RIVAL MIDDLEWEIGHTS MEET.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1303, 15 April 1915, Page 28

RIVAL MIDDLEWEIGHTS MEET.

GIBBONS DEFEATS CLABBY. HOW THE FORMER WON. When Mike Gibbons, the American “phantom,” who is considered about the best bit of fighting machinery in the game, recently emerged from the r.ng of the Cream City Athletic Club, Milwaukee, a winner over Jimmy Clabby, of Hammond, Indiana, he showed how really important a part confidence plays in the game of pugilism. This story, which concerns Gibbons, is certainly an interesting one, for it brings to light a mental condition which in a short space of time, probably a matter of four minutes, was changed from feai’ to confidence. It is necessary to go back to the beginning of the acquaintance of Gibbons and Clabby, when they met in the ring the first time. That was nearly five years ago, and they were far from good boxers then. They battled over the 10-round route at St. Paul, and at the end of the contest the verdict favoured the Indiana fighter. There was no doubt in the minds of any of the ringsiders that the “phantom” had been outpointed, for Clabby was a more polished fighting man, although there was plenty of room for improvement in both boys. GIBBONS EARNS DRAW. That battle resulted in the promoters rematching the boxers, who then were milling as welterweights. One year later, in a Milwaukee ring, they swapped punches for the second time. This time Gibbons demonstrated that he had advanced in the fine points of the game, for he managed to get an even break after 10 rounds. To those who had seen the first and second battles of Gibbons and Clabby the belief grew that the Hammond boy had “something on” his rival. There wasn’t any doubt that the “phantom” was as clever, if not more clever than Clabby, but somehow he didn’t seem able to take full advantage of his cleverness. In bouts with other fighters, Gibbons was able to feint his opponents into knots and win from them by wide margins on his cleverness. But when he faced Clabby he always failed to show his full stock

of goods. There were some who declared that Clabby had Gibbons’ measure. But the whole truth of the matter was that the first defeat Clabby administered had a bad effect on the St. Paul man. It took away his confidence so completely that it wasn’t until this year, when they met in Milwaukee for the fourth time, that Gibbons was able to get it back. GIBBONS WINS THIRD BOUT. It was nearly four years ago that the pair met in their third contest, which was over the 15-round distance. The bout was staged in Winnipeg. Canada, and it was a no-decision contest. When the final gong sounded the popular verdict favoured Gibbons by a slight shade. It was not a decisive victory, by any means. Foi- more than three years after that Gibbons and Clabby were strangers. They never met in the ring—in fact, they never saw each other until a few days before their recent encounter in Milwaukee, when they accidentally collided m a Chicago restaurant. This last battle was fought under conditions far from the same as those in their previous clashes. This time they met as middleweights, and as topnotchers in that class. This is mentioned to show how both had improved since they met back in 1911. To prove how much Gibbons respected the ability of Clabby it is only necessary to go back a couple of months before they met in the brewery ci.y ring January 21. When Gibbons was making one of his flying jumps from St. Paul to New York, he stopped in Chicago for a couple of days’ training to break the long journey. He went to a gymnasium and put in a couple of afternoons in action with the padded mitts. After he had finished his work one day, Mike Gibbons and Gilmore, one of the c.everest boxers m Chicago, who acted as the former’s sparrmg partner, while talking on general topics, happened to bring Clabby’s name into the conversation. Gilmore was first to mention the Hammond scrapper, and when he did the “phantom” was noticeably concerned. Mike was silent for a few minutes, then he opened up confidentially. “Do you know,” said Mike, “I would rather fight anybody in the world than Jimmy Clabby.” That ended the conversatoin, at least that part which had to do with Clabby, for Gibbons seemed anxious to avoid talking of the Hammond fighter. THE FINAL TEST. It wasn’t long afterwards that Gibbons and Clabby were matched for their greatest battle at Milwaukee, which was staged by Promoter Tom Andrews. To those who watched both boxers closely it was evident that Gibbons meant what he said when he declared that he wasn’t anxious for Clabby’s game. The real test, however, came when they entered the ring, Clabby climbing through the ropes laughing and “kidding” everybody around him and simply loaded with confidence.