Willie "The Gladiator" Gibbs first turned to boxing's professional ranks on June 30, 2001 scoring a first round knockout victory over Daren Graham in Atlantic City, NJ. In his second bout as a professional, Gibbs knocked out fellow Philadelphia native Mariano Marquez, capturing the immediate attention of Brockton, Massachusetts' promoter Rich Cappiello. Cappiello, more than impressed with the potential of Gibbs, the cousin of legendary middleweight kingpin Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins, brought "The Gladiator" to Massachusetts just two weeks later, where Gibbs would capture his third-consecutive first-round knockout, and soon become a marquee name in the New England boxing circles.
In less than three years as a professional, and under the guidance of Cappiello Promotions, Gibbs would quickly up his record to an impressive 16-0, 13 KO's, thus setting the stage for his first big test. On April 23, 2004 Gibbs would climb in the ring with Cuban-born southpaw Giorbis Barthelemy (23-6-, 9 KO's) at the Shaw's Convention Center in "The City of Champions," Brockton, Massachusetts.
If there was any concern from the Barthelemy camp, in regards to fighting Gibbs in Brockton (The birthplace of promoter Rich Cappiello, and the home to Cappiello Promotions), Gibbs made certain it was a non-factor, earning a sixth-round knockout win. The victory over Barthelemy would land Gibbs a USBA Middleweight Title showdown with fellow unbeaten middleweight prospect Daniel "The Haitian Sensation" Edouard (15-0-2, 8 KO's).
While the action-packed affair turned out to be one of ESPN's Fights of the Year, Edouard had a little too much for Gibbs, scoring a fourth round technical knockout victory in front of a more than excited crowd at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Gibbs, as promised, would quickly bounce back, earning a second round knockout over Andres Pacheco (13-2), followed by a ten-round unanimous decision victory over Marcos Primera (19-10-2). Once again, the stage had been set. ESPN, Mohegan Sun, another opponent who goes by the nickname "Haitian Sensation" and another crack at a USBA Middleweight crown. So many similarities, yet such a different conclusion. In what would not only be another of ESPN's Fight's of the Year, but also an instant ESPN Classic, Gibbs and Leonard "Haitian Sensation" Pierre (18-1, 13 KO's) would pound it out for nearly every moment of their scheduled twelve- round affair. Upon the completion of eleven rounds, Gibbs was trailing on two of the three judges scorecards. As the clock ticked away on Gibbs second shot at USBA title glory, "The Gladiator" pulled off some last second heroics, rocking Pierre so badly that referee Mike Ortega was forced to step in and save Pierre from any further abuse. The official time of the stoppage was 2:53 of the twelfth and final round!
The dramatic victory over Pierre catapulted Gibbs to an even larger stage, as promoter Rich Capiello landed Gibbs a December 16, 2006 HBO showdown with hard-hitting Colombian Edison "Pantera" Miranda (26-1, 23 KO's). Unfortunately for Gibbs, his first HBO headlining bout would be short lived, as a picture-perfect Miranda right hand would introduce Gibbs to the canvas just prior to the end of the first stanza. While Gibbs would display his heart in a valiant attempt to climb back to his feet, referee Tommy Kimmons would reach the count of ten first. It would later be learned that Gibbs, in a rather awkward fall to the canvas, injured his knee pretty badly. However, both Gibbs and Cappiello, displaying great sportsmanship, would not use the knee injury as an excuse, rather credit the unfortunate circumstance as being a part of the knockdown which was a result of Miranda's punching ability.
Gibbs would return to the ring on April 11, 2007 at the Paradise Theater in New York City, where he would suffer a narrow ten-round unanimous decision loss at the hands of top-ranked Raymond Joval (35-4, 16 KO's). Judges at ringside scored the bout 96-94, 97-93, and 97-93 all in favor of Joval.
Gibbs is currently slated to take on heavily touted prospect Andy Lee (15-1, 12 KO's) on July 19th in Lee's hometown of Limerick, Ireland.

Mike Oliver was born to box! First entering a boxing gym at the tender age of two-years-old, Oliver began throwing punches almost as early as he learned to walk, and he quickly fell in love with the 'sweet science.'
Oliver never left the squared circle, as he honed his boxing skills during a stellar amateur career which consisted of over 300 fights, to include a trip to the national finals in the Police Athletic League tournament, a feat only three other Connecticut natives have accomplished.
"Mike-MIke," as he is better known around the New England boxing circuit, turned to the professional ranks in September 2001, and became one of New England's brightest boxing prospects. However, Oliver, recognized the difficulty a New England based super-bantamweight fighter might have in getting fights, and signed on with Brockton, Massachusetts-based promoter Rich Cappiello in March, 2005.
Now working with one of the Northeast region's most respected promoters, Oliver's ascent in the professional fight game quickly catapaulted his name to the national level. After signing with Cappiello Promotions, Oliver tallied an additional six victories in the next seven months alone, improving his record to 11-0, 5 KO's, by the end of 2005.
In an effort to further his advance in the professional ranks, Oliver linked up with livelong friend, and mentor, "IceMan" John Scully. Scully, a former world title challenger in the light heavyweight division, had worked with Mike numerous times during his amateur career, and the two seemed to gel instantly.
The Oliver - Scully tandem immediately showed it's worth, as Oliver captured the USBO Super Bantamweight title on February 18, 2006, with a ninth round stoppage of Castulo Gonzalez (7-1, 3 KO's).
Since joining forces with Scully, Oliver has won ten of eleven bouts, to include wins over such notable opponents as Terry Lantz, Adam Carrera, Gary Stark, Vernie Torres, Cruz Carbajal, and Al Seeger, while also capturing the USBA and IBO Super Bantamweight titles.
In his most recent bout (May 7, 2008) Oliver suffered a shocking technical-knockout defeat at the hands of former world title challenger Reynaldo Lopez (29-5-2, 20 KO's). However, in typical Oliver fashion, the kid who was born to box stated simply "I'll be back in the gym tomorrow, and my time will come. Maybe now, some of those guys who have been ducking me for so long will want to fight me."