The Fearless Harry Greb: Biography of a Tragic Hero of Boxing

As no fight films of this fantastic pugilist are known to exist, Bill Paxton's new bio of the great Harry Greb (b. 1894, d. 1926, & fought from 1913 to 1926) is a godsend for hardcore fans of the sweet science. I have known of Greb for years - indeed, more than a decade before Paxton created his [...] website in 1996 - and have read many magazine and web articles about him, but it's always been frustrating that no in-depth book about this boxing immortal had been written. Until now.Paxton does a great job of informing the reader not only about Greb the man, but also of Greb the fighter, including his fighting style and the boxing techniques that he utilized, which is extremely interesting since, as I noted above, no films of any of his 299 - 299! - official pro bouts are extant. Relying mainly on contemporary newspaper accounts of his fights, Paxton provides as vivid a description of what it was like to face the "Pittsburgh Windmill"/"Human Windmill"/"Smoke City Wildcat" as is possible by such means. Furthermore, the author meticulously addresses many of the myths regarding the fighter that legendary heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey was scared to tackle (interestingly, while the "Manassa Mauler" wouldn't give Greb a title shot, he did defend his crown against several fighters whom Greb, a [natural] middleweight, had already decisively beaten).One of these myths is that Greb was one of the "dirtiest" fighters of all-time. Here, Paxton elucidates that Greb only really started employing blatantly foul tactics after losing the sight of his right eye (Greb fought the last five years of his career with this handicap) and, even then, only employed the most flagrant and damaging of them AFTER an opponent had begun fouling HIM. Ironically, while Greb did, indeed, utilize various dubious techniques to gain an advantage, he, nonetheless, possessed great sportsmanship and a strong sense of fairness, as well as integrity. To wit: despite employing many foul tactics during his title defense against Mickey Walker, such as pushing his upper body through the ropes with one hand and hitting him with the other, Greb still showed an out-on-his-feet "Toy Bulldog" to his corner at the end of the fourteenth round; Greb would almost always help an opponent who had slipped to the canvas back to his feet; he gave Fay Kaiser a shot at his middleweight title largely because they had fought EIGHT times before Greb won the crown; and he took on Theodore "Tiger" Flowers in a title defense, the FIRST title shot granted to an African-American by a Caucasian-American world champion since the heavyweight title reign of the controversial and highly unpopular (among whites) Jack Johnson, the first African-American to hold that crown.About the only myths about Greb that Paxton doesn't address are of him always leaving the light on when going to sleep after becoming blind in his right eye, of Greb losing some of the sight in his "good" left eye during the last couple of years of his career (& life), and of Harry Wills, a giant African-American whom Dempsey also "ducked", not wanting to fight Greb (incidentally, it would have been nice if the author had been able to find out and print what Wills, Sam Langford, Jack Blackburn, Kid Norfolk, and other great African-American contemporaries had to say about Greb's style and abilities - almost all of the fighters quoted by Paxton as to Greb's ability, etc were white).Paxton provides Greb's complete ring record and measurements at the end of the book and the chapter titles are as follows: 1. From a Street Corner to a Ring Corner; 2. The Early Road of Trials; 3. Icky's Busy Year ("Icky" was Greb's childhood nickname); 4. In the Navy; 5. First Year of Marriage and the #45 (Greb fought an all-time record 45 bouts in 1919); 6. Jack Dempsey and the Heavyweights; 7. A Time for Change; 8. A City Celebrates; 9. All Good Things; 10. Achieving the Goal - The Middleweight Championship; 11. Defending the Title; 12. The Tunney Rematches; 13. The Champion Playboy; 14. The Bulldog Meets the Windmill; 15. The Best of His Time; 16. The Tragic Hero; & 17. The Myths Grow While the Legend Fades.By the by, anyone who enjoyed this book and would like to know more about Greb, his great rival Gene Tunney, and Dempsey ought to get themselves a copy of Jack Cavanaugh's  Tunney: Boxing's Brainiest Champ and His Upset of the Great Jack Dempsey , which is sold here on Amazon.com for the ludicrously low price of $12 and change.

If you love the sport of boxing like I do and admire the great fighters of the past, you will love this book. After reading this book, I am convinced that Harry Greb was the greatest pound for pound fighter who ever lived and by a considerable margin. Try to imagine any other middleweight of any era with perhaps the exception of Bob Fitzsimmons going up against the best light heavyweights and heavyweights and knocking the stuffing out of them on a weekly and later on a monthly basis. It took Greb years of stellar ring performances before getting a title shot from Johny Wilson who avoided him at every opportunity. Greb mauled him convincingly in gaining the middleweight title. Greb handed master boxer Gene Tunney his only career defeat in a non title light heavy weight fight. Georges Carpentier refused to fight Greb for fear of losing his light heavyweight crown. I am convinced that Greb would have defeated Jack Dempsey, had Dempsey given him a title shot. Greb had given Dempsey a couple of rough boxing lessons in sparring matches. Greb was the personification of tough and many of his wins came while fighting with vision in only one eye. The best fighters of the early 1900s up through the 1920s marveled at Greb's speed, stamina and boxing skills. Unlike other champions of those times, Greb fought the best black fighters and ducked no one. Hopefully someday Hollywood will make a worthwhile movie about Harry Greb. It boggles the mind to imagine a fighter so tough that he fought 45 times in one year! I commend the author for the mountain of research that went into this book and the fine collection of photos.

I totally disagree with D. Casey that the author's careful research of the facts detracted from the book. This is a biography, and as such is supposed to capture the essence of the man and tell the full truth about him. As to the many tall tales about Greb, an old history prof of mine used to say, "if it wasn't true it should have been." But if it wasn't true, it shouldn't be in the biography.The author gives excellent round-by-round accounts of Greb's bouts, but, although Greb certainly was one of the greatest fighters of all time, he was not always as dominant as the author makes him sound. I just read a biography of Billy Miske, whom Greb defeated, but the defeat was not as one-sided as it sounds in this book.I found a few errors in the book: On page 5, the author tells of Greb being born in his father's "car" en route to the hospital. This was 1894, just a year after the Duryea brothers produced their first automobile, and two years before Henry Ford drove his first gasoline buggy. The vehicle in question here was almost certainly a horse-drawn buggy.On page 92, it says that Jimmy Darcy fought Jack Dempsey for the heavyweight championship. Darcy never fought Dempsey even in an exhibition, let a lone a title fight.On page 137, a picture is features showing Greb supposedly playing a ukulele, but the instrument in his hand looks more like a banjo.On page 190 there are two major errors. First, it says that Frank Klaus won the middleweight title when he defeated Georges Carpentier in France. That was for the European title only. Also, it says that Jack Dillon fought Jim Corbett. Dillon didn't start boxing until 1908, by which time Corbett was 42 years old and had been retired for five years.Another point: references to Greb winning the light-heavyweight title are misleading. What he won was the "American light-heavyweight title," which existed only in promoter Tex Rickard's imagination. Georges Carpentier was the world light-heavyweight champion at the time.Over all, a very good read, and a must for any serious boxing historian.

Birthday present

Interessantes Buch über das Leben des Boxers Harry Greb, der von 1913 bis 1926 aktiv war.Boxte 299 professionelle Kampfe und gewann die meisten von ihnen. Seine Gegner waren die großen Männer dieser Zeit wie Gene Tunney, Mickey Walker, Tommy Loughran und Billy Miske meist war Harry der Sieger.Leider gibt es kaum Bildmaterial anders als einen Fünf-Minuten-Trainingsfilm .Harry kämpfte die letzten vier Jahre seines kurzen Lebens auch mit einem blinden rechten Auge.Sehr jung im Alter von 32 verstorben nach einem Operation und war mehrere Jahre bevor auch in jungen Jahren schon Witwer.Harry Greb war amerikanischer Staatsbürger, aber er war sowie von Vater als Mutter Seite deutscher Abstammung.

An amazing well written history of a boxer who fought and won bouts every two weeks. Even with one eye destroyed through a detached retina and the tragic passing of his young wife this young German immigrant was undaunted. He had tremendous hand speed and was afraid of nothing often fighting men far heavier and taller than he was. Tremendous story of courage and an inspiring will to win.

arrived very promptly - really excellent and comprehensive book on a man about whom there is otherwise very little written. This is absolutely packed with well researched and fascinating info. loved it

I brought this for my husband as he likes boxing and he found it very enjoyable. as its about the old boxer.