GREB IN GREAT BRITAIN
We look back on the Pittsburgh legend’s two forgotten fights at the Royal Albert Hall
AFORTNIGHT ago, I wrote of the three Brits who ventured to America to take on Harry Greb at the height of his powers. There was, however, another Brit who shared a ring with the Pittsburgh legend, years earlier, but you won’t find the bout on Greb’s pro record.
It was December 1918, just a month after the end of the Great War, and a special two-day event had been organised by the Imperial Services Boxing Association, which governed military boxing. Entrants from the Allied nations competed at eight weights for individual titles, and collectively for a prestigious prize called the King’s Trophy. Each bout comprised two two-minute rounds and a final three-minute round. The venue was the Royal Albert Hall.
Greb arrived in London on November 20, but his preparations did not go well. Apparently, he did not like the food or the damp, cold weather. According to one source, he was involved in a street brawl with three Englishmen, whom he flattened, and narrowly escaped a night in a cell. After being released by police, he was struck by a car and knocked unconscious after looking the wrong way while crossing a road, forgetting that British vehicles drive on the left and not the right, as they do in America. This apparently hampered his training, leading to weight-making trouble.
Nevertheless, Greb had no problems in his opening bout in the light-heavy class, but managed to upset the crowd. “Seaman Harry Greb, US Navy, got in bad with the crowd by lightly touching the hand which Lance Corporal Baker of South Africa extended to him, and then hooking straight to the jaw without so much as a beg pardon,” wrote Boxing News. “The blow reeled Baker onto the ropes, and before he could collect his thoughts the American was on top of him like an avalanche.”
Within seconds Greb had won by KO, but he was “booed and hissed heartily” for the perceived lack of sportsmanship. However, BN felt Harry was “hardly to blame” as the custom was different in America.
In the tournament’s second series, a victory for Greb over the unknown Sergeant W. Ring (Royal Marine Artillery) seemed a foregone conclusion. “This time Greb was careful to shake hands in our style,” observed BN, “and then waded in to hand out the dream dope... However, he found his man’s left glove always in the way... Things were worse still for Greb in the second round, both eyes beginning to assume a shade because of Ring’s lefthand visits... [Ring] won a very popular victory indeed, as Greb had been served up as one of the hot-pots.”
Greb, who was repeatedly cautioned by the referee, was adamant he deserved the decision. Sergeant W. Ring, meanwhile, reached the competition final, losing, as BN had it, “only by a small margin” to the reigning world middleweight champ Mike O’dowd.
What became of Ring and how he managed to do so well (albeit in threeround bouts) against two future Hall-offamers in Greb and O’dowd is a mystery.
The King’s Trophy was won by the British Army. The US Army finished second, and the RAF and the Royal Navy and Marines joint third.