Tommy Gibbons sadly forgotten now /why?

Yes I know, I may not be as up on it as yourself ,but I have read Robert's account of the Shelby fight and the promotion.

As to Tommy Gibbons being largely forgotten ,you made a convincing case with your reasoning.
My question would rather have been why is Mike Gibbons largely forgotten?

 

Cuz 80 yrs has passed and the general public's attention span is about as long as an average man's dick....... PLUS! The fact that fight films in Gibbons days / nights were raw and inferior...... Some guys like "Ali, Leonard, Hagler and Roy Jones" will be more fondly remembered yrs from now when we are all dead and gone because we have so much more state-of-the-art film coverage for our records that will be shown on classic / retro shows way into the future........ Never forget the power of film........

MR.BILL:deal

 

Yes, holding the title means everything today.:good

 

Mike Gibbons is criminally forgotten. He was a towering figure in his day but again, a few things contributed to his being largely forgotten:

1. Like others have said he never won a title. I take issue with the comparison to Archer. Gibbons was twice the fighter Archer ever was both in terms of style, ability, and punching power. I will say again not to let Gibbons KO percentage fool you. He could punch just fine.

2. He fought primarily outside of the larger markets, in ND matches and like Tommy when he was given a chance on the big stage he blew it both times. Against McGoorty in Madison Square Garden he fought a totally defensive fight claiming that all the sports writers predicted McGoorty would KO him so he wanted to prove them wrong. Not exactly a way to endear yourself to fans. Then against McFarland in what may have been the first true P4P showdown he starved himself to make weight getting down below 147. He was terribly weak and simply couldnt fight at his best. That combined with the skill level of both fighters made for a chess match which was not very well recieved. Its no coincidence that at the height of his popularity he was basically fighting out of New York. Before and after when he was fighting in and around the mid west he was still a great fighter but more a curiosity because the news reports just werent as strong or plentiful as when they were streaming out of New York daily with stories about him.

3. No Decision matches. Period. Just as they have helped to hide the ineptitude of guys like Mike McTigue, Al McCoy and others who had a championship they have hidden how truly great Mike Gibbons was. People are lazy and if you want the details on Gibbons you have to go and do research into his ND fights. Most people dont have the patience for this and as such he is left to collect dust and be forgotten. BUT, Gibbons could compete in any era. Period. He was awsome.

 

Guys , there is forgotten after ten years, forgotten after twenty and forgotten after fifty plus ... we are talking over eighty years ... for all but hardcore historians Stanley Ketchel, Benny Leonard and Gene Tunney are forgotten ... how many fighters from over thirty years ago are remembered by the average sports fan ? Most don't remember Ezzard Charles who was a heavyweight champion ...

 

Probably more that they're deteriorated, or seen in cheap copies, or projected at the wrong speeds, or not shown with a silent iris (so an edge of the image is lost).

 

Sorry burt didnt mean to sound sensitive. Im just not high on archer at all.