Give Him To The Angels
 

    Harry Greb, the fast-living and wild-fighting "Pittsburgh Windmill" or "Iron City Express", was a natural middleweight who not only held that title but over 192 fights-many of them while he had only one seeing eye-met some of the best light-heavyweights of his time. He was the only man to beat Gene Tunney, giving him a savage beating. He died at age 32, following an eye operation, on October 22, 1926, two months after losing his title by decision to Tiger Flowers....
    .... Greb got his blind eye in a fight with Kid Norfolk in Pittsburgh. Before the bout he had learned that Norfolk was blind in one eye. Greb said that if the going got too tough he could stop him by giving him the thumb in the other eye. He did, after the Kid dropped him in the third round. But the Kid gave it right back to him. Next day Greb complained that he saw a red ball of fire in front of the thumbed eye and that it wouldn't go away. A friend took him to a specialist, who said the retina was detached and advised him to quit fighting. Greb swore his friend to secrecy on the eye, and kept on fighting.

James R. Fair