Buck	PTS	8	1925-12-14	Nashville, Tennessee
Win	95-6-3	Tony Marullo	PTS	15	1925-11-13	Coliseum Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
Win	94-6-3	Tony Marullo	PTS	10	1925-10-13	Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	93-6-3	Pat Walsh	TKO	2 (10), 1:05	1925-08-12	Atlantic City Airport, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win	92-6-3	Ed Smith	KO	4 (10)	1925-08-04	Kansas City Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas
Win	91-6-3	Otis Bryant	TKO	3 (10)	1925-07-31	Floto Outdoor Arena, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Win	90-6-3	Billy Britton	PTS	10	1925-07-22	Anti Horse Thief Association Stock Show, Columbus, Kansas
Win	89-6-3	Mickey Walker	UD	15	1925-07-02	Polo Grounds, New York, New York	Retained World Middleweight Title. 1925 Fight of the Year by The Ring Magazine.
Win	88-6-3	Jimmy Nuss	KO	4 (10)	1925-06-05	Palestra, Marquette, Michigan
Win	87-6-3	Billy Britton	PTS	12	1925-05-06	Fairmont Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Win	86-6-3	Quintin Romero Rojas	PTS	10	1925-05-01	Arena Gardens, Detroit, Michigan
Win	85-6-3	Jack Reddick	PTS	10	1925-04-24	Arena Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
Win	84-6-3	Johnny Wilson	PTS	10	1925-04-17	Commercial A.C., Boston, Massachusetts
Win	83-6-3	Young Fisher	DQ	6 (10)	1925-02-23	Town Hall, Scranton, Pennsylvania
Win	82-6-3	Billy Britton	PTS	10	1925-02-23	Allentown, Pennsylvania
Win	81-6-3	Johnny Papke	TKO	7 (12)	1925-01-19	Weller Theater, Zanesville, Ohio
Win	80-6-3	Augie Ratner	PTS	10	1925-01-01	Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	79-6-3	Frankie Ritz	TKO	3 (10)	1924-11-25	Wheeling, West Virginia
Win	78-6-3	Jimmy Delaney	PTS	10	1924-11-17	Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	77-6-3	Ray Nelson	KO	3 (6)	1924-11-11	Midway Auditorium, Philipsburg, Pennsylvania
Draw	76-6-3	Tommy Loughran	PTS	10	1924-10-13	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	76-6-2	Billy Hirsch	TKO	8 (10)	1924-09-15	Wabash Park, Mingo Junction, Ohio
Win	75-6-2	Jimmy Slattery	PTS	6	1924-09-03	Bison Stadium, Buffalo, New York
Win	74-6-2	Ted Moore	UD	15	1924-06-26	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York	Retained World Middleweight Title
Win	73-6-2	Frank Moody	KO	6 (12)	1924-06-16	Brassco Park, Waterbury, Connecticut
Win	72-6-2	Pal Reed	PTS	10	1924-05-12	Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	71-6-2	Jackie Clark	TKO	2 (12)	1924-05-05	Ben Franklin Arena, Kenilworth, Maryland
Loss	70-6-2	Kid Norfolk	DQ	6 (10)	1924-04-19	Commercial A.C., Boston, Massachusetts
Win	70-5-2	Fay Keiser	TKO	12 (15)	1924-03-24	104th Regiment Armory, Baltimore, Maryland
Win	69-5-2	Jack Reeves	PTS	4	1924-02-22	Oakland Auditorium, Oakland, California
Win	68-5-2	Johnny Wilson	UD	15	1924-01-18	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Retained World Middleweight Title
Win	67-5-2	Tommy Loughran	PTS	10	1923-12-25	Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Loss	66-5-2	Gene Tunney	UD	15	1923-12-10	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	For American Light Heavyweight Title
Win	66-4-2	Bryan Downey	UD	10	1923-12-03	Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Retained World Middleweight Title
Loss	65-4-2	Tommy Loughran	PTS	10	1923-10-11	Commercial A.C., Boston, Massachusetts
Win	65-3-2	Johnny Wilson	PTS	15	1923-08-31	Polo Grounds, New York, New York	Won World Middleweight Title
Win	64-3-2	Len Rowlands	KO	3 (10)	1923-06-16	Craft's Five Acres, Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Loss	63-3-2	Gene Tunney	SD	15	1923-02-23	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Lost American Light Heavyweight Title
Win	63-2-2	Young Fisher	PTS	12	1923-02-16	Syracuse Arena, New York, New York
Win	62-2-2	Tommy Loughran	UD	15	1923-01-30	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Retained American Light Heavyweight Title
Win	61-2-2	Bob Roper	PTS	12	1922-11-10	Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York
Win	60-2-2	Al Benedict	TKO	2 (10), 2:40	1922-09-26	Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto, Ontario
Win	59-2-2	Gene Tunney	UD	15	1922-05-23	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Won American Light Heavyweight Title. 1922 Fight of the Year by The Ring Magazine.
Win	58-2-2	Al Roberts	KO	6 (10)	1922-05-12	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	57-2-2	Tommy Gibbons	PTS	15	1922-03-13	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	56-2-2	Whitey Allen	TKO	6 (10)	1921-12-23	Syracuse Arena, Syracuse, New York
Win	55-2-2	Homer Smith	TKO	5 (12)	1921-11-25	Newark Athletic Club, Newark, New Jersey
Win	54-2-2	Charley Weinert	TKO	5 (12)	1921-11-25	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	53-2-2	Jimmy Darcy	PTS	10	1921-10-24	Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York
Win	52-2-2	Joe Cox	PTS	12	1921-09-20	Palace of Joy, Brooklyn, New York
Draw	51-2-2	Jeff Smith	PTS	15	1921-05-20	Louisiana Auditorium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Win	51-2-1	Jimmy Darcy	PTS	10	1921-05-13	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	50-2-1	Soldier Jones	KO	4 (10)	1921-04-11	The Armouries, Toronto, Ontario
Win	49-2-1	Happy Littleton	PTS	15	1921-04-01	Louisiana Auditorium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Win	48-2-1	Jeff Smith	PTS	10	1921-02-25	Commercial A.C., Boston, Massachusetts
Win	47-2-1	Pal Reed	PTS	10	1921-01-29	Commercial A.C., Boston, Massachusetts
Win	46-2-1	Bob Roper	PTS	10	1920-12-21	Commercial A.C., Boston, Massachusetts
Win	45-2-1	Jack Duffy	TKO	6 (10)	1920-12-11	Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	44-2-1	Gunboat Smith	KO	1 (10)	1920-10-21	Springbrook Park, South Bend, Indiana
Win	43-2-1	Ted Jamieson	TKO	6 (10)	1920-09-22	Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Win	42-2-1	Bob Roper	PTS	12	1920-04-05	Stockyards Stadium, Denver, Colorado
Win	41-2-1	George KO Brown	PTS	12	1920-03-25	Stockyards Stadium, Denver, Colorado
Win	40-2-1	Tommy Robson	PTS	12	1920-03-17	Industries Building, Dayton, Ohio
Win	39-2-1	Soldier Jones	KO	5 (10)	1919-11-28	Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York
Win	38-2-1	Terry Kellar	PTS	15	1919-08-11	Highland Park, Dayton, Ohio
Win	37-2-1	Bill Brennan	PTS	15	1919-07-04	Convention Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Win	36-2-1	Yankee Gilbert	TKO	4 (10)	1919-06-20	Wheeling, West Virginia
Win	35-2-1	Joe Borrell	TKO	5 (6)	1919-06-16	Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	34-2-1	Clay Turner	PTS	12	1919-05-06	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	33-2-1	Tommy Madden	KO	2 (10)	1919-04-02	Butler, Pennsylvania
Win	32-2-1	Len Rowlands	TKO	4 (10)	1919-02-03	Southside Market House, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	31-2-1	Leo Houck	PTS	12	1919-01-14	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	30-2-1	Eddie McGoorty	PTS	10	1918-07-27	Fort Sheridan, Illinois

Ring honors

• American Light Heavyweight Champion – 1922–23
• World Middleweight Champion – 1923–26
• First class inductee to the International Boxing Hall of Fame – 1990

Further reading

• Paxton, Bill (2009). The Fearless Harry Greb: Biography of a Tragic Hero of Boxing. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 9780786440160. 

External links

• Professional boxing record for Harry Greb from BoxRec
• Harry Greb at Find a Grave
• Harry Greb's Website
• Gene Tunney's Description of Harry Greb
• Harry Greb's and Gene Tunney's Pictures

Achievements
Preceded by Johnny Wilson	World Middleweight Champion August 31, 1923 – February 26, 1926	Succeeded by Tiger Flowers