Evening star., 1925-05-25


in every way a credit to the boxing
profession. His vital interest in life
Is charming wife and several chill
dren and his profession is regarded
oy him merely as a means of earning
money.
Men of High Type.
It is doubtful if two men of higher
type than Gibbons and Gene Tunney
were ever matched to meet in a ring
and exchange wallops. Tunney is a
bachelor and is likely to remain so
until he gets over his fear of the
fair sex
Gibbons leads AN exemplary family
life. and Gene follows the career of
a country gentleman, sequestered
from the world in a delightful home
in South Jersey. on the Shrewsbury
river, where, when he is not train
ing for fight. he plays golf, rides
horseback and hunts and fishes.
Not only are these two credita BILE
10 the boxing game, but they would
ne credits to any business or profes-
SION. They are men of superior
physical mold and mentality.
Tunney never fought bout before
1917 and in that year only one or
TWO. Gibbons thus has had a longer
career in the ring, which may or may
not prove to be an advantage.
For years Gibbons boxed with his
brother Mike, whose name was on
every tongue as the cleverest boxer
seen In the ring since Corbett and
Mccoy.
First Met Bergen.
The writer remembers when Tommy
6lbbons first appeared in New York.
1t was in 1913 and the fans were
mildly interested in him as Mikes
brother. His first battle was with
tommy Bergen, and though he had
little experience in actual ring boxing
the result of his training with brother
Mike stood him in good stead and he
easily outpointed Bergen
Then he met that tough Philadel-
phla fighter, Joe Borrel, and out
pointed him. lie also beat Young
Mike Donovan and Jack Denning and
stopped Johnny Shaw in three rounds.
This was a fine start, but, as said
the influence of brother Mike was so
strong that Tommy did not receive
me credit he should have received
Every one said: Yes, this bird looks
pretty good, but you should see his
older brother"
Next year Tommy fought several
bouts in the Middle West and one of
them attracted interest in the East.
This was his knockout 70 Buck Grouse,
VINO was no easy man for any one to
neat. much less put to sleep. Dur
ing this period Gibbons twice pasted
Billy Miske, who was not then we'll
known. and he also handed a trim
ming to Harry Greb, yet to be famous
So he went along until 1921. beating
Good men, such as Bob Moha, George
Chip, Harry Greb again-later Greb
took revenge in rainy outdoor bout
in P1ttsburgh-and Chuck Virgins.
Came East i'm 1921.
1t was in 1921, when he came East,
that Gibbons finally shook off the
spell of his brother and stood on his
own feet. He had outgrown the mid
dleweight division, and had stopped
trying to reduce. This helped his hit
ring and made him much stronger.
Meeting Tony Melchoir, whom he put
to sleep in one round, Gibbons began
devastating tour in which before
he stopped he had sent twenty sue
cessive opponents into dreamland
BARLEY Madden, that bane of men
with regulations. was the one who
stopped the knockout streak. BARLEY
went the full 10 rounds, but got ii
fearful lacing.
Later Gibbons ran up against Harry
Greb in bid for the light-heavy
title, which Harry had won from
Gene Tunney. and he made the failure
of his life. Tommy has never been
able to explain away that beating.
His greatest battle, of course, was
that at Shelby with Jack Dempsey
In this 15-round bout he showed as
nasterly a defense as any boxer ever
put on and Jacks dynamite batteries
were effectually spiked by Tommys
methods of hanging on, blocking and
the like.
Tommy says he thought Dempsey
was better than he was and that next
time he will plan a different sort of
battle. If he beats Tunney convinc-
ingly, he will have his chance at the
champion. On the other hand, if Tun-
ney wins decisely, Dempsey will be
forced to fight him.