Amir SohailST. PAUL, MN, (ZEEST MEDIA) — This weekend, as the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) honors Jimmy “The Indiana Wasp” Clabby into its Class of 2026 with a posthumous induction nearly a century in the making, one of sports history’s overlooked virtuosos steps back into the light.
For boxing historians, sports fans, Irish-American families, and readers of propulsive narrative nonfiction, Clabby’s enshrinement is more than an honor long-overdue, but a doorway into the nearly-vanished world of early 20th-century America, the golden age of prizefighting, and the individuals who fought nobly, courageously, and strategically for freedom, glory, and better days.
That world—and warriors like Clabby—is vividly resurrected in The St. Paul Phantom: The Gibbons Brothers’ Fight for Glory, Volume I, publishing September 15, 2026 in all formats, from Fight for Glory Press.
The author, award-winning historian, filmmaker, and storyteller Dr. Gerard Gibbons, is the great-nephew of the critically-acclaimed book’s titular hero, Mike Gibbons, and the grandson of Mike’s younger brother, Tommy “The Happy Warrior” Gibbons, who famously battled Jack Dempsey for the heavyweight crown in Montana’s badlands, circa 1923. Drawn from a deep reservoir of family archives and exhaustive globetrotting historical research, The St. Paul Phantom is the first installment of the Fight for Glory literary trilogy, intended as the definitive published source of boxing’s golden age.
“The great documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has described his work as ‘waking the dead,’” comments author Gibbons. “When first approaching this epic story, the work was about bringing fresh life to my long-departed family members. What I quickly came to understand and embrace as a genuine gift is that this formative period of American history, and my family’s journey through it, was full of heroes, villains, and extraordinary men and women, many of whom deeply influenced Mike and Tommy Gibbons. These individuals had to be reawakened as well.”
To the author, Jimmy “The Indiana Wasp” Clabby is Exhibit A.
Jimmy Clabby, left, and Mike Gibbons, right, in a 1915 newspaper feature billing their bout as a fight to settle the middleweight championship.
A Rivalry Built on Brotherhood and “The Dope Book”
Clabby, the welterweight and middleweight virtuoso who battled around the world more than a hundred times between 1906 and 1923, and Mike Gibbons, the electrifying, elusive sweet scientist, fought four times between 1909 and 1915. In their first meeting, Clabby handed a young Mike his first major defeat. Instead of breaking him, this masterclass inspired the famous Gibbons “Dope Book”—Mike’s private system of mapping defenses, recording habits, and studying opponents with a tactician’s mind.
A January 1915 newspaper advertisement promoting the Clabby-Gibbons bout at the Milwaukee Auditorium.
By their final bout in 1915, Mike had adapted, delivering a defining performance, out-boxing Clabby in a true passing of the torch. Yet, their rivalry was defined by a deep, lifelong fraternity. “To Mike, Jimmy Clabby was far more than a great opponent,” says author Gibbons. “He was a friend, a teacher, and one of the brilliant spirits who helped transform Mike’s raw talent into the realm of all-time greats. Their relationship was about more than throwing punches; it was about the ways we lift as we climb, raising each other’s game.”
On the other side of Clabby’s long, lucrative ring career, after world war, global pandemic, and worldwide recession, a series of tough breaks left Indiana’s golden boy a penniless, tragic figure. In January 1934, at the age of 43, The Wasp died alone. Among the three-hundred mourners at Clabby’s funeral, Mike Gibbons served as a pallbearer to his friend, later writing: “Jimmy Boy was a hero of the prize ring, to be sure, and the world will miss him as such. But he was also my friend and brother, and so I’ll miss him that much more.”
Moving this unlikely brotherhood to the heart of The St. Paul Phantom was “one of the greatest privileges” of researching and writing the book, according to Dr. Gibbons. That the International Boxing Hall of Fame is finally honoring Clabby is not only richly-deserved, but essential. (It is worthy to note that Mike and Tommy Gibbons are the first brothers inducted into the IBHOF, as well as Ring Magazine Hall of Fame honorees).
“Jimmy Clabby’s induction is a historical correction,” says Dr. Gibbons. “For too long, men like Clabby and Mike Gibbons have lived in the footnotes of American sports culture. The St. Paul Phantom brings this vanished world roaring back to life, honoring the forgotten courage behind their names and, I believe, reminding us that with faith, family, and friendship, we can overcome nearly any obstacle or hardship.”
An American Epic for the Semiquincentennial
Arriving during America 250, the nation’s Semiquincentennial, The St. Paul Phantom draws on deep family archives, rare photographs, and letters untouched for decades. Early readers are comparing this historical biography to Seabiscuit, Cinderella Man, and The Boys in the Boat—stories where sports become the lens through which a nation sees itself.
Through the lens of the Gibbons brothers, readers encounter an era of illegal prizefighting, vaudeville celebrity, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and an unforgettable cast of characters including: Jack Johnson, Harry Greb, Joe Gans, Sam Langford, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nellie Bly, Theodore Roosevelt, and Tex Rickard.
The work has already garnered recognition from the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) and carries endorsements from Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Paul Tamasy (The Fighter) and Brian Frankish (Field of Dreams), Grammy Award-nominated singer/musician and boxing historian Frank Stallone, as well as Kirkus Reviews, IndieReader, and Publisher’s Weekly / Booklife.
Availability & Community Pre-Order
The St. Paul Phantom: The Gibbons Brothers’ Fight for Glory, Volume I officially publishes September 15, 2026, in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats. To pre-order, please visit: www.Books2Read.com/TheStPaulPhantom.
Ahead of the launch, boxing fans and history buffs can join Ringside America, the book’s exclusive online reader community at the Fight for Glory website. Members receive Inside the Archive access—featuring digitized images and letters from the family collection—along with preview chapters, audiobook samples, and a locked-in, members-only pre-order price.
About the Author
Dr. Gerard Gibbons is a historian and direct descendant of the Gibbons boxing family. His Fight for Glory trilogy restores the epic true story of his family’s place in American sports, immigrant culture, and the pursuit of the American Dream, spanning the years 1884-1983.
About Fifth Story Press and Content Syndicate
Fifth Story Press is a boutique publisher and author services company. Content Syndicate provides media distribution and public relations across a network of more than 1,200 endpoints. The St. Paul Phantom campaign is produced for Fight for Glory, LLC.
Media Contact:
Todd Jensen, Fight for Glory Press | ToddAaronJensen@gmail.com | www.FightForGloryStory.com
Publication Partner:Zeest Media
