Westbrook Pegler

Salt Lake Tribune/March 12, 1926

Billy Gibson Says “No Fight,” and Disappears; Police Have Warrant.

Governor Says Affair Will Not Be Held; Gene Stands by Manager.

W. L. (Young) Stribling will fight at Hialeah tomorrow night and fill his contract for a scheduled appearance, regardless of financial arrangements, “Pa” Stribling, his father-manager, said tonight.

“W. L. and I are ready for this fight, and it would certainly be a shame if the affair did not go through as arranged. We came down for the bout, and W. L. is going in the ring for the ten-round match, for the money first, but if there is no financial settlement, then for love of the game,” he declared.

The Tunney Stribling fight seems to be off, and the gentlemen concerned in the averted fisticuffs are giving a citified adaption of the convulsing financial farce that brought fame and famine to Shelby, Mont., a few years ago. 

A very determined chief of police named H. Leslie Quigg was looking for Billy Gibson, the manager of Gene Tunney, tonight for the very peculiar purpose of forcing him to violate the laws of the state of Florida by engaging in a prize fight. Gibson, earlier in the day, had reconsidered a previous agreement to send Tunney into the ring against Willie Stribling, the chronic schoolboy from Macon, Ga., for such money as the boys could draw at the gate. When the very determined Chief Quigg heard that Gibson refused to go on with the production, he said Gibson would just have to deliver his man in the corner as advertised.

Palm Beach Wants Him

A short time later, it developed that the chief had received word from the sheriff of Palm Beach, some distance up the Atlantic shore, asking him to detain Mr. Gibson for an explanation on a certain check said to have been written by Mr. Gibson a year ago. The very determined chief declined to arrest Mr. Gibson as requested by the Palm Beach sheriff until the sheriff could send down his warrant, which the sheriff, at last reports, had not done. It grieved the friends of Mr. Gibson acutely to learn that he was suspected of having issued a rubber check, and it was agreed that this was a most inopportune time for the check to bounce back. There was a conflict of information at the chief’s office, some saying the check was for $2,500 and others giving the amount as $13,000.

Although the very determined officer had to decline to throw Mr. Gibson into the local cooler in the absence of the warrant, he nevertheless craved the boon of a few words with Mr. Gibson. It was understood that he had great confidence in his personal eloquence, and would attempt to persuade Mr. Gibson to go through with the fight for the good of the game and the fair name of Miami and similar poetic considerations.

Not From PA

As the twilight came crowding into the gentle atmosphere of Miami there were various alarms in the headquarters of the fight promoters, one report stating that Pa Stribling, the sire and manager of Willie, the chronic schoolboy, had decided to take over the promotion of the bout from Jess Baugh, an optimist from Indiana, and furnish approximately $45,000 to make up Tunney’s guarantee of $50,000, and as the report flew from mustache to mustache along the main streets of the city the gutters became congested with the writhing forms of various acquaintances of Pa Stribling.

To those who know Pa Stribling, the idea of his furnishing $45,000, or even $45, to satisfy the other guy in a fight with his son was the laughing sensation of the age, and they just threw themselves for naturals, laughing hysterically. However, the fight is still certain of a brisk trade if perpetrated, and Pa Stribling may have convinced himself that he can give Tunney his share and still make money.