Billy Conn was a great fighter, not a puncher but a skilled boxer and brave. Conn never fought amateur and lost seven of his first fourteen fights including his debut. However he learned and by 1939 he had beaten a host of his days top middleweights and light heavyweights, he beat Meilo Bettina for the world light heavyweight title and vacated the following year to campaign as a heavyweight.
His 1941 fight with Joe Louis was legendary, he was beating the great Brown Bomber on all three judges cards before he decided to brawl instead of box and was knocked out in round 13.
He finished with a 64-11-1(15) record and remained a handful well into his later years, in his 70's he knocked out an armed robber who was trying to rob a convinience store.
Harry Greb was a natural middleweight but beat seven men who at one time held the light heavyweight title. He fought heavyweights too and would think little of fighting men who outweighed him by over 50 lbs. Among the men he beat were 18 hall of famers and Gene Tunney who retired as heavyweight champion and never lost to anybody else.
I have often said that Greb is a strong contender for the greatest pound for pound boxer of all time, even after losing the sight of one eye he still carried on beating great fighters.
He went 45 fights unbeaten in 1919 and ended with 299 recorded fights and only 8 official losses.
Although there is no footage so much praise has been heaped on him by his era's greats, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Jimmy McClarnin and Benny Leonard among others all attested to his greatness. He was apparently Conn's hero when Conn was a boy.
The fight: This would have to be held in Pittsburgh and the two sets of fans would probably put up more vicious fights than the two men in the ring!
Conn would be a tough fight for Greb and it would be close at times but what makes the difference is that Greb had such an unorthodox style, whereas Conn could bring nothing to the ring that Greb hadn't seen before. Greb takes a clear decision in a competitive fight.
Greb UD15.
Greb was way too much for Conn.
as skillful as conn was, and despite being more natural at 175, i'm gonna go with greb's superior work rate to see him to a close ud.
harry greb
15 rounds at light heavyweight
