Boxing: Paxton dispels myths about 'Windmill' Greb
Saturday July 11 2009
MORE myths have grown around Harry Greb than probably any other fighter in history.
Known as 'The Pittsburgh Windmill' for his aggressive, all-action style, he supposedly used every dirty trick in the book, never trained, and often made love in his dressing room before a fight to help him relax.
Happily, author Bill Paxton, who runs the official Harry Greb website (www.harrygreb.com), knows his subject so well that he is able to dispel most of the myths and still tell an engrossing story.
In an incredibly busy career spanning 13 years, Greb fought 299 times, held the world middleweight title from 1923 to 1926, and was the only man to defeat heavyweight champion Gene Tunney.
Although he wasn't a big puncher, only scoring 48 knockouts, he frequently gave away weight and still proved too good for light-heavyweight champions Jack Dillon, Battling Levinsky and Mike McTigue.
The only myth that stands up, finds Paxton, is that Greb fought for the last five years of his career while blind in one eye. Somehow, he was able to conceal his handicap in cursory medical examinations.
Ironically, it was during an operation on his nose, broken in a car accident, that Greb fell into a coma and died. He was just 32 years old.
The Fearless Harry Greb: Biography of a Tragic Hero of Boxing is available from McFarland Publishers, Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 (www.mcfarland.com) or from www.amazon.com.
- Pat Myler
