William J. Gibson (1876–1947) was a boxing promoter and manager for

Benny Leonard Benny Leonard (born Benjamin Leiner; April 7, 1896 – April 18, 1947) was an American professional boxer who held the world lightweight championship for eight years, from 1917 to 1925. Widely considered one of the all-time greats, he was ranked ...

(a former Lightweight champion),

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

(a former Heavyweight champion), Paulino Uzcudun, and

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

Louis Kaplan. He was also the owner of the short-lived New York Brickley Giants of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. Gibson began his career in boxing as a promoter in

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. He teamed up with Leonard in 1914 and was his manager up until the 1917 lightweight championship. In 1923, Gibson became the manager of Tunney, who would go on to win the heavyweight title. Gibson retired in 1928. Gibson also served as matchmaker and manager at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

for two years. In 1921, Gibson put his financial backing behind

Charles Brickley Charles Edward Brickley (November 24, 1891 – December 28, 1949) was an American football player and coach. He was a two-time All-American at Harvard and set college football records for career and single-season field goals. He then served as th ...

, who formed the NFL's New York Brickley Giants for one season in 1921. In 1925, the NFL was in need of a franchise in large city market, that could be used to showcase the league. NFL President,

Joseph Carr Joseph Francis Carr (October 22, 1879 – May 20, 1939) was an American sports executive in football, baseball, and basketball. He is best known as the president of the National Football League from 1921 until 1939. He was also one of the foun ...

traveled to New York to offer Gibson another franchise. Gibson who lost money heavily on the New York Brickley Giants, refused the offer. However, he referred Carr to his friend, Tim Mara, who established the modern day New York Giants that year. Gibson died of natural causes on July 21, 1947. He was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Billy 1876 births 1947 deaths American boxing promoters NFL franchise owners New York Brickley Giants Businesspeople from New York City