[2][3][4] Chip was born on August 25, 1888, in Scranton but was raised in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in what is today the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, where most of his matches occurred.

In January 1909, realizing his athletic gifts at the age of twenty, he decided to try boxing on the advice of L. B. Lewis, a mining Superintendent he knew.

[5] During a title fight on 11 October 1913, Chip surprised the crowd when he knocked out reigning world middleweight champion Frank Klaus with a strong right hook to the jaw near the end of the sixth and final round.

The extra weight Klaus was carrying in his midsection led many reporters to believe he had not trained adequately for the bout, and had underestimated the ability of his opponent.

Chip fought Pittsburgh area boxer Albert "Buck" Crouse seven times during his career, mostly in no decision bouts, losing to him only once.

[5] On December 23, 1913, some sources reported that Chip's rematch with Klaus in Pittsburgh was a middleweight championship, however, as the fight was fought at catchweights, boxing historians do not consider the bout a title match.

[5] On April 7, 1914, six months after taking the title, Chip stunningly lost it to young southpaw Al McCoy in a surprise first round knock-out.

Goldman wisely assumed Chip would box cautiously early in the first round against Al's unorthodox, left handed style.

Taking his manager's advice, McCoy landed a powerful left to Chip's jaw early in the first round, lifting him off the canvas, and achieving a victory that probably shocked the bookmakers.

The Pittsburgh Press noted that the Broadway Sporting Club in Brooklyn was only "fairly filled" as spectators may have stayed home expecting a loss or poor showing from McCoy.

On December 7, 1915, Chip lost to Jeff Smith, future Australian World Middleweight Champion, in a seventh round disqualification at the Hippodrome in Boston.

[3] On January 20, 1916, after losing his Middleweight Title, Chip easily won a ten-round no decision rematch with Al McCoy in Brooklyn's Broadway Arena according to the New York Times.

[11] On September 30, 1916, Chip fell to a ninth-round knockout from Australian boxer Les Darcy for Australia's World Middleweight Title in Sydney.

Nonetheless, Gibbons was rated in the top 20 all time Middleweights by statistical boxing site BoxRec and The Ring Magazine.

[15] In their slow January, 1919 bout in Duluth, Gibbons defeated Chip by a "wide margin" after returning from fifteen months in the Army.

[16] In a faster bout before a substantial crowd in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 11, 1919, Chip landed several strong blows but they never fazed Gibbons who had the edge in their fight according to newspapers.