Joseph Salvatore Gilbert (born June 5, 1976) is an American retired professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom *Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe eel, ...

, attorney, and sports agent.

Biography

Gilbert was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and raised in

Sparks, Nevada Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It was founded in 1904, incorporated on March 15, 1905, and is located just east of Reno. The 2020 U.S. Census counted 108,445 residents in the city. It is the fifth most populous city in ...

. Gilbert earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in English literature and political science from the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...

. Gilbert spent six months living, training and traveling in northern Europe during the summer and fall of 1998 through a study abroad program based in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

. Gilbert was a collegiate fighter at the

, National Champion from 1998 through 2000 (named outstanding boxer all 3 years), a four-time Regional Champion, a four-time All American, and was the Nevada State

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...

Super Middleweight Champion in 2000. Gilbert earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from Thomas Jefferson Law School in San Diego, California, and passed the Nevada bar exam in 2004. He has practiced law since that time. Gilbert participated in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol to overturn the

2020 election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **Cro ...

results and has denied that President Joe Biden won the election. Gilbert is the Director of Strategy for

America's Frontline Doctors America's Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) is an American right-wing political organization. Affiliated with Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin and publicly led by Simone Gold, the group is opposed to measures intended to control the CO ...

. Gilbert spread has driven distrust in the efficacy of PPE and

vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.< ...

. In June 2021, Gilbert announced he was running for

Governor of Nevada A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in the 2022 election. Gilbert placed second and lost in the Republican primary to

Clark County Sheriff The Sheriff of Clark County, officially The Sheriff of the County of Clark, is the chief law enforcement officer of Clark County, Nevada. The Sheriff heads the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, is elected by the citizens of Clark County, ...

Joe Lombardo Joseph Michael Lombardo (born November 8, 1962) is an American politician and law enforcement officer serving as the 31st governor of Nevada since January 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 17th sheriff of Clark County from 2015 ...

who won handily; despite this, he made baseless claims of election fraud and challenged the results.

Boxing career

Gilbert began boxing as an amateur at the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

. During his time at the University of Nevada, Gilbert was a three-time National Champion, a four-time Regional Champion, a four-time All American, and was the Nevada State Golden Gloves Super Middleweight Champion in 2000. He finished his amateur career with a record of 27–1. In 2004, Gilbert was cast on NBC's

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show ''The Contender''. He was placed on the West Coast Team and beat

Jimmy Lange Jimmy Lange (born August 25, 1975) is an American professional boxer. Early life He began boxing at the age of five in Arlington, Virginia when his father who became his manager first brought him to Olympia Boxing Gym in Falls Church. Boxing im ...

in the first round of this competition. He then had his friend turned rival Jesse Brinkley place him in a fight against Peter Manfredo Jr. in the quarter finals, which he lost in a divided decision. The fight was stopped in the fifth round due to an accidental

head-butt A headbutt is a targeted strike with the head, typically (when intentional) involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of an opponent, such as ...

from his opponent. After ''The Contender'', Gilbert won a six-round unanimous decision in the super middleweight division against James North on the undercard of the

Jeff Lacy Jeffrey Scott Lacy (born May 12, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2015. He held the IBF super middleweight title from 2004 to 2006, and the IBO super middleweight title from 2005 to 2006. Lacy rose to pr ...

vs. Scott Pemberton card. Gilbert won the rematch with Jimmy Lange at the

EagleBank Arena EagleBank Arena (originally the Patriot Center) is a 10,000-seat arena in the eastern United States, on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb southwest of Washington, D.C. Opened in 1985, it is the home of Patri ...

for the vacant middleweight NABO title on February 18 and won the WBC-USNBC middleweight title shortly after. On September 21, 2007, Gilbert scored a first-round knockout over Charles Howe, however, the ruling was later changed to a no-decision. Gilbert was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission after testing positive for a number of illegal substances including a steroid, methamphetamine and amphetamine resulting from testing conducted before and after the fight.

Nevada State Athletic Commission The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, ...

Executive Director Keith Kizer told Channel 2 Sports Director J.K. Metzker that Gilbert tested positive for illegal substances in urine tests taken before and after Gilbert's September 21 middleweight title fight against Charles Howe at the

Grand Sierra Resort Grand Sierra Resort (formerly MGM Grand Reno, Bally's Reno and Reno Hilton) is a hotel and casino located approximately three miles east of Downtown Reno, Nevada. The hotel has 1,990 guest rooms and suites, 12 restaurants, including Charlie Palm ...

. On August 12, 2008, Gilbert agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for a positive steroid test as part of a settlement with the Nevada Athletic Commission which included dropping the charges for amphetamine, methamphetamine, oxazepam, diazepam and nordiazepam in exchange for the fine and a one-year retroactive suspension. On February 14, 2009, Gilbert challenged former rival Jesse Brinkley for the WBC USNBC super middleweight title, but was defeated by unanimous decision. After suffering a six-round technical knockout loss to former IBF light middleweight champion

Kassim Ouma Kassim Ouma (born 12 December 1978) is a Ugandan professional boxer. He held the IBF junior middleweight title from 2004 to 2005, and has challenged twice for a world middleweight title in 2006 and 2011. Early life Born into poverty, at the age ...

, Gilbert retired from professional boxing in 2010 and now practices criminal defense and personal injury law in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

Professional boxing record

References

External links

Joey's Personal WebsiteJoey's Law Firm
*
Gubernatorial Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Joey 1976 births American people of Italian descent American male boxers Living people Middleweight boxers The Contender (TV series) participants Protesters in or near the January 6 United States Capitol attack Sigma Alpha Epsilon members