BoxRec

How much, if it all, do you fault Dempsey for this fight not happening?

On one side it’s Greb, yes, one of a kind and an ATG.

On the other, Greb was a middleweight and Dempsey had close to 30lbs on him.

This is not Greb vs Gibbons or a much lighter Tunney.

Add on to that that they did scrap in sparring ahead of the Miske fight and there really wasn’t that much of a demand for the fight in the 1920s by those who were there, and I wonder if Dempsey just is getting knocked, unjustly, for this fight not happening.

Also, if you do fault or do not fault Dempsey how does that equate with your opinions on Jack Johnson against Stanley Ketchel?

Dempsey on Greb:

'Greb was my sparring partner once. He was the fastest thing I ever saw in action. Hitting him is one of life's most difficult jobs, because he's never set for a second, never comes at you the same way twice, never does anything in ring warfare which can be called orthodox. He's always doing the unexpected and because he does, he's one of those phantom targets which you can hit more through luck than through the use of skill.'

Apparently the greatest strength that the middleweight had was doing everything ass backwards, so he was extremely awkward and constantly pressuring opponents.

As for Johnson and his era (and prior) it was not uncommon to see lightweights, welterweights, and middleweights facing off against heavyweights. Most of the toughest opponents the heavyweights fought were these smaller, slippery guys who just never stood still and could bounce back with rapid combinations. It was not unheard of to see guys who were 50-100 pounds in difference in weight.

Fighters of different weights did fight each other a lot in Dempsey's time and prior. Sometimes we forget that boxing is a business. Often a fighter would get an offer on short notice in a city nearby and take it. The opponent might not be at the guy's weight class or near his level for that matter. We have to remember that fighting a guy several hundred miles away was a big deal to travel to. Communication was not as easy to make a fight either.

If a fight is a box office draw, it is likely to be made. Not sure if Greb would have been as big of a money maker as some of Dempsey's other opponents or not. Guessing that Tex Rickard could have done well in promoting it. It does seem like a leap to say that Dempsey ducked him.