Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-28
IS A, BUSINESS
WITH CLEVER MIKE GIBBONS
Is an Ordinary Mechanic. and the Money
End Of the Sport Strongly
Appeals to Him.

to fight one Herbert Catherwood. who
!, "a, professional IN way They met
night and Catllerwood gave the boy an
awful drubbing. NJ got a draw on the
decision. but that wasn't fair. 1t should
have been against me. CatherwOod gave
me an awful lacipg.''
In the seventh round Catherwood
landed flush on his right ear. and Glib
hons has borne fine specimen OF the
tin variety ever since. He shows his
careful. old-fashioned training by insist
Ing on calling 1t a caulifiower cara term
which has almost gone out among our
fistic elect.
Gee" said he. reminiscently. that ear
worried me. You see. there are no fight
ers In St. Paul. YOU might say. and no
one up there knows what caulifiower
ear is. I was awfully ashamed OF IT.
That Cstherwood fight was not sue
cess on the whole. He got So for his
share Of the purse, a broken nose and
brass ear--and was arrested and fined
$3.50. For weeks he went around the
streets of st. Paul mourning future
that had been blasted by that fine He
had. It figured out that as long as he
lived they would identify him in st. Paul
by that ear as the man who was once
arrested for prize fighting. Eddy Reddy,
who sat In the next seat at school with
him for seven years and became a city
bons went into the railroad shops. en-
couraged him. Reddy is now Gibbons
manager-a frank, blue-eyed straight
forward youth. just as ridiculously young
in appearance as is Gibbons himself. So
that by and by Gibbons decided to try
to live it down.
There were other fights. Gibbons didn't
believe in himself at all. He listened to
his associates tell him that he was clever
and that his footwOrk was 1ealike, and
did not believe. He knew they meant it.
but he thought they didn't know. He
believed that he was just lucky. The
Catherwood fight shook his confidence
in his luck for a time. but it came back.
Then he was matched with Jimmy
Clabby, the Australian. for ten rounds.
Clabby outpointed him throughout the
ten rou9ds:
4 got along all right at long range.
but he killed me at infighting." said Glib
bons. 1T was my fifth professional fight.
and he just murdered me, though he
didn't really hurt me any But 1t did
me good. had never had any profess
sional instructions at all, and Clabby was
really the first man of any class / had
ever watched. While / was in the ring
l watched the way he handled himself
and his footwork. For weeks after that
I put in my spare time working out
those problems. I'd try to see how II
was that Clabby did this or that to me
and where I had made a mistake on my
part.
Takes on Confidence.
For the first time began to have con-
fidence in myself. In my second match
with Clabby three papers gave me the
decision. and two gave it to him-but
he should have had it. I knew It and
he knew 1t. He was better than / was
throughout. But had learned a lot
more. Then we got Clabby to agree
to meet me a third time. This time II
was at Winnipeg for fifteen rounds. and
l got the decision. Then l met Hi
lard Lang, the Canadian champion at
my weight. and bested him. That did
me good, too ! began to have real
confidence i'm myself. Then 1 came down
to New York. and every one treated me
mighty nicely. l couldn't ask for better
treatment. All that New York asked
was that show them the goods New
York did the rest.
Although his young wife-he was mar
ried only two years and a half agoIs
reconciled to his lighting because Of the
have always bitterly opposed It, All his
life "Old Man Gibbons has worked in
the railroad shops in st. Paul. He in
vested his earnings, and year or so
eight or nine pieces Of residence prop
erty- he owns. He. objects to his sons
business.
But my mother cries when she knows
that arm going into fight" said Glib
bons, his smooth, young forehead wrink-
ling in worry. Il try to keep from get
ting marked on her account as much as
! can. II do get marked up a bit don't
go home until the signs have disappeared
When first began fighting she used to
protest SO much that when I had q fight
on ! told her / was going away on a
fishing or hunting trip. II 1t wasn't much
Of fight I'd tell her I'd only be gone
a day or two. But sometimes had to
go away q couple Of hundred miles on
those trips She never will like my bust
ness. but laugh at her.
How is It possible for me to get
iiurt with those big pillows" 1 ask her.
But she gets me around the neck and
kisses me and cries. 1t makes me Feel
bad"
He is very frank In admitting that he
prefers boxing to fighting. Il don't
want to hurt any one" said he. Il
have not knocked out. many people. 1
don't like to. I don't like to fight.
only do It because 1t is an easy way of
getting money. But do like to box.
I'd rather box than anything else In
the world, think. Up in the north
west they think my fOOtwork is espe.-
cially good. That is because 1 am
practicing all the time. II see any
thing new l want TO learn 1T right
away.
Another reason why he does not like
to knock any. one out Is that the proc
ess Is tough on the hands. He has .
pair OF bad thumbs now, which he hurt
before he. had learned the trick. Now,
as he naively explains. he tries 10 hi;