Harry Greb didn’t fight by the rulebook —
he rewrote it in real time.
His style looked chaotic, awkward, and unorthodox…
yet champions, contenders, and Hall of Famers couldn’t deal with him.
Greb attacked from strange angles,
threw punches from impossible positions,
changed rhythm constantly,
and never gave opponents a moment to breathe.
It didn’t look technical —
but it was brutally effective.
Sometimes the most dangerous style
is the one that makes the least sense.
#HarryGreb #BoxingStyle #Unorthodox #BoxingHistory #LegendaryFighters #FightIQ #OldSchoolBoxing #CombatSports
Who should I break down next?
Greb turn temporro in 1913. Now, while there is some training footage that exists from Greb, it’s hard to get an exact idea on his style, but we do know that from the start, apparently his style made absolutely no sense. He threw whatever boxing rule book that had been written at the time completely out the window. He threw punches from odd angles, and he fought like a man who couldn’t be hurt and didn’t care if he was. Legendary boxer Jack Johnson would say, “It’s almost impossible to set him up. He’s the fastest man I’ve ever boxed. Some fighters would compare fighting him to fighting an octopus, being able to hit you from every angle. Writers at the time called him a tornado of human punches, earning him the nickname the Pittsburgh windmill. For opponents, though, he was obviously a nightmare. Tommy Gibbons famously said, “He does everything wrong, but it works.” And something else to think about, Greb didn’t just fight often. He fought everyone across weight classes, across racial lines, sometimes against men 30 lb heavier. He didn’t care if you were willing to sign the contract. Greb was willing to break your face. Some training footage of Harry, though does exist, and it does give a little bit of insight into his style. Greb was able to explode with extreme athleticism, waiting with his hands low to often bait his opponents, all before firing down the middle and immediately pivoting 180, creating new angles of attack. This is a great showcase of his speed. The footage we do have also shows him using a long jab and good head movement to circle and throw, tactics he’d use to defeat men much higher in weight and size. Watch here as he then darts and cuts a perfect angle, ready to come forward and throw again with strikes. He’d often use faints and misdirection and then strike down from above with his right, generating a ton of force and disguising his intentions.
5 Comments
🤔 That's a very risky style. He's leaving himself so heavily exposed 🤔 He might have had speed in his early 20s with this style, but I'm just wondering how he would keep fighting this same way in his late 30s the moment he begins to become slower due to age?
Ken Overlin, who held the NYSAC version of the middleweight title in 1940-41, was compared to Harry Greb by contemporaries, who referred to him as the "poor man's Harry Greb".
This comparison was made due to similarities in their fighting styles, with Overlin being described as a highly skilled boxer with ring generalship and a well-educated jab, much like Greb.
However, Overlin was noted to lack Greb’s exceptional stamina.
When confronted with the comparison, Overlin himself expressed a strong belief in Greb’s superiority, stating he was convinced that Greb could have beaten him and his top contender in the same night with no rest in between.
This sentiment highlights the high regard in which Greb was held, even by a skilled fighter like Overlin, despite the 15-year gap between their careers.
By the way, the middleweight division of the mid-1930s to 1941 was incredibly deep.
The description sounds like Roy Jones Jr- doing everything wrong but it works, and super fast.
Greb turned pro long before 1930 what rubbish is this?
Nice .. which ones greb?