ONE OF ST. PAUL’S GREAT FORGOTTEN STORIES COMES HOME The St. Paul Phantom Resurrects Boxing Legends Mike and Tommy Gibbons
Descendant Dr. Gerard Gibbons returns to St. Paul for a week-long Homecoming Book Launch, September 12–19
St. Paul, Minneapolis, Aug. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Before Madison Square Garden, national headlines, and boxing immortality, there was St. Paul.
On September 15, author, historian, filmmaker, and Gibbons-family descendant Dr. Gerard Gibbons will publish The St. Paul Phantom: The Gibbons Brothers’ Fight for Glory, Volume I, a sweeping work of illustrated narrative nonfiction about legendary St. Paul brothers Mike and Tommy Gibbons. From the immigrant neighborhoods of Frogtown, Mike and Tommy rose from poverty and prejudice to become internationally celebrated fighters known as the “Shining Knights of the Ring.” Their story stretches far beyond boxing, unfolding against immigration, race, faith, family, women’s suffrage, World War I, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the birth of modern media and celebrity culture. Their world includes Jack Johnson, Joe Gans, Sam Langford, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Houdini, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nellie Bly, Grantland Rice, Damon Runyon, and many others. And now their descendant is bringing their story home.
A ST. PAUL HOMECOMING
Dr. Gibbons is Tommy Gibbons’ grandson and Mike Gibbons’ great-nephew. The Gibbons family arrived in St. Paul from Ireland in 1884, beginning nearly 150 years of family history in Minnesota. To honor that legacy, Dr. Gibbons will return to St. Paul and the Twin Cities September 12–19, 2026, for a week-long Gibbons Brothers Homecoming and Book Launch surrounding the book’s September 15 publication.
Launch-week plans include author appearances, readings, book signings, multimedia historical presentations, interviews, community-history programs, classroom and book-club visits, and other special events. The full itinerary is currently being finalized. Dr. Gibbons is available for print, digital, radio, television, podcast, and in-person interviews, as well as reviews, profiles, historical features, event previews, and launch-week coverage.
FROM FROGTOWN TO BOXING’S GOLDEN AGE
At the center of the book is Mike “The St. Paul Phantom” Gibbons, one of boxing’s most cerebral and elusive fighters. Rather than relying on brute force, Mike helped perfect a dazzling style of “scientific boxing” based on movement, timing, defense, and strategy. His younger brother Tommy followed him into the ring, and together they became two of St. Paul’s most celebrated athletes. Their development was also shaped by their priest, Monsignor John Dunphy; their work for James J. Hill at Great Northern Railway; the tutelage of Engine Station No. 1’s Fire Chief Hugh J. McFayden; sportswriting virtuoso George A. Barton; and pioneering Black champions Joe Gans, Jack Johnson, and Sam Langford, whose brilliance influenced the sport even as racial barriers restricted their opportunities. The brothers’ quest carries readers from St. Paul gyms and outlaw prizefights to Madison Square Garden, Havana, wartime military camps, and boxing’s great arenas. During World War I, Mike’s innovative boxing instruction became part of military training as three-million American soldiers prepared for combat overseas. Yet beneath the spectacle is a deeply human story of brotherhood, faith, ambition, romance, family pressure, resilience, and the costs of pursuing the American Dream.
A FAMILY STORY RECOVERED FROM THE ARCHIVES
Drawing on never-before-seen family archives and thousands of historical sources, Dr. Gibbons spent years reconstructing both the lives of Mike and Tommy and the St. Paul world that shaped them.
“This isn’t just a sports story. It’s an American story,” says Gibbons. “It’s about family, belief, reinvention, and the fight to become something greater than your circumstances.” Arriving during America’s 250th-anniversary year, The St. Paul Phantom explores issues that remain strikingly current: immigration, race, class, masculinity, women’s rights, media power, celebrity, war, pandemic, faith, and economic uncertainty.
It also asks a distinctly local question:
How do people who once filled arenas and dominated headlines disappear from the collective memoryof the city that created them?
The September homecoming aims to change that.
MEDIA & INTERVIEW TOPICS
Dr. Gibbons is available to discuss:
● Forgotten St. Paul and the city that produced the Gibbons brothers
● Boxing as the birthplace of modern sports celebrity
● Jack Johnson, Joe Gans, Sam Langford, and the color line
● Immigration, faith, family, and the American Dream
● World War I and Mike Gibbons’ role in military boxing instruction
● F. Scott Fitzgerald and St. Paul sporting culture
● Genealogy, family archives, and recovering lost history
● Why boxing history can reveal the history of America
ADVANCE PRAISE
“An ELECTRIFYING AND INSPIRING rendition of the American Dream.” —The U.S. Review of Books
“An EPIC AMERICAN ODYSSEY… Unforgettable characters, epic slugfests, and fascinating historical cameos.” —Self-Publishing Review
“A HIGH-VELOCITY work of narrative history, full of heart, soul, and fury.” —Steve Hockensmith, bestselling author
“The kind of true story Hollywood spends years looking for.” —Paul Tamasy, Oscar-nominated screenwriter/producer, The Fighter
“LIVELY, WONDERFULLY VIVID, TRULY ENGAGING.” —Kirkus Reviews
BOOK INFORMATION
Title: The St. Paul Phantom: The Gibbons Brothers’ Fight for Glory, Volume I
Author: Dr. Gerard Gibbons
Publisher: Fight for Glory Press
Publication Date: September 15, 2026
Twin Cities Homecoming & Book Launch: September 12–19, 2026
Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook, audiobook
Website: FightForGloryStory.com
UBL: Books2Read.com/TheStPaulPhantom
Digital Press Kit: https://bit.ly/4cq0zy0
The press kit includes an Advance Reader Copy, author bio and Q&A, advance praise, historical background, and high-resolution archival photographs and illustrations for media use. Review copies,
interviews, images, and launch-week media opportunities are available upon request.
MEDIA CONTACT
Todd Aaron Jensen
Media Contact | Fight for Glory
[email protected]
FightForGloryStory.com
Dr. Gerard Gibbons will be in St. Paul and the Twin Cities September 12–19, 2026. Interview requests are now being scheduled.
CONTACT: Todd Aaron Jensen ToddAaronJensen (at) gmail.com
Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. UKNewshour.com takes no editorial responsibility for the same.
