From what I have gathered he holds the record for most fights without being knocked out, he didnt fight scrubs and he seems to have rarely been in danger of being stopped . He also looks outstanding on film, I am not sure there is a better defensive fighter than Mike Gibbons!
Due to his skill in comparison to the physical disparity he suffered against all his competition (which was very strong), I'd like to say Miguel Canto. Gibbons was a fine fighter and I wish there was more footage of him. I know he wrote an instructional manual but I've had trouble tracking it down. I've always wanted to know what guys like Hurley etc. picked up from it in terms of developing a fighter.
Nah... several boxers had more fights than Mike's 132 without ever being knocked out. Among them 5 world champs: Jimmy Goodrich 195 Gorilla Jones 172 Panama Al Brown 163 Joe Lynch 158 Kid Gavilan 143
Greb was only stopped once in 300+ fights, and that being very early in his career, the majority of his career fighting the top of the top in divisions above his natural weight. Greatest defensive fighter ever.
wonder why mikes name came up when i googled most fights without being knocked out canto was knocked out 5 times !!!!
You obviously haven't watched his career. Canto at his peak was special. Besides, you said defensive. Defense =/= chin. Canto was great and was almost always physically outclassed every time at the top level.
How would you compare Mike with Tommy defensively? After rewatching Tommy's fights, I found him very impressive defensively.
what killer opponents did he show great defense against , Mike gibbons beat hall of famers with 10 pound weight advantages( leo Heouck)
Canto fought in one of the strongest Fly eras in history and managed to reign solidly for years, beating all comers whilst regularly being outsized and having no notable power to speak of. If you want a showcase performance, consider his bout against Antonio Avelar, who alongside being huge for the same day era was also a massive puncher. For reference, Avelar KO'd Wilfredo Vazquez as a bantamweight years later. Canto absolutely took him apart. Furesawa is another complete domination. You can also see his bouts against ATG Betulio Gonzalez where he also manages to outbox and outfox a highly talented fighter. There's Shoji Oguma, the tough and very guileful southpaw he also beat. I could go on. Canto's reign was extremely impressive and he showed top defence in all these bouts without being negative despite his physical drawbacks. It's also much easier to assess Canto considering most of his career best is caught on good quality film, something Gibbons does not benefit from. Gibbons vs Houck isn't even on film. I'd advise reading extensively on Canto and the surrounding era, starting with some of the threads on this forum.
I've seen this (though haven't read it). However, Gibbons apparently wrote an instructional during the war years. I don't know whether I'm mixing things up, but I have definitely read he shipped major amounts of copies, yet I haven't found much mention.
I just watched those fights on your reccomendation and to see something I might have missed and no despite the gap in film footage, Canto is not on par with Gibbons defensively, might I suggest you understand what you are watching before tell someone they dont see eye to eye on your personal favorite fighters.(betulio also is not an all time great!)
