BIRTH NAME: Thomas Joseph Gibbons
NAME FACTS: Shared his name with an older brother Thomas John, who died before he was born.
NICKNAMES: Tommy, The Iron Man

BORN: March 22nd, 1891
BIRTH PLACE: St. Paul MN
DIED: November 19, 1960
DEATH PLACE: St. Paul, Minnesota
BURIAL PLACE: Calgary Cemetery, St. Paul, Minnesota

CLASS: Heavyweight
HEIGHT: 6'1/2"
WEIGHT: 174
REACH: 77 inches
STANCE: Catholic

OCCUPATIONS: He began work at the Great Northern rail yard for $1.10 a day, of which he was allowed to keep 10 cents.  He gave the rest of the money to help his mother and father support the family.  He accompanied his brother, Mike to some of his boxing matches.  When their father saw that they could earn much more money boxing, than they could ever earn at the rail yard, he allowed them to go into boxing full time.  After retiring from boxing at age 34, he sold insurance very successfully and was a member of the $100,000 Club in the 1920’s.  His friends convinced him to run for Sheriff of Ramsey County in Minnesota, Which included the capital city of St. Paul.  He won for six consecutive four year terms before retiring at the age of 68.
SIBLINGS: 4 brothers and 3 sisters, including boxer Mike Gibbons

FILMS/PLAYS: His second wife Josephine wrote a book called “Fifteen Rounds with Tommy Gibbons”, that a Hollywood producer was interested in making into a movie.  The only catch was that Tommy was to be involved in an affair with a blonde and a boxing scandal.  Tommy states, “I would never do anything to tarnish my good name and the good name of my family.”  So the movie was never made.

OTHER FAST FACTS:

•Owed the Gibbons Brother’s Gym with his boxing brother Mike Gibbons

• He started boxing professionally in 1911.

• Boxed 106 fights, losing only 5 and being stopped only once, by Gene Tunney.  He retired after the fight.

• Was the first boxer to go the entire Fifteen rounds with Dempsey during the World Championship Fight in Shelby, Montana on July 4, 1923, where he lost the decision.

"Feel Good Rock-n-Roll and Great Irish Music"

The Gibbons Band Twitter

In 1976, a handsome young physician in his early thirties stood up in a crowded room and said, “hello, my name is Jack, and I’m an alcoholic.” From the group a chorus was heard, “Welcome Jack.”

What proceeded from there was his revealing yet familiar story of humility, gratitude, tolerance and forgiveness. With a voice both humble and strong, and a moistened glint of optimism in his sky blue eyes, he shared his experience, his fall from grace, his renewed strength and his lessons of hope. His story reminded all of the importance of sobriety, staying away from one drink, one day at time.

                           ~~~ <> ~~~

Jack was my hero. When I grew up, he was more than a generation ahead, tens years my senior and my second oldest brother. He was a god by every measure. He did everything right, had more talents than anyone I knew combined, was smart as they get, looked like Dr. Kildare, and could leap tall buildings in a single bound. Talk about a tough act to follow! It was over before I even started. But damn, did he inspire me! He graduated from medical school and ended up on Mt. Olympus somewhere.

~~~ <> ~~~

Jack taught me the power of story. You see, it was the power of story that moved him and kept him on the road to recovery.  Stories are what reminded him that he wasn’t alone, that he couldn’t do it alone and that staying connected was strength.  It was his story that taught me it was okay to be imperfect, and that the freedom to fail was an essential part of life. And above all, his story taught me the meaning of resilience.

Full article at Emotive Storytelling™: http://emotivestorytelling.com/jack-im-alcoholic/

Mike Gibbons Summer Cottage Lake Osakis

This photo of the summer cottage on Lake Osakis from where the Gibbons brothers used to train was recently found and sold to the Hidden Treasures antique shop in Alexandria. Both Mike and Tommy Gibbons were inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the 1990s.

By Blaze Fugina on Aug 14, 2013 at 12:00 a.m.

The owner of Alexandria's Hidden Treasures antique store recently received rare pictures of the famed boxing Gibbons brothers from their time in Osakis.

Hidden Treasures owner Gary McNulty received antique pictures of boxers Mike and Tommy Gibbons when he was approached by a woman who found the pictures and brought them to the store. McNulty later sold the pictures on eBay to a person in Washington for $45.

"I never heard of them, I'm from Illinois," McNulty said. "Once she gave me this stuff I started to look it up online."

One was a picture of Mike in his boxing attire, and another was a picture of the Gibbons brothers' summer cottage on Lake Osakis. A ticket stub for a celebration of Tommy's fight against a world heavyweight champion in the 1920s, Jack Dempsey, was also given to McNulty.

McNulty did not know who the Gibbons brothers were when he first saw the photos, but after some research he discovered more about their past. He talked to another antique shop owner and learned that the Gibbons brothers often trained at a summer cottage on Lake Osakis.

"He said that he actually talked to a man that used to be his boxing partner," McNulty said. "They actually had a ring in Osakis, and I guess they used to practice there."

Mike and Tommy Gibbons

The Gibbons brothers were both inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the 1990s. Mike Gibbons, a career middleweight fighter, was born in 1887. His younger brother Tommy, a heavyweight, was born in 1891.

According to his biography on the International Boxing Hall of Fame website, Mike is considered by many boxing historians to be one of the top 10 middleweights of all time.

When there was no recognized middleweight champion in 1912, Mike signed to a fight with Eddie McGoorty with the winner to be declared champion. The heavier McGoorty was favored by far, so Mike fought the match to keep him from winning. Mike backpedaled constantly and displayed great footwork, but did not really fight.

McGoorty was declared the decision by the newspapers, but he did not gain general acclaim as the titleholder. Mike told a reporter that he was determined to prove that he was not the underdog in the match.

Mike also squared off in a 1916 fight against Hall of Famer Jack
Dillon. For 10 rounds he gave Dillon a good fight, and ringside viewers of the fight said Mike won every round.





Boxer Mike Gibbons poses for a photo while dressed in his boxing attire from the early 1900s.
Tommy was only knocked out once in his career, and had 47 career knockouts himself.

The Library of Congress

Tommy & Mike Gibbons (LOC)

link

Mike takes on his brother Tommy for a little lacing.

NEWS OF FATHER'S DEATH

St. Paul Pioneer Press ST. PAUL, MINN., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1922

TOLD TO TOMMY GIBBONS
AT END OF GOTHAM FIGHT

After Losing Match to Miske in Tenth on Foul, St. Paul Boxer Is Informed Parent Succumbed In St. Paul Few Hours Earlier.

Thomas Gibbons, 72 years old father of Mike and Tommy Gibbons, died of cancer of the stomach a his home, 471 Burgess street, Friday noon.

At Madison Square Garden, New York, Friday night, his, son Tommy, unaware of his father's death, lost the decision on a foul to Billy Miske in the tenth round of what was to have been a fifteen-round bout.

With the cheers of thousands of fight fans ringing in his ears-the crowd did not take kindly to the referee's decision - Tommy was handed the telegram announcing his father's death.

There were tears in his eyes as he climbed through the ropes on his way to the dressing room. New York dispatches said, and he was in a worse state of collapse than was Miske in the opposite corner.

Learned of Critical Illness.

Word that his father was not expected to live reached Tommy Friday afternoon and he made reservations on a train leaving New York immediately after the fight.

Before he entered the ring, Gibbons said that his father's fight would be over before before he left the ring. He guessed right. The influence of this on his mind seemed apparent throughout the ten rounds that the fight went.

In the seventh round, Eddie Kane, Gibbons' manager, was handed a telegram announcing that the fighter's father had just died. Tommy, while he didn't see the message, sensed something was wrong, and from that time on his blows were wild and misdirected, it was said. Kane put the telegram in his pocket and refused to let Gibbons see it until the fight came to its sudden conclusion, when Miske claimed a foul.

Hesitated to Leave.

Tommy was hesitant about leaving St. Paul for New York Sunday night, his brother, Mike, said Friday night. He knew that his father's condition was serious, but he also knew the skepticism with which boxing fans receive the announcement of a Canceled fight no matter how legitimate the reason may be.

He knew that his father would rather have him fill his scheduled bout than to risk being suspected of being "yel- low" --for his father was possessed of that trait of character which would refuse to allow any imagined reflection of cowardice to be cast on himself or his sons.

Tommy, realizing that he might never see his father alive again went to New York. He is expected home sometime Sunday.

In his beautiful home at 1135 Como Boulevard, M. J. Gibbons, or Mike, The Phantom as he is better known, paid tribute to the memory of his father, whom he characterized as "one of us boys."

"Dad was always hale and hearty and used to take Tommy and I out hunting. He was fond of the outdoors. He was just like a pal. He could take either of us out in the woods and walk the legs off of us. Father had a wonderful physique and what success we have achieved is due largely to him."

Never Attended Fight.

Although he watched with great interest his boys' progress in the boxing game, Mr. Gibbons never attended one of their fights. Repeatedly he promised the boys that he would "watch the next one," but when the time came, he always begged off on some pretext or other. He assisted with advice and occasionally put on the gloves when the boys were working out--but attend a match--never.

Possessed of a genial Irish wit and a wonderful sense of humor, Mr. Gibbons, even in his sickness joked with "his boys" and some of his old cronies who came in to see him.

When a youth, Mr. Gibbons following a naturally adventurous bent, roamed over the British Isles. He was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1850. He married in Ireland, and four children, Mrs. Mary Moran, John J. Gibbons, Patrick Gibbons and Mrs. P. D. Sullivan, all of St. Paul, were born there.

In 1890 he came to America and settled in St. Paul at 471 Burgess street, Where he has lived ever since despite Frequent requests of his children to move to more pretentious quarters.

Their Children Born Here.

Three children were born in America. The first was M. J. Gibbons, or "Mike," then Tommy and Mrs. Alice Schleager, with whom he lived following the death of Mrs. Gibbons five years ago.

His indomitable pluck and grit brought about his rise from a dollar- a-day laborer to a position which enabled him to retire from active work fifteen years ago. He was employed by the Great Northern railway.

Definite arrangements were not completed Friday night, but the funeral probably will take place from St. Vincent's Catholic church Monday morning.

http://faculty.css.edu/tgibbons/genealogy/cami_and_tom_genealogy/717.htm

Pungent smoke hangs heavy, caught tight inside the bitter cold.

Wood burned red hot, loses its blistered heat.

Sweet thoughts of times gone by, are held inside the fragrant scent of burning pine.

Suspended in the ringlets, locked frozen in the winter harshness,   

crackling logs bring recollections of autumn days and summer eves.

The scents and senses of childhood joys and friendships lost.

A wisp of wind spirals the perfume of melancholy memories away.