By Jaime Ortega: Before I start with my analysis I would refer to the quotes bellow:
“Harry Greb was never in one spot for more than half a second, all my punches were aimed and timed properly but they always wound up hitting empty air. He’d jump in and out, slamming me with a left and whirling me around with his right or the other way around. My arms were plastered with leather and although I jabbed, hooked and crossed, it was like fighting an octopus.”
— Former boxing great Gene Tunney
“The fastest fighter I ever saw. Hell. Greb is faster than Benny Leonard (lightweight champion)”
— Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey
I randomly selected two quotes coming out the mouth of these two legendary boxers to describe what it must have been to fight what most modern casual fans consider an unknown street bum in Harry Greb. I am not a fan of Gene Tunney or Jack Dempsey — especially Dempsey who never fought African American boxers; ESPN ranks Dempsey number 9 — I just couldn’t rank him that high (call me crazy). Interestingly Harry Greb, a natural 140, fought heavy weight Tunney and won the match giving him his first and only loss in his career. I wonder how many welterweights today could fight over 298 fights and take on Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder or Alexander Povetkin in a trilogy–- but people won’t hand Greb or Henry Armstrong credit where credit is due, and call them bums to instead glorify Rocky Marciano, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Mike Tyson and the Klitschko brothers for their boxing achievements –- which pardon me, I find funny. A welterweight fighting a heavy weight is incredible, but today, fans conform to modern day ducking and excuse it. Canelo Alvarez the middleweight champion and Daniel Jacobs are scared to fight Gennady Golovkin; Gennady Golovkin will call Mayweather Jr. but won’t clash gloves with Andre Ward. Mayweather Jr. calls himself The Best Ever, and selects Andre Berto and Karim Mayfield for his retirement show instead of fighting his mandatory. Kell Brook would rather take on Franky Gavin, than Keith Thurman. Many Pacquiao rematches Timothy Bradley a third time; Adonis Stevenson won’t fight Sergei Kovalev and the list goes on and on. I mean this boxing generation is a complete circus — and Harry Greb and Henry Armstrong still won’t receive credit — wow!
No one also seems to care that the old school 10oz glove padding made of thick cow leather skin used in the Golden Days was nothing like the gloves boxers wear today—but of course, that’s a different topic – one most modern boxers would hate to reintroduce.
Surprisingly, Dempsey calls Greb faster than Benny Leonard, who was one of the smartest boxers to ever live. Boxing historian Bert Sugar, said Benny Leonard influenced Willie Pep. With that said its incomprehensible how modern casual fans could possibly imply old school boxers were not skillful and of lesser pedigree compared with modern day boxers, when Pernell Whittaker’s defensive style was copied and adapted by Floyd Mayweather Sr. ultimately to help his son (Floyd Mayweather Jr.); Andre Ward applied that similar style from Mayweather Jr. Andre might not end undefeated, but Virgil Hunter will help him get there -– copying styles doesn’t upgrade or degrade the ability of any boxer — ultimately that depends heavily how the boxer uses what he adapted to his own body type and style. Everyone learns from everyone else, so I don’t see how that affects Golden Era legends, whom also learned from previous boxing geniuses.
For whatever reason, casual boxing fans argue the idea that old school boxers like Sugar Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Sam Langford, Joe Gans and other world champions, turned into legends at the expense of fighting cab drivers and street bums – of course, the intangible assumption that taxi drivers and street bums could not become great boxers should automatically raise red flags to any serious boxing historian or expert. Is it possible that part time taxi drivers and street bums could become world champions? — Many think not, but considering the examples bellow I think everything is possible to achieve on any era or epoch.
Michael Jordan loved baseball more than basketball; instead of driving cabs or walking the streets like a bum, he spent an innumerable amount of effort trying to become a baseball legend; he failed, only to become the best basketball player in history. Ironically after his basketball career ended, he played in the MLB. Not many people I know could achieve playing in two major high level sports and succeed professionally. Tim Duncan’s dream was to become a professional swimmer in the US Virgin Islands and endeavored to make the Olympic team — only to fail – few question Duncan’s basketball ability for the time he instead spent swimming, when he misses a crucial pass? I think not. He might well driven a taxi, an airport shuttle or done something financially productive on his spare time instead of swimming because unlike Jordan his alternative dream ended a waste of time — a hobby that never stopped Duncan from becoming a legendary NBA player. That is just a few examples of thousands of athletes who competed simultaneously in different sports, instead of driving cabs — many of them legends today. No one doubts Michael Jordan or Tim Duncan, but modern casual fans criticize old school fighter ability to box for having a part time job; driving a cab or working other low level jobs while training for the next fight implies lesser skills? I find such logic childish, irrelevant and incomplete. You can’t measure people’s ability to succeed, but you can measure the competitiveness levels that surround professionals to achieve greatness. The top ten players in the NBA, are more complete overall, than the top ten players in the Spanish ACB basketball league. Just as the top ten Golden Era boxers, are in a completely different category than boxers that come out now and the 60’s—but that could change one day.
On my research, I still can’t find any old school boxer who came from the taxi sector and fought professionally. Not every city has a booming cab industry, only cities with a large metropolitan population. Chicago, New York, LA, Detroit, Las Vegas, Boston are a few decently concentrated and over populated areas where the taxi industry proliferated during the Golden Era of Boxing (1920-50) and it still remains great business today. Hypothetically, they must been boxers who worked part time jobs while prizefighting to achieve the opportunity to earn the next big title shot– nothing new, as I will clarify later. The term cab driver, probably stems back to 1993 in the lead up fight of Greg Haugen calling Julio Cesar Chavez opponents ‘Tijuana taxi drivers that my mother could beat”. He apparently paid for that remark. In 1990, leading up to the first Nigel Benn vs Chris Eubank fight, Benn called Eubank’s opponents ‘Mexican road sweepers.’ He paid for that remark too. That term seemed not to exist prior to the 90’s. But many boxers worked other jobs to survive, and that is no different today.
Peter Quillin worked three jobs to maintain himself and his family alive; he worked as a butcher, as a host server for IHOP, and at Brooklyn Athletic Club while simultaneously training boxing. Quillin according to the kneejerk logic of modern casual boxing fans should be considered a bum and a taxi driver, if one considers his previous jobs, even though his record is 34-1 — only recently losing to Daniel Jacobs who miraculously overcame cancer. Timothy Bradley, prior to becoming a professional boxer, in his transition to achieve a world tittle worked as a dishwasher and a waiter. How did the dish washer become a world champion? Right? Bradley cunningly defeated Rafael Marquez. Now Marquez according to the logic behind the term ‘bums and cab drivers’ should have completely demolish Bradley, if we consider that Marquez Sr. (his father) was a wealthy man who invested in his son’s development as a professional focusing only on boxing instead.
Bernard Hopkins developed a passion for boxing, after he came out of prison at age 19. Rest assure many old school boxers began their professional careers way before Bernard, so should we question Bernard’s legacy because he started late in the sport of boxing— how much money can full time cab drivers earn in 19 years? How many airport pick-ups? No one questions his age (I never have), but going by the mainstream casual double standard logic of ‘bum’s and cab drivers’ perhaps I should question his career and legacy. Likewise no one questions Shawn Porter. He spend a great amount of his life playing football at the same age he began to shine as an amateur boxing champion – I don’t see the difference between surviving, or time spent practicing hobbies and how that correlates with legacy and lack of competition, especially calling old boxers beggars and cab drivers — but okay!
To conclude, to call boxers ‘bums and cab drivers’ is absolutely demeaning and childish. Boxers are human beings who work like everyone else to achieve dreams. I would find it strange that any boxer that pushed for greatness did not struggle his way out to victory in life and on ringside. In the past competition swelled, people worked many hours and had dreams just like anyone else today. Any boxer who got a shot at Sugar Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Henry Armstrong, Joe Ganz, Willie Pep, Kid Chocolate, Jimmy Wilder and many other legends had to impress promoters and the crowd to sell stadium tickets. Please help me find a boxing history book written by a serious scholar who quotes that Golden Age level ‘C’ boxers were ‘bum’s and taxi drivers’ who spent their futile life inside bars or trashcans ready to miraculously earn a world title shot — it’s too funny, and its a flagrant way to diminish the achievement of a generation filled with legendary boxers – and till I see evidence of the contrary I won’t change such statement. Lastly the ‘bum and taxi driver’ notion is a product of people’s imagination. There will always be losers in any sport, winning comes with a territory, but the least competitive the sport less quality follows. Soccer is the most competitive sport in the planet- — hands down — and to become Lionel Messi, or play in FC Barcelona you have to be an incredible technician. Boxing was just like that soccer today during the Golden Era, but it’s not anymore, sorry!
Comments are closed.