Career

American Light Heavyweight Champion - 1922-23

World Middleweight Champion - August 31st, 1923 – February 26th, 1926

*** Greb passes from complications following eye surgery 1926 was found to be blind in one eye.

***Undefeated 45-0 all in the year 1919!

International Boxing Hall of Fame: Class of 1990

Greb was World Middleweight boxing 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 1910's & 20's could provide him, frequently squaring off against light-heavyweights and even heavyweights.

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.

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 the newspaper(s) who covered the fight would determine who they believed to be the winner), 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 champ 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.

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.

On May 23rd, 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.

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.

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" -- And he was right), 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.

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).

June 6th

1727: IBHOF member James Figg, who is considered the father of modern day boxing, beat Ned Sutton in what is believed to be the first bare-knuckle boxing contest to have a title at stake.

"A champion, a true champion is to take on all capable challengers. A true champion defends his title, and looks for matches that pose a threat in order to prove to the world he deserves to be called the best of the best."

1894: Harry Greb born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1917: Jack Britton ND12 Ted “Kid” Lewis

1918: Bill Cayton was born in New York City, New York - Best known for helping to manage and promote Mike Tyson early in his career, was also famous for preserving much of boxing's legacy through his efforts as a film historian and producer. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.

1927: Battling Battalino KO2 Archie Rosenberg

1944: Willie Pep W10 Julie Kogon

1953: Carmen Basilio W12 Billy Graham

1955: Jack Gardner KO5 Johnny Williams

1957: George Chuvalo KO4 Joe Schmolze

1958: Virgil Akins TKO4 Vince Martinez

1970: Montell Griffin born in Chicago, Illinois,

Ismael Laguna TKO13 Guts Ishimatsu

1972: John Conteh TKO8 Billy Aird

1973: Ratanapol Sor Vorapin was born Anucha Phothong in Thailand

1974: Ratanapol Sor Vorapin is born in Dan Khun Thot, Thailand

1981: Luis Ibarra W15 Santos Laciar

1985: Alfonzo Ratliff W12 Carlos De Leon

Michael Spinks KO8 Jim MacDonald

1988: Virgil Hill W12 Ramzi Hassan

Iran Barkley KO3 Thomas Hearns

Roger Mayweather W12 Harold Brazier

Carl Thompson age 24 debuts TKO2 Darren McKenna

2003: Pongsaklek Wonjongkam W12 Randy Mangubat

2008: Myriam Chomaz KO2 Agnes Adonga

Gwendolyn O'Neil WSD10 Carlette Ewell

2009: Badou Jack age 26 W4 Maxim Nikonorov

Claudia Lopez RTD6 Betina Garino

2014: Juan Carlos Reveco W12 Felix Alvarado

2015: Miguel Cotto TKO4 Daniel Geale

Jesus Cuellar TKO8 Vic Darchinyan

Mikaela Laurén TKO4 Victoria Cisneros

2016: Yuko Kuroki KO8 Norj Guro