Horace "Lefty" Gwynne (October 5, 1912 – April 16, 2001) was a

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, who competed in the 1930s and won the

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

medal at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

. He was still an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

when he won the gold medal. Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Gwynne left school after grade 8, weighing only 65 lb (29.5 kg). When he started to grow, he began working out in Stokley's Gym in Toronto to lose weight in order to become a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

Amateur career

At age nineteen he won the Canadian amateur flyweight championship in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Ontario. He entered the 1932 Olympic trials as a bantamweight, a class permitting up to 118 lb (53.5 kg); he weighed 116. Gwynne won the Canadian amateur bantamweight title, which sent him to the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, despite his having fought only fifteen bouts before the Games. He won the Olympic gold medal match against the German Hans Ziglarski, knocking him down in the second round and winning on points. It took 56 years for another Canadian, Lennox Lewis in 1988, to win an Olympic boxing gold medal.

1932 Olympic results

Below is a list of Horace Gwynne's bouts from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics: * Quarterfinal: Defeated

Vito Melis Vito Melis (May 10, 1909 – October 23, 1976) was an Italian boxer who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics. He was born in Cagliari. In 1932 he was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the bantamweight class after losing his fight to the even ...

(Italy) PTS * Semifinal Defeated José Villanueva (Philippines) PTS * Final: Defeated Hans Ziglarski (Germany) PTS (won gold medal)

Pro career

Immediately after the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Gwynne turned professional. He won the Canadian professional bantamweight title in 1939 and retired after two more bouts without defending the title. Gwynne's professional record was 40 wins (6 KO), eight losses (1 KO), and two draws. .

Honors

Gwynne has been inducted into the

Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and the

Canadian Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, ...

. He died in

References

Canadian Olympic Committee

External links

* 1912 births 2001 deaths Bantamweight boxers Boxers at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Canada Olympic gold medalists for Canada Boxers from Toronto Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Canadian male boxers {{Canada-Olympic-medalist-stub