Harry Greb

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Harry Greb was born as Edward Henry Greb to a German immigrant father and mother of German descent, Pius and Annie Greb, who raised him in a working-class household. He began his professional boxing career in 1913 under manager James "Red" Mason, fighting mostly around his hometown of Pittsburgh. By 1915, he was fighting world-class opposition, notably Hall of Famer Tommy Gibbons and reigning middleweight champion George Chip, whom he faced twice during 1915–1916 in non-title fights. Greb would lose both fights by "newspaper" decision, which he would later avenge. Greb fought 37 times in 1917 (a record), winning 34 of those fights either officially or unofficially. Among his defeated opponents 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. Greb would win his next 52 fights in a row, beating future light heavyweight champion Mike McTigue, heavyweight contenders Billy Miske, Mike Gibbons, Bill Brennan, Jeff Smith, and Leo Houck 3 times each, and Battling Levinsky no less than four times during that stretch. In 1921, during a fight with light heavyweight Kid Norfolk, he was thumbed in the right eye, which is believed to have resulted in a retinal tear, eventually leading to permanent blindness. On May 23, 1922, Greb matched with undefeated American light heavyweight champion Gene Tunney. In the first round, Greb fractured Tunney's nose in two places and opened a deep gash over his left eye. At the end of fifteen rounds Greb was crowned champion unanimously. This was the first and only professional loss in Tunney's career. After losing his light heavyweight title to Tunney in a rematch, Greb set his sights on middleweight champion Johnny Wilson. When Wilson's manager refused to offer him the bout, Greb feigned intoxication in a theatrical spectacle to trick the manager into arranging the fight. On August 31, 1923, Greb faced Wilson for the world middleweight title, winning a 15-round decision. Greb's most notable defense of the title was against reigning world welterweight champion Mickey Walker in July 1925 at the Polo Grounds in New York. Greb was awarded a unanimous decision and retained the championship. At 32, a waning Greb was matched with tricky southpaw Tiger Flowers in Madison Square Garden in February 1926. Flowers won a disputed decision after fifteen rounds to take Greb's middleweight title. Flowers beat Greb again in their rematch six months later, on an even more controversial decision, with fans storming the ring to protest the outcome.

Reader's Guide

Harry Greb's significance in boxing history rests on several concrete achievements and characteristics. He fought 299 times during a 13-year career, taking on any opponent that would fight him, and defeated many of the top rated fighters of his era from welterweight all the way up to heavyweight. He holds the record for fighting the most boxing hall of fame opponents, defeating 16 out of 17 of them. Greb is also notable for being one of the only champions of his generation to regularly accept fights against the top rated black fighters of his era. His fighting style was highly aggressive and swarming, aided by quick movement and notable toughness, and he also used dirty fighting tactics, including spinning his opponent and using the heel and laces of his gloves. Despite suffering blindness in one eye after being thumbed in 1921, he kept the injury a secret from all but his wife and closest friends, fooling physicians during pre-fight physicals by memorizing the order of the letters on the eye chart. Greb suffered only 2 TKO losses in his career: the first in his seventh fight when he was knocked out by Joe Chip, who heavily outweighed him; the second happened two years later when Greb broke the radius of his left arm against Kid Graves. He is ranked by BoxRec as the fourth greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound, as of May 2025 and was also named the fifth best pound-for-pound boxer of all time by Sports Illustrated in 2012. Greb remains the only man ever to have beaten Gene Tunney, and Tunney would be among the pall-bearers at Greb's funeral.

Did You Know?

• Greb fought 37 times in 1917, a record, winning 34 of those fights either officially or unofficially.
• He holds the record for fighting the most boxing hall of fame opponents, defeating 16 out of 17 of them.
• Greb was one of the only champions of his generation to regularly accept fights against the top rated black fighters of his era.
• He kept his blindness in one eye a secret from all but his wife and closest friends, fooling physicians by memorizing the order of letters on the eye chart.
• Greb is the only man ever to have beaten Gene Tunney, and Tunney was among the pall-bearers at Greb's funeral.