New Britain herald., 1926-08-27
(BY JOE WILLIAMS)

(BY JOE WILLIAMS) Copyright, 1926, NEA Service, Incl With Carpenter out of the way i Tommy Gibbons loomed as the next logical note in the bombastic bally- hoo that was to carry Gene Tunney to the front as Dempsey's foremost challenger. Already Tunney had done some- thing Gibbons couldn't do; he had stopped the Frenchman. Gibbons in addition to representing stern fighting test was replete with un- usual ballyhoo material. The ring still knew him as the only man who had gone Is rounds with the cham pion.
 Earlier in the respective carers of Gibbons and Tunney there had been time when the St. Paul Irish man scoffed at Tunney's ring abili- ties.
 I remember asking Tommy what he thought of Tunney as a fighter a few years ago when there was talk of sending the ex-marine against Harry Wills, the giant negro.
 Tommy answered as a satirist rather than a critic. Well. I'll say this for him. He uses better Eng fish than any fighter in the game.
 Scoffer No Longer
 Later on when Tommy began to feel himself slipping and the records showed Tunney was advancing by swift, sure strides, Gibbons ceased 10 be a scoffer.
 When Jimmy De Forrest went to St. Paul to sign Gibbons for Tun- ney match to be held at the Polo Grounds in New York he was not greeted by what you might exactly call an enthusiastic battler teeming with eagerness to decorate the dotted line.
 A piece of shrewd managerial strategy sponsored by Billy Gibson crept insidiously into the proceed ings at this stage. By what ap- peared to be an insignificant coinci- dence tbut what was in actually carefully worked out program) Tun- ney was matched to fight Greb. in Tommy's home town at the same time De Forest called on Gibbons.
 Tunney and Greb had previously fought four times. This was to be their fifth meeting. Greb had handled Tunney handily in their first two fights, but in the next two Tunney had displayed unmistakable marks of superiority.
 Tom at Ringside
 On the night of their fifth fight Gibbons occupied a ringsde seat. 1 He was there to see how much Tunney had advanced and what he (Gibbons) would have to do In order to win if he ultimately signed with De Forest
 Gibson's original thought was to turn Tunney loose from the opening gong and win by such a convincing margin that the assembled critics would launch ballyhoo of their own accord and force Gibbons into a match with Tunney.
 With this in mind Tunney opened up energetically against the Pitts burgh freak and battered him around the ring practically as he | pleased for four rounds.
 At the end of the fourth Tunney, sitting in his corner. remarked to Gibson: q can knock Greb out tonight. I'm hitting harder than ever and I seem to be faster. He isn't getting away from any of my l leads"
 Gibson had sensed this, too. He probably had sensed it before Tun- ney. Many years of experience in the corner behind the sharpshooting Leonard had given him a remark able intuition in this respect.
 Between Two Desires
 Gibson now found himself torn between two surging desires. One was to have Tunney go into the records as the first fighter to knock out Greb since the windmill became star The other was to make sure that Gibbons would still be in the mood to take on Tunney when the fight was over.
 Although the reasoning was at variance with his original thought, Gibson decided on the latter policy. Let him stay" he whispered in Tunney's ear as he massaged the fighters neck with his right hand. If Gibbons learns you've developed punch we'll have a hard time making a match"
 1 So Greb stayed and Gibbons final