The Alaska citizen. (Fairbanks, Alaska) 1910-1917, 1914-09-21
Mike Gibbons Fighting.

Mike Gibbons Fighting.
Those engaged in the boxing pro
fessiOn are, TO man, too often and
too readily condemned for their mer-
cenary proclivities. True, the game
is conducted purely on a CONNER
cal basis but once in a long while
there appears fighter who donF
the gloves solely for the physical
benefit to be derived therefrom.
He is a man who ranks high
exceedingly high-in the resin game.
He is acknowledged the peer of
pugilists in two divisions. In fact.
he is rated the cleverest boxer in
the game today, for he is none 9th
er than Michael Gibbons. affection
ately termed the St. Paul wizard,
ghost" "phantom,' and other things
of the mystic realms.
It undoubtedly comes as a sur
prise to be informed that Mike Glib
bons is not in the game for the
money he can extract from the gull
ible public by exhibiting a pair of
pad-incased gloves in the ring, Never
theless Gibbons has shown that he
is not a money fighter" That
probably accounts for his many
months of passiveness during the
year.
Gibbons is such clever perform
er that he can get engagements as
year out He can command sums of
81 900 to $4,000 fight, according
to the prowess of his opponent, Yet
he does not engage in more than
half a dozen fights during the sea
son.
1t was not until recently that Glib
bons revealed his true sentiments re-
garding his ring work. He received
an offer of $500 from Australia
antipodes. Yet he turned down the
proposition with the laconic cable
gram: Cant accept. Engagements
at home prevent"
Dissecting this cablegram, one is
led to believe that Gibbons has so
many fights scheduled in this coun-
try that he cannot afford to make a
trip to the other side of the world,
and clean up a tidy sum. Far from
it. Gibbons really meant home"
The underlying causes of Gibbons
refusal is that he is a home-lovinS
man. He cares more for his wife
and their two "kiddies" than he does
for the ring. To journey all the way
to Australia would be to inconven-
fence the happy little family. And
rather than break up house, Gibbons
has fatty spurned a neat little for
tune.
So if any of the boxing promoters
Of these United States do not re
ceive favorable answers when offer
the ring, they will know the rea-
son for this. They will know that
he prefers to sit at the fireside and
affair off with the tykes than he
does to endanger a happy fathers
face to the unrelenting blows of a
merciless opponent. w. Post.
Studying Baseball.
Several years ago | was assigned
by President B. B. Johnson, of the
American league, to umpire one of
the very important college games,
writes Billy Evans, the American
league umpire, in the August ST.
Nicholas. 1t was between two of
the larger institutions of learning,
and very bitter rivalry existed in
all things pertaining to athletics.
arrived several hours before the
game was scheduled to begin and to
kill little time took a stroll over
to the college campus. Accompany
ing the visiting college nine was a
big following that came to cheer its
players on to victory. 1t happened
that two chaps, one from each of
the schools, met on the campus in
front of the law school building.
After a handshake, the visiting col
| legian inquired:
What course are you taking, Jack
| l presume either engineering or
medicine"
Meth err" replied the other. 81
am studying law, but really special
fzing in baseball"
1t did not take long after the
game began to discover that the
chap who was specializing in base
ball was a real workman when It
came to the national pastime. He
was the sensation of the game. AS
matter of fact, at that very time
he was under contract with a major
leaplle team at q hip salary and had