BoxRec

For those of you who might be interested the book SIBBO, The Tony Sibson Story , is now on the shelf at Foyles Bookshop Charing Cross Road in London.

is the book any good, whats the reveiws?

Is this the guy who herol graham mentions in his book that kept ducking him at all costs? He said he kept calling him out but always backed out just before the fight was signed. Is this the guy or is it someone completely diffrent?

Does anyone seriously believe that Sibson ducked Herol Graham!!!

Brendan Ingle even took out a full page advert in the Boxing News trying to get a fight with Sibson, but the money wasn't there because at that time Sibson was fighting at a higher level.

I don't think its in the book , but Brendan took Herol to Sibson's gym for a sparring session, and very quickly the Sibson camp realised they were there to take the mickey. Sibson went to town and Brendan stepped in and complained that it was 'only supposed to be a sparring session '.

Herol Graham was a fantastic boxer , but I'm sorry , Sibson would have destroyed him . Only my opinion of course , and we'll never know for sure.

Foyles is a really good bookshop...not as good as it was in the 1990s (IMO) when one could find all sorts of obscure stuff there. Anyway, The Sibson book is really good. He was coming to the end of his career just as I got into boxing so it was really interesting to find out about his career. Well worth the money to my mind!

Sibbo in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQnZt_U7h-U

You know, I've watched this Collins fight a hundred times and I still keep saying to myself - here it comes now !!!

The book covers the build up to this fight in detail. Once you've read it you'll understand why you would have wished to have been in the Sibson camp. You would have won a lot of money!!!!

dalcumly wrote:Does anyone seriously believe that Sibson ducked Herol Graham!!!

Brendan Ingle even took out a full page advert in the Boxing News trying to get a fight with Sibson, but the money wasn't there because at that time Sibson was fighting at a higher level.

I don't think its in the book , but Brendan took Herol to Sibson's gym for a sparring session, and very quickly the Sibson camp realised they were there to take the mickey. Sibson went to town and Brendan stepped in and complained that it was 'only supposed to be a sparring session '.

Herol Graham was a fantastic boxer , but I'm sorry , Sibson would have destroyed him . Only my opinion of course , and we'll never know for sure.

Sibson was a come forward fighter and clumsy, always in your face Herol would have boxed his lugs off imo. I don't think Sibbo would have got close enough to Herol to be honest. Sibbo a great middleweight of his time in Uk but nothing flash in todays standards. Eubank would have have no problems or Nigel Benn for that matter. Hagler showed us the quality of Sibbo, Eubank would have faired better, not saying he would have beaten Hagler.

Today sibbo wouldnt have got to European title level

Sibbo never disguised the fact he wanted no part of Graham, who he used to refer to as a limbo dancer.
Not surprising really, Herol at his peak was so bloody unorthodox and near impossible to hit, he'd have been an absolute nightmare to face, and would probably have left Sibbo hitting fresh air all night.

Not a fight many people would have wanted to see either - Sibbo's fight with Frankie Lucas is a classic. Like Minter, Frankie thinks he can intimidate the young upstart, and soon realises he's made a massive mistake.

Great discussions and all the opinions have a validity to them ,and we all know its down to opinion at the end of the day. But, again, in the book read what happened between Sibson and Nigel Benn.

Tony 's boxing skills I think were underestimated. In losing contests towards the end of his career against Andries and Tate as well as the fight with Anderson, if you can get a look at them, watch how good defensively Sibson was when moving in. But again , I'm biased ,and I acknowledge that .

Reminds me, finally found my cheque book...

favourite all time uk fighter. Read the the comments on here with great interest, its funny how time changes your views and the quality of a fighters career. Sibson was i think a fighter who looked a lot easier to box from outside the ring and then when you got in there it was a different ball game. I agree Herol would have had a ball with Tony at their respective peaks and prob stopped him mid fight but to indicate he was a 1 dimensional sslugger would be doin a great dis-service to him. Tactically and some what dull (by his standards) points wins over Acaries and Kaylor back this up.To say Sibson would not be European class in todays era is a joke!!! So your saying he could not compete with the likes of Lee,Macklin,Murray,Barker and the like? Is Lee better than Collins? or any of them better than a faded Minter? I dont think so. IMO Sibsons greatest attribute was also his downfall technically.He used to generate so much power down his left hand side with all his weight over the front foot, enabling him to drive in those spectacular hook and jab combos. However the finest technicians such as Finnegan and Hagler exploited this to great effect. Never mind European class with todays advancements in nutrition and conditioning he would have won one of the versions of a world title imo.

manno wrote:favourite all time uk fighter. Read the the comments on here with great interest, its funny how time changes your views and the quality of a fighters career. Sibson was i think a fighter who looked a lot easier to box from outside the ring and then when you got in there it was a different ball game. I agree Herol would have had a ball with Tony at their respective peaks and prob stopped him mid fight but to indicate he was a 1 dimensional sslugger would be doin a great dis-service to him. Tactically and some what dull (by his standards) points wins over Acaries and Kaylor back this up.To say Sibson would not be European class in todays era is a joke!!! So your saying he could not compete with the likes of Lee,Macklin,Murray,Barker and the like? Is Lee better than Collins? or any of them better than a faded Minter? I dont think so. IMO Sibsons greatest attribute was also his downfall technically.He used to generate so much power down his left hand side with all his weight over the front foot, enabling him to drive in those spectacular hook and jab combos. However the finest technicians such as Finnegan and Hagler exploited this to great effect. Never mind European class with todays advancements in nutrition and conditioning he would have won one of the versions of a world title imo.

Well said, I would not have been so polite, one small point, It was Nigel Benn who referred to Herol Graham as a Limbo dancer not Sibson please get your facts right MightyWarrior!

manno wrote:favourite all time uk fighter. Read the the comments on here with great interest, its funny how time changes your views and the quality of a fighters career. Sibson was i think a fighter who looked a lot easier to box from outside the ring and then when you got in there it was a different ball game. I agree Herol would have had a ball with Tony at their respective peaks and prob stopped him mid fight but to indicate he was a 1 dimensional sslugger would be doin a great dis-service to him. Tactically and some what dull (by his standards) points wins over Acaries and Kaylor back this up.To say Sibson would not be European class in todays era is a joke!!! So your saying he could not compete with the likes of Lee,Macklin,Murray,Barker and the like? Is Lee better than Collins? or any of them better than a faded Minter? I dont think so. IMO Sibsons greatest attribute was also his downfall technically.He used to generate so much power down his left hand side with all his weight over the front foot, enabling him to drive in those spectacular hook and jab combos. However the finest technicians such as Finnegan and Hagler exploited this to great effect. Never mind European class with todays advancements in nutrition and conditioning he would have won one of the versions of a world title imo.

good post. I think Sibson would punch holes in most of our modern class of middleweights

dapug wrote:

manno wrote:favourite all time uk fighter. Read the the comments on here with great interest, its funny how time changes your views and the quality of a fighters career. Sibson was i think a fighter who looked a lot easier to box from outside the ring and then when you got in there it was a different ball game. I agree Herol would have had a ball with Tony at their respective peaks and prob stopped him mid fight but to indicate he was a 1 dimensional sslugger would be doin a great dis-service to him. Tactically and some what dull (by his standards) points wins over Acaries and Kaylor back this up.To say Sibson would not be European class in todays era is a joke!!! So your saying he could not compete with the likes of Lee,Macklin,Murray,Barker and the like? Is Lee better than Collins? or any of them better than a faded Minter? I dont think so. IMO Sibsons greatest attribute was also his downfall technically.He used to generate so much power down his left hand side with all his weight over the front foot, enabling him to drive in those spectacular hook and jab combos. However the finest technicians such as Finnegan and Hagler exploited this to great effect. Never mind European class with todays advancements in nutrition and conditioning he would have won one of the versions of a world title imo.

Well said, I would not have been so polite, one small point, It was Nigel Benn who referred to Herol Graham as a Limbo dancer not Sibson please get your facts right MightyWarrior!

Sibson said "I sparred with him once and it was like sparring with a limbo dancer. It would break my heart to give him a pay day"

rio wrote:Is this the guy who herol graham mentions in his book that kept ducking him at all costs? He said he kept calling him out but always backed out just before the fight was signed. Is this the guy or is it someone completely diffrent?

As you so eloquently put it yes it is the "guy who Graham insists kept ducking him". Sibbo didnt though. He was a 160 lber fighting Hagler and in the States and Graham was a 154 pound LM.

Sibbo punched his way out of the small halls of Leicester, West Bromwich and Digbeth to grace the giant arenas as a three-time world title challenger. Nobody did Tony any favours on the way up, throwing him in with Frankie Lucas at short notice - an animal he mauled - and later Minter and Kaylor, both of whom were fancied to beat him. He really earned his shot at Hagler, punching out a 12-round decision over American bogeyman Dwight Davison at the NEC in an eliminator. To say that Sibson would not reach European level today is ignorance at its worst. His left jab alone, a concrete post of a jab, would defeat Macklin and Barker as a tag team.

Sibson did fight graham as an amateur and beat him

Delighted to hear Foyles mentioned on Boxrec, never thought that would happen.

orbtastic wrote:

dapug wrote:

manno wrote:favourite all time uk fighter. Read the the comments on here with great interest, its funny how time changes your views and the quality of a fighters career. Sibson was i think a fighter who looked a lot easier to box from outside the ring and then when you got in there it was a different ball game. I agree Herol would have had a ball with Tony at their respective peaks and prob stopped him mid fight but to indicate he was a 1 dimensional sslugger would be doin a great dis-service to him. Tactically and some what dull (by his standards) points wins over Acaries and Kaylor back this up.To say Sibson would not be European class in todays era is a joke!!! So your saying he could not compete with the likes of Lee,Macklin,Murray,Barker and the like? Is Lee better than Collins? or any of them better than a faded Minter? I dont think so. IMO Sibsons greatest attribute was also his downfall technically.He used to generate so much power down his left hand side with all his weight over the front foot, enabling him to drive in those spectacular hook and jab combos. However the finest technicians such as Finnegan and Hagler exploited this to great effect. Never mind European class with todays advancements in nutrition and conditioning he would have won one of the versions of a world title imo.

Well said, I would not have been so polite, one small point, It was Nigel Benn who referred to Herol Graham as a Limbo dancer not Sibson please get your facts right MightyWarrior!

Sibson said "I sparred with him once and it was like sparring with a limbo dancer. It would break my heart to give him a pay day"

Weren't they both southpaws?

Just thought I'd mention it . Please try and watch the Hagler v Sibson fight. How would you have scored the fight until the stoppage?
Hagler was certainly winning, but by how much?

I have my own thoughts, and they're in the book, but I'd be interested in other peoples point of view. I think the full fight is on youtube?

dalcumly wrote:Just thought I'd mention it . Please try and watch the Hagler v Sibson fight. How would you have scored the fight until the stoppage?
Hagler was certainly winning, but by how much?

I have my own thoughts, and they're in the book, but I'd be interested in other peoples point of view. I think the full fight is on youtube?

This is called flogging a dead horse. Sibson's training was disastrous and he never really looked right or really fancied it as Hagler coolly picked him apart and then stepped on the pedal at the perfect moment. Hagler had said beforehand that he had to 'whup' Tony Sibson, in an ill-disguised reference to the Minter riot. He righted a wrong; he outclassed Sibson.

Yes, Bennie, there's a lot of truth in what you say. As far as the actual training was concerned, Tony was as fit as a fiddle and rarin' to go. A big mistake was stopping sparring after Cliff Gilpin burst his nose accidentally. But around the fifth , his heart went out of it for some reason. Sibson has never suggested for a moment that he could have beaten Hagler , but he does have some thoughts on the fight under different circumstances.

Have read the book and it is a good, quality read giving a real insight into not only Sibbo's career but also British boxing's behind the scenes shannigans across the late seventies & early eighties. Sibbo seems to be a slightly Jekyll and Hyde boxer who, on his best day, would have driven right through the current crop of Middleweights on the European continent and with the right nutritional guidance picked up a World title.

Sibbo comes across as a thoroughly decent, humble chap who, when suitably focused, could fight/box with the very best of them. Sibson Vs. Benn - now that would have been a real, easy on the eye match up!

Numo

Thanks very much I'm glad you enjoyed it . And you have got Tony down to a tee ,which means I've done my job!!