| |
Thomas J. Gibbons
was a nearly undefeated heavyweight boxer. 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 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 and the
Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame
in 2010. |
|
