Gene Tunney Fights

[bradlee180]

Why did the 6' Tunney with such good boxing skills have such a rough time with the much smaller 5'8" Greb anyway?




5 fights; Greb savagely beat Tunney in the 1st one, and he's credited with the newspaper decision in the 4th fight.

The 1st bout, Tunney wrote that the brutality and bloodiness was beyond belief.
Greb beat him from pillar-to-post for 15 rds.

[Master]

I read Greb was a very dirty fighter and he fouled and beat Tunney quite badly.

[bradlee180]

Dude was 5'8" and only about 165 lbs, but he gave Tunney and Dempsey all they could handle.

Sparring 3 rds ain't the same as fighting for a World Title in front of 90 thousand screaming fans, but Greb was obviously a terrific fighter.




Dempsey and Greb

Sept 2 , 1920
Benton Harbor, Mich., Sept.- Jack Dempsey put in the hardest day's work today that he has done since he started training for his ten-round championship bout with Billy Miske here on Labor Day afternoon. Besides going through the routine of early morning road work and a couple rounds with the sandbag and pulleys, the champion boxed eight three-minute rounds with only a half-minute rest between. After it was all over he declared himself thoroughly satisfied.


Dempsey tackled Bill Tate, Harry Greb and Marty Farrell this afternoon. He took them on in that order, boxing two rounds with Tate and three each with Greb and Farrell. The bout with Greb was a real one. It was the best work-out Dempsey has had. The Pittsburgher was in prime shape, and although he weighs only 165 pounds he gave the champion a real honust-to-goodness battle. Dempsey hasn't seen so many gloves in a long time as Greb showed him. Greb was all over him and kept forcing him around the ring throughout the session. Dempsey could do but little with the speedy light heavyweight, while Greb seemed to be able to hit Dempsey almost at will. Time and again Greb made the champion miss with his famous right and left hooks to the head and countered with heavy swings to the head and hooks to the body.


Greb was a veritable whirlwind. Twenty-five pounds lighter than the champion and about four inches shorter, Harry made the champion step lively. He had to jump off the floor to hit Dempsey in the head when the latter was standing straight, but managed to do it and landed without leaving himself open to Jack's snappy hooks and short swings. One of the most notable things about Dempsey's boxing is the fact that he is not hitting as straight as he did in Toledo. This is not a particularly good sign. Why he should hook and swing his blows more is a mystery. He can hit straight when he wants to, and when he does his blows carry a wealth of power behind them, for the champion knows how to put his powerful shoulders behind his punches and how also to get the necessary asistance from his legs by rising to the ball of the rearward foot when the punch gets over. It may be that Dempsey does not care to hit straight from the shoulder, fearing to punish his partners too severly.


Sept 3, 1920:
It was Harry Greb who again today gave Dempsey his stiffest workout. The Pittsburgher was in fine fettle after the excellent showing he made against the champion yesterday. He was full of pep. With the call of time signalizing the beginning of activities, Greb promptly rushed Dempsey. The onslaught was so sudden that Jack was caught off his guard and it took a solid left hook into the body, plied with all the force at Greb's command, which is considerable, to jolt Dempsey into action. Then the fur began to fly.
It was a whirlwind three rounds that these two fighters staged for the edification of the biggest crowd that has yet shoe-horned its way into the grandstand at the baseball park in front of which the ring is built. There were fully 2,000 people present, and they were treated to as much action in those three rounds as is usually crowded into eight of a real bout.


The bout caused the crowd to burst into cheers and prolonged applause. In fact, during the intermission between the second and third rounds Ted Hayes, who acts as announcer at the Dempsey camp, was compelled to request the spectators to refrain from urging either of the men to greater efforts.


These three rounds were followed by three more against Marty Farrell, another middleweight. Dempsey perceptibly eased up in his work against his second opponent.
Although Dempsey insists that his wind is perfect and that he is not troubled by shortness of breath while working out, to those who have studied him closely it appears as if his wind might be in better shape. He was puffing very hard after boxing Greb. Of course, it was an unusually fast workout, but it seemed to take him longer than it should to recover his wind even after so strenuous a session. By this is not meant that Dempsey is likely to suffer from shortness of wind in Monday's battle.

[Mr140]

From most of what i have read Tunney won ever fight but the first and beat Greb so bad that he said he never wanted to fight Tunney ever again. Gene Tunney i do not think was even prime when fought him the first time he kept getting better though to point that he did not want to fight Tunney.

[greynotsoold]

From most of what i have read Tunney won ever fight but the first and beat Greb so bad that he said he never wanted to fight Tunney ever again. Gene Tunney i do not think was even prime when fought him the first time he kept getting better though to point that he did not want to fight Tunney.

The second fight was considered to be a very bad decision at the time. Also, as Tunney got better, he grew, adding 15 pounds. The interesting thing is that Greb said Tunney was too big and too good to fight again, and at the same time was trying to get a fight with Dempsey, which he had been trying to do for years.

[Master]

From most of what i have read Tunney won ever fight but the first and beat Greb so bad that he said he never wanted to fight Tunney ever again. Gene Tunney i do not think was even prime when fought him the first time he kept getting better though to point that he did not want to fight Tunney.

The second fight was considered to be a very bad decision at the time. Also, as Tunney got better, he grew, adding 15 pounds. The interesting thing is that Greb said Tunney was too big and too good to fight again, and at the same time was trying to get a fight with Dempsey, which he had been trying to do for years.

Dempsey may have been easier at that time as he was older and more civilised as well as being a former sparring partner Greb may have thought he knew his weakness. Also probably would have earned more money to fight Dempsey than Tunney.

[Dia bando]

Tunney was a master boxer, and a joy to watch and he would not be out of place in
a boxing ring today.