Mike Gibbons
1887-1956
Saint Paul Middleweight
(Claimant to the World Middleweight Championship)
Although Mike Gibbons is considered to probably be the best boxer to ever come out of Minnesota he never won a championship. Known as the Saint Paul Phantom, he was born in Saint Paul July 20, 1887, and lived there his whole life.
Under the guidance of George Barton, Mike Gibbons became a professional in 1907. Even though the sport was illegal in Minnesota at the time, he fought many times around the Twin Cities against top rated pros. He was the master of the art of self-defense.
Mike Gibbons fought the cream of the welterweights and middleweights during his sixteen-year career and at one time laid claim to the middleweight title when champion Stanley Ketchel died.
Mike Gibbons was a smart, classy boxer and although he was never known as a knockout puncher over half of his wins, 38 to be exact, were of the kayo variety. His style of classic boxing was considered the forerunner of the modern era class boxer. No decisions were part of the sport in his era and nearly half of his contests resulted without a decision, although he received the newspaper decision on most occasions.
Mike Gibbons had three fights with Saint Paul's other great middleweight of the time, Mike O'Dowd. Two were no decisions and in their third encounter in New York in 1922 Mike O'Dowd won the decision. Their first battle on November 21, 1919, in Saint Paul drew a gate of $41,846 and is still one of the state's top gates.
Mike Gibbons fought 12 men who were champions and he lost but one. His overall record was 70-3-4 with 55 no decisions and was never stopped inside the distance. Mike Gibbons was enshrined in Boxing's Hall of Fame in 1958, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.
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