Hide Article Text (OCR)
TOMMY GIBBONS DENIED SPOTLIGHT- I I just wasn't pood, I guess.’* he tUNABLE TO GET RECOGNITION WHILE|lt;■»*»-,-i. |MIKE PERFORMS - FINALLYCOMES INTO HIS OWN »■». ™ «•««. iCHAPTER II.he will he pointed out a- the brotherBy HENRY FARRELL.Fnitfil Pnss Kpovts Editor. °f Tom (ribbons.As he overcame that “famous New *\ork» May 1*. (Lnited Press) I brother** handicap, so Tom has clear-—Tom in v Gibbons bad one of the led other obstacles in his path bv pa-# {most discouraging battles to get j tienee, by zeal in his work and above*recognition as a first class boxer that j all by respecting the rights of othersIAfter he had lost the decision to j Harry Greb in Madison Square Gar-1, den some time back. Tommy wascrushed and almost * lo an broken. All his friends were condoling with him and some of them told him he had been made the victim of a very bad decision.can be found on the pages of ring; to their own opinionTelegraphed His Wife.| He turned o the writer and asked criticized him to take down a telegram to send4to liis wife. The thumb on r.is righthistory. j Tom Gibbons has beenHe had that tremendous handicap | more bitterly and with less justifi-* * ?of an older celebrity in his family j cation than any of the modern j hand was swollen and out of placeand it took ten vears of exasperating j boxers. The old timers did not suf-jand he could not handle a pencil.jexperience for him to earn recogni-jfer it as much either because the tion as Tom Gibbons, instead ofHe dictated a message reflecting•‘Mike Gibbons’ brother.Mike, “the phantom,” regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, achieved such fame and drew so much notice to himself that is was considered enough for Tom, when he started out, to flatter him with an association of the family name.It was not until Mike retired fromthe ring, a wealthy and substantial man of affairs in St. Paul, that Tom had the chance to step out as an individual and get some recognition for himself by winning thirty out ofthirty-four contests with a knockout.The Tide Has Turned.\Perhaps now the tide has turnedand if Mike goes to Shelby to see*Tom go against Jack Dempsey for theworld’s - heavyweight championship.writers in those days were not given \ the spirit of a gallant loser. He did such latitude in newspaper columns j not alibi or seek sympathy and said for the expression of their own 1 merely that he had lost the decision.Kopinion. Gibbons weathered it all, j that he was not hurt or marked and however, on the theory that he was 1 that he would be home as soon as a public character and that criticism possible.was just as much the right of thos;Gibbons has been censured forwho saw things that way as praise \ picking his spots and his set-ups. for was for those of contrary belief. Spiling up a great paper record on His attitude was shown after 'jne nothing and for dodging opponents of his bouts in New* York. His! of class. These things have all beentriends were passing in and out of the dress*:*:? room, giving him a wordrad a pat oi ihe tack.“You look^J fine tonigh\ I * i*\*rr saw you so gocd.” one said.‘T thought so, too,” Tom replied. The next one in remarked:“Tom, you were off tonight. Yon didn’t look a bit good. What was the matterirelated in the past and they are part of the past. Tom never replied to criticism, except when it came to mistatements of his agev“The boxing records have me down as thirty-four but 1 am only twenty-nine. I was born on March 22, 1894 and I am not a day older than that,” he says.Contrary, also, to many things thathave been printed about him and his career, Gibbons did not start as anamateur boxer. He really was steered into boxing as a profession by working out with his brother, Mike.He started at the age of nineteen and he learned much about boxing from his skilled brother, but he never had the opportunity to develop a great punch for almost seven years.Fought For 915.His first real fight was staged ten years ago in Minneapolis against Cyclone Kelly and he won by a knock-out in three rounds for which he was given the exorbitant purse of fifteen dollars.The next week he took on Knock-*out Brown, a colored boxer, and he won that bout also in the third round with a knockout. He was promised fifteen dollars, but the house was so small he was given a “V and promised the rest. He also came outof that bout with a broken rib and he laid off for six months.It was at this point of his career, that the “accident” occurred which made him decide to go into the boxing business seriously.It happened that Billy Gibson,Benny Leonard’s present manager, who was then running the Fairmount A. C. was in the “accident” and it is one of Gib’s pet stories.The tale is an Interesting one and will be made the subject of the next story. ' . aEND OF CHAPTER II.I
Newspaper Details
Clinton Daily Clintonian
Clinton, Indiana, US
Thu, May 17, 1923
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 16 Sep 2019
Other Publications Near Clinton, Indiana
Clinton Saturday Argus
Clinton Clintonian
Clinton Daily Clintonian
Clinton Weekly Clintonian
Clinton Plaindealer
