The Connecticut labor news., 1923-06-15
GIBBONS WILL NOT LACK COURAGE IN
 DEMPSEY BOUT

If there is one essential in which Tom Gibbons is lacking courage IS not one of them. and when he lines up against
 lack Dempsey at Shelby, Mont, on July 4, even though the majority ot the tans expect that he will go over the sleeping route before the expiration of the fifteen rounds no such thought enters the m1nd of Gibbons On the contrary, he will enter the ring with all the confidence that he has when stacked up against fourth or fifth rater.
 Gibbons may be liohter than Dempsey, but he is of rugged build and carries punch with a k. O. attachment Having seen the champion III action he knows as we'll as anyone of the hard hitting prowess and the cyclone rushes of the famous Dempsey, but these things will have no tendency to frlghten him. IT Tom is beaten in the Shelby fight he will in his hat to the conqueror, but he has no intention of letting him carry off the honors without making determined stand.
 While Gibbons is not given to vain boasting he is inclined to the belief that rushes of Dempsey. He Is a past master at the art of footwork and has no su- perior when it comes to side stepping his opponent He will be on his guard to checl1mate Dempsey if the latter makes the same attempt to sweep hlm off his feet the same as he did with Will lard when he lifted the crown at Toledo few years ago..
 When the two men go to the post there is no question but what Dempsey will be a big favorite, but there will be the short end of the betting. The westerners like him and his training III Hsrrl crowds to watch him going through his training.
 Speaking of his training plans Tom has this to say:
 'I can't train any digerent for Demp- sey than 1 have done for all the rest of my fights. Every fighter tapers off for match in his own individual way. They real change in my fighting life started two years ago when l began hitting for knockouts. Up to that time I thought boxing was the thing. But just being clever don't get you any place in the heavyweight class. You've got people like you.
 "I have been accused of fighting set ups. Anybody you can lick is a setup. wouldn't get in the ring with me. Dempsey has always been my ideal of a fighting man. The champion can sock. He can use his head Tn the ring. He can make his feet dance. And, personally Dempsey IS one of the most likable fe1- lows I ever met.
 "I'm just a contender now After July 4 I may be something else. It isn't the money I'll get if I win-or the losers end if should fall-that I'm fighting for. It's the title. My part of the con tract calls for no money until Dempsey gets his $300000 bit I'll work with the | big fellows and little ones in my camp. Three weeks hard work is all I'll take. l There is always chance of getting state I know my limits. Helen, my wife, and the three babies will be with |
 me. My wife thinks she ought to be 1 near me when we have so much at stake. |
 'I don't know how I'll fight Dempsey yet l can box him. 1 can fight him. | can mix them tip. But I'm going in i there to beat him decisively. You have | to do that to win from a champion I'm l going into the ring with one feeling Dempsey isn't superman. If l thought ! he was 1 wouldn't have made the match 1 Some of the betting, I understand, is on | the round Dempsey will knock me out 1 These people are going to be surprised. l have never been knocked out Iii my life. It won't happen in the Shelby ring. 1 have made a study of nerve centers. Surgeons at Minnesota University show ed me through the clinic Knocking a man out is like pressing buttons. When you press the right button or combina- tion the lights go out Dempsey's fame rabbit punch doesn't worry me a bit. It isn't fair blow but he will never get far enough behind me to lay one in there. feel 1 could have whipped Car penter just as easily as Dempsey did it. That was the only time ever saw Jack fight"