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Gibb's still a big fan
He won't even be in Las Vegas.
Gibb, who headed the group that started Brown's pro career, will be in Lethbridge for a Quarter Horse sale he's organizing.
But when Brown steps into the ring with Vassiliy Jirov, Gibb will be watching the bout on TV. He'll probably cheer loud enough that Brown will hear him all the way from the desert.
"I'll be highly emotional," Gibb said. "It'll probably be like when Susan Auch won her silver medal at the last Olympics. She's a good friend, like Dale, and I knew how much a medal would mean to her.
"My friends still tease me because I was yelling and going crazy. They say -- and I don't remember this -- that I had tears running down my cheeks and dripping onto my shirt because I was so excited."
Gibb always had a vested interest in Brown's boxing skills.
A former golden glover himself, he followed the Calgarian's success as a national-level amateur boxer, and saw him hold his own on the international stage.
In fact, after Brown won the gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, Gibb tried to convince him to stay at the amateur level for another Olympic shot.
When Brown decided he wanted to go the pro route, Gibb was there to back him.
"The only reason I got involved was I liked Dale," he said. "It was fun to be part of the process and watch the professional program. It was very exciting.
"I remember Cassius Clay telling me he was going to be the best, and Dale had that same attitude. He wasn't as flashy of a boxer, but he had the dream and the desire."
Eventually Gibb had to let Brown move on. The management group he was a big part of sold Brown's contract to the Interbox people in Montreal.
"We took him quite a ways," Gibb said of the group, which had Donny Lalonde training Brown. "We said we wanted to help him get a chance at a world championship, so I feel good and so do the other supporters.
"It's like being a minor league coach or junior coach and seeing one of your players seizing an opportunity."
But the fight will also have a bittersweet feeling for Gibb.
"The best way I can describe this is like being a horse owner. I keep most of my horses, but I do sell some of them. If you sell one of your horses and it wins a derby, you're happy, but you're also sad."
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