"Too often, the roar of everyday existence overwhelms the song of our true calling. Then life's second half knocks. That’s how it was for me — when the Call to Action became impossible to ignore. Bringing the FIGHT FOR GLORY story to life became my duty, destiny, and privilege. Writing it has changed me. I hope reading it will change you, too!!"
Gibbons FFG Archive
Greetings fans of great stories, compelling and diverse characters, secret histories and special worlds. Welcome avid readers, fight enthusiasts, lovers of family tales, and Golden Age aficionados! Come one! Come all!
Welcome to the FIGHT FOR GLORY blog — a journey back in time to the Golden Age of Boxing — and America herself! The early 20th Century was a period of immense change and excitement in the world — a time of great heroes and terrifying villains, of old ways fading and new ways emerging, of world wars and global pandemics.
Prizefighters were at the center of it all — the boxing legends who captured the imagination of the world and became the period’s biggest celebrities.
On the FIGHT FOR GLORY blog, we’ll take you deep into this special world with words, photographs, illustrations and moving pictures.
Together, we’ll explore the stories behind the stories, breathing fresh life into an astonishing historical cast of characters and shining new light on some of the 20th Century’s most remarkable moments.
We’ll delve into the Wild West as it gives way to the big cities. We’ll witness the birth of jazz and the fight for women’s suffrage. We’ll brave race riots, police raids, the Irish rebellion, Houdini’s defiance of death, the national newspaper boom, and the birth of cinema. Of course, we’ll slide between the ropes for fight coverage that packs a visceral — and deeply-researched — wallop.
Gibbons FFG Archive
Greetings fans of great stories, compelling and diverse characters, secret histories and special worlds. Welcome avid readers, fight enthusiasts, lovers of family tales, and Golden Age aficionados! Come one! Come all!
Welcome to the FIGHT FOR GLORY blog — a journey back in time to the Golden Age of Boxing — and America herself! The early 20th Century was a period of immense change and excitement in the world — a time of great heroes and terrifying villains, of old ways fading and new ways emerging, of world wars and global pandemics
Prizefighters were at the center of it all — the boxing legends who captured the imagination of the world and became the period’s biggest celebrities.
On the FIGHT FOR GLORY blog, we’ll take you deep into this special world with words, photographs, illustrations and moving pictures.
Together, we’ll explore the stories behind the stories, breathing fresh life into an astonishing historical cast of characters and shining new light on some of the 20th Century’s most remarkable moments.
We’ll delve into the Wild West as it gives way to the big cities. We’ll witness the birth of jazz and the fight for women’s suffrage. We’ll brave race riots, police raids, the Irish rebellion, Houdini’s defiance of death, the national newspaper boom, and the birth of cinema. Of course, we’ll slide between the ropes for fight coverage that packs a visceral — and deeply-researched — wallop.
We’ll travel through the years-long process of researching the FIGHT FOR GLORY story in libraries, museums, galleries, archives, and private collections all around the world. We’ll reveal how we found long-lost artifacts, documents, photos, and illustrations that brought the story to vivid, fact-based, exhaustively-sourced life. It was an extraordinary adventure!
John L. Sullivan vs. Jake Kilrain, July 8, 1889
Sullivan Knocked Out Kilrain In Round 75
The Boxing Match, Artist: Victor Olson
World Heavyweight Champion
What I’m most excited to do, though, is introduce you to the extraordinary characters at the heart of FIGHT FOR GLORY. The people. There are dreamers and con men, immigrants and bootleggers, Indians, carnies, old money, movie stars, gangsters, Irish rebels, crooked cops, Presidents, assassins, jazz legends, sportswriters, fist-happy priests, and world-famous magicians.
In the ring, there’s Dempsey. Miske. Greb. McFarland. Langford. Ketchel. Clabby. O’Dowd. Corbett. Leonard. Johnson. Gans. Sullivan. Wills. Tunney. And, of course, my great-uncle, Mike Gibbons, and my grandfather, Tommy Gibbons.
Author’s Great Uncle and Grandfather
The FIGHT FOR GLORY story unfolds in the past (1850-1960). But it is very much a story for today.
In researching and writing these books, I was overcome by the nearly infinite similarities between our world and the one of a century ago. I fell deeply in love with, and developed profound sympathy and empathy, for the heroes and the villains of the day.
Of course, some of them are blood family to me. By the time I finished writing, they all felt like blood relatives to me. My hope is that you feel the same way.
Please join me on this journey through time. This blog will be your passport and your time machine.
Please join me on this journey through time. This blog will be your passport and your time machine. If you’d like to be the first to learn about FIGHT FOR GLORY news, giveaways, and blogs, sign-up for email updates.
We’ll thrill you, move you, and inspire you. We might even knock you out!
