Thomas Joseph Gibbons (March 22, 1891 – November 19, 1960) was an American professional heavyweight boxer.

Life and career

He was born on March 22, 1891 in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

to Thomas John Gibbons and Mary ( Burke) Gibbons. He had a brother,

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

. Tommy started boxing professionally in 1911 as a

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

. Like his brother he was a master scientific boxer who chose to outbox his opponents. In time, he advanced to the

heavyweight boxing Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wor ...

class and developed a respectable punch. On May 27, 1916 he married Helen Constance Moga in

. His biggest fight came near the end of his career in Jack Dempsey vs. Tommy Gibbons when he met heavyweight champion

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926 ...

on July 4, 1923 in Shelby,

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. The local backers and the town of Shelby went broke putting on the fight. The great Dempsey battled through the full fifteen rounds before winning by decision. Dempsey was awarded $200,000, whereas Gibbons received expense money. Tommy Gibbons record was 56-4-1 with 44 no decisions, and 1 no contest. He scored 48 knockouts, and was stopped only once by

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1 ...

on June 5, 1925. The names dotting his record read like boxing's hall of fame. Tommy recorded wins over

George Chip George Chip (Lithuanian language, Lit. ''Jurgis Čepulionis'', August 25, 1888 – November 6, 1960) was a Lithuanian-American boxer who was the World Middleweight Champion from 1913 to 1914 in an era of great middleweights. Chip came to be known ...

, Willie Meehan,

Billy Miske Billy Miske, alias ''The Saint Paul Thunderbolt'' (April 12, 1894 – January 1, 1924), was a professional boxer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. During his tenure as a pugilist he had multiple-bout series with a plethora of all-time greats including ...

, Chuck Wiggins, Jack Bloomfield, and Kid Norfolk. Tommy had no decision matches with George "K.O." Brown,

, Harry Greb, Battling Levinsky, Bob Roper, Chuck Wiggins, Georges Carpentier, and others. Only Harry Greb,

, and

were able to score wins over Gibbons. Following his retirement from boxing, Tommy Gibbons was elected four times as the Sheriff of Ramsey County. He won for six consecutive four year terms before retiring at the age of 68. He died on November 19, 1960 in

Legacy

Gibbons became a member of the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1963, and the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

in 1993, and the

Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame The Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame is a commemorative organization with plans to create a museum. It celebrates the history of boxing in the state of Minnesota by honoring individuals whose achievements within the sport are noteworthy. History Tho ...

in 2010.

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profes ...

, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All

newspaper decision A newspaper decision was a type of decision in professional boxing. It was rendered by a consensus of sportswriters attending a bout after it had ended inconclusively with a "no decision", as many regions had not adopted the National Sporting Club ...

s are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record

All

s are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbons, Tommy 1891 births 1960 deaths Boxers from Saint Paul, Minnesota American male boxers Heavyweight boxers