Tommy Gibbons Written by Rob Snell Thursday, 03 May 2007 Thomas J. Gibbons Name: Tommy Gibbons Career Record: click Nationality: US American Birthplace: St. Paul, MN Hometown: Saint Paul, MN Born: 1891-03-22 Died: 1960-11-19 Age at Death: 69 Stance: Orthodox Height: 6' 0? Reach: 74 inches (born March 22, 1891 in St. Paul, Minnesota, died November 19, 1960) was a boxer who lost the Heavyweight Championship to Jack Dempsey in 15 rounds. The brother of Mike Gibbons, Tommy started boxing professionally in 1911 as a middleweight. Like his brother he was a master scientific boxer who chose to outbox his opponents. In time, he advanced to the Heavyweight class and developed a respectable punch. His biggest fight came near the end of his career when he met heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey on July 4, 1923 in Shelby, Montana. The local backers and the town of Shelby went broke putting on the fight. The great Dempsey battled through the full fifteen rounds before winning by decision. Dempsey was awarded $200,000, whereas Gibbons received expense money. Tommy Gibbons record was 56-4-1 with 44 no decisions, and 1 no contest. He scored 48 knockouts, and was stopped only once by Gene Tunney on June 5, 1925. The names dotting his record read like boxing's hall of fame. Tommy recorded wins over George Chip, Willie Meehan, Billy Miske, Chuck Wiggins, Jack Bloomfield, and Kid Norfolk. Tommy had no decision matches with George "K.O." Brown, Billy Miske, Harry Greb, Battling Levinsky, Bob Roper, Chuck Wiggins, Georges Carpentier, and others. Only Harry Greb, Billy Miske, Jack Dempsey, and Gene Tunney were able to score wins over Tommy Gibbons. Following his retirement, Tommy Gibbons was elected four times as the Sheriff of Ramsey County. He became a member of the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1963, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993. Occupations He began work at the Great Northern rail yard for $1.10 a day, of which he was allowed to keep 10 cents. He gave the rest of the money to help his mother and father support the family. He accompanied his brother, Mike to some of his boxing matches. When their father saw that they could earn much more money boxing, than they could ever earn at the rail yard, he allowed them to go into boxing full time. After retiring from boxing at age 34, he sold insurance very successfully and was a member of the $100,000 Club in the 1920*s. His friends convinced him to run for Sheriff of Ramsey County in Minnesota, Which included the capital city of St. Paul. He won for six consecutive four year terms before retiring at the age of 68. Fast Facts * Owed the Gibbons Brother*s Gym with his boxing brother Mike Gibbons * He started boxing professionally in 1911. * Boxed 106 fights, losing only 4 and being stopped only once, by Gene Tunney. He retired after the fight. * Was the first boxer to go the entire Fifteen rounds with Dempsey during the World Championship Fight in Shelby, Montana on July 4, 1923, where he lost the decision. * Tommy and Helen donated $50,000 to build the Immaculate Conception Church in Osakis, Minnesota from his purse from the Tunney fight. * Was King Boreas IX in 1946 for the Winter Carnival in St. Paul, Minnesota. * Was Knighted twice by the Catholic Church for his work for the church. A Knight of St. Gregory and A Knight of St. George. * Was elected, along with his brother Mike to the *Helms* Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954. Quotes "Nailing him was like trying to thread a needle in a high wind." - Jack Dempsey about Tommy Gibbons bout in 1923 "Dempsey could beat anybody he could hit. The only reason that he couldn't do anything with fellows like Tunney or Greb or myself was he couldn't hit us." - Tom Gibbons in a radio interview in 1949 "For the first and only time, I was more worried about getting hurt by the crowd than by the guy I was fighting. I got a pretty good blast when introduced. The crowd was hollering and raising hell. I looked around for my bodyguard, a colorful New York character named Wild Bill Lyons, who packed two pearl-handled pistols and used to talk a lot about his days in the West. Wild Bill was under the ring, hiding." - Jack Dempsey about being introduced to the crowd at the Dempsey/Gibbons fight in Shelby, Montana July 4, 1923 "I could have licked him in Shelby if I had been 30, but I was 32. I'll never forget that day. I never got so tired of man in my life." - Tommy Gibbons discussing his World Championship bout with Jack Dempsey. "People couldn*t seem to understand how I could take so much from Dempsey. They said I was as Iron Man (a name I always wanted to avoid), when really all I did was slip this way and that as the occasion required. Brother Mike was a past master at that. I never saw anyone to equal him at all. He taught it to me." - Tommy Gibbons from Punches I Have Taken Links http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/gibbons-t.html http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/tg3/tmgps.html http://www.genetunney.com/magazine109.html Dempsey v Gibbons Statement by Jack Kearns "Well, we won didn't we? Gibbons Is a tough boy but Jack gave him an awful beating. It was a great fight but the champion would rather have stopped Gibbons. The champion will keep right after all the other boys and if there is any demand for another Dempsey and Gibbons match we are ready Statement By Eddie Kane "I think that Gibbons made a great fight and will sure take Dempsey if they ever meet again. The 'champion roughed it all the way and did as he pleased In the clinches without any interruption from the referee" Gibbons fought clean He can beat Dempsey and the latter knows it We want another chance." Jack Dempsey retained the world's championship today after one of the greatest heavyweight battles in history while feathered Indians. Kilted Scots, cowboys and the sports of America cheered his defeated foe. For fifteen rounds Tom Gibbons, the St Paul battler took everything- that could be handed to him and although he was groggy, hanging on, and trying desperately to last through the finish he was the hero of Shelby's great day The fight, which was preceded by so much scandal and failure was from the fighting standpoint great enough to justify everything The twenty thousand maddened fans who sat through glaring heat and stewed m the intense heat of a. blazing afternoon witnessed a struggle worthy of greater things and Shelby's day, after all, proved a tremendous success The pro-Gibbons crowd, going wild when at frequent intervals the St Paul boxer carried the fight to the champion and rocked him with repeated lefts Had Gibbons possessed the punching power of Dempsey tonight would have seen the crowning of,, a. new champion for it was not until the final round, when Dempsey's murderous body blows finally sapped the strength of Thunder Chief did he pile up and great advantage The fifth, the eleventh and possibly the thirteenth rounds belonged to Gibbons The second and fourth were so even no man could decide and in every other round Dempsey was the winner In spite of the fact that he drove his terrific right and left to Gibbons body with murderous force the St Paul boy was not hurt and Dempsey found out that he was facing, not a great lighter, but one of the most magnificent boxers in the ring Gibbons' elbow.- shed a thousand drives that were meant to destroy him and the darting speed of his head enabled him to avoid the knockout blow. Dempsey never before missed as many hard drives. Eight times he drove the left -with Intent to kill and each time he missed Seven times during that desperate struggle he hurled that killing right at Tommy's jaw and missed, sometimes by a foot. But Dempsey won. Decisively and beyond doubt He was -on strong and his methods elicited Jeers and howls from the great crowd. Gibbons was holding down the punches and striving desperately to protect his body from the vicious short arm drives and frequently he pushed down Dempsey's blows so that his punch seemed to land too low several times, fortunately –without hurting the challenger or there would have been a riot. The crowd while fair to Dempsey when be made his appearance, was partisan and as Gibbons carried "the champion round after round, and in frequent rallies out boxed him, the spirit of the crowd rose. It was plain almost from the start. that Gibbons did not have power enough to hurt Dempsey seriously In the second round he out boxed him decisively and landed two sharp left hooks to the champion's head and a straight left that opened an old cut over his eye. But not one of those punches landing where they –would have wrecked another man, seemed to hurt Dempsey He came back fiercely in the third and beat Gibbons all over the ring but so great was the armor of elbows and shoulders and so clever the head and foot work of the challenger that Dempsey could not get him In the fourth Gibbons made his last dangerous rally.