Mar 19, 2025 - Apr 5, 2025
Boxing champion and PA native Harry Greb held various nicknames in his heyday: "The Pittsburgh Windmill", "The Smoke City Wildcat", and "The Pittsburgh Bearcat" to name a few. Sports Illustrated places Greb as the fifth best pound-for-pound boxers of all time. He appeared in 299 fights over a 13-year career that began at 140 pounds. Despite starting as a welterweight, he often got in the ring and beating light heavyweights and even a few heavyweights. Greb famously beat Gene Tunney in 1922 to become the American light heavyweight champion. In 1923, he moved down in weight and defeated Johnny Wilson for the world middleweight title, which he defended for three years. The man who ended his middleweight reign was African American Tiger Flowers (a.k.a. "The Georgia Deacon") in a memorable February 1926 bout at Madison Square Garden.
Offered here are the boxing gloves worn by Harry Greb against Flowers in their first matchup on August 21, 1924, in Fremont, Ohio. Greb won the fight in a 10-round decision to retain his middleweight belt. The two fought three times, with Flowers beating Greb in the 1926 MSG rematch and again later that year. The century-old gloves made by MacGregor Goldsmith have aged significantly but remain mostly intact. The Goldsmith logo, located on the inner wrist of the left glove, dates appropriately to the 1923-25 period. The outer leather has started to flake off and the internal horsehair material is exposed in a few areas. They are still very presentable and worthy of display, despite the fragility and wear. Few pre-war used boxing gloves have survived the wear and tear of a professional fight, let alone the destructive aging process if not stored in a temperature-controlled room.
Provenance is of the utmost important here, otherwise they would just be gloves. A detailed handwritten letter and typed signed letter are provided that trace ownership back to a key promoter of the fight, a local Ohio businessman named Carl F. Miller, who received the gloves as a gift from Greb right after the fight.
Included with the gloves for complementary display are the following: a yellow program cover (8.5 x 11") from the Aug. 21, 1924 fight; an original panoramic photo (7.5 x 17.5", framed to 10.5 x 20") of the open-air venue, Bronson-Miller Arena, that hosted it; along with an original clipping from the local Fremont, OH, newspaper that talks about the gloves and panoramic photo being such important collectibles for Miller.
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