Jack Leonard Gardner (6 November 1926 – 11 November 1978) was a British

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

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 ...

. He was the Heavyweight Champion of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, the

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, and

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. Gardner was a top ten contender for the Heavyweight Championship of the World and retired with a record of 28 wins, 23 by knockout, and 6 losses, a total of 34 fights.

Early life

Jack Gardner was born on 6 November 1926 at

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the admi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He served in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

from 1945 to 1951. He earned the rank of Colour Sergeant by the age of 24, becoming one if the youngest Colour Sergeants in the Grenadier Guards to serve Queen Elizabeth II. It was during his time as a guardsman, Gardner began his amateur boxing career. He won the ABA Heavyweight title, as well as the Army and Imperial Services Heavyweight Titles in 1948, representing

in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Gardner stood 6' 1", had a reach of 78 inches, and weighed anywhere from 200 to 220 pounds during his career.

Boxing career

Gardner began his career as a professional boxer on 12 December 1948, in a novice tournament, winning all of his fights by knockout in the first round. He went 13 - 0 (13 KO's) his first year in the ring. Gardner defeated Johnny Williams after 12 rounds in the Fight of the Year in July 1950, becoming a contender. On 14 November 1950 Jack Gardner defeated Bruce Woodcock for the Heavyweight Championship of Great Britain and the British Empire by TKO after 11 rounds. Afterwards, he defeated

Jo Weidin Josef "Joschi" Weidinger (25 April 1923 – 26 June 2002), better known as Jo Weidin, was an Austrian boxer who won the European Boxing Union heavyweight title in 1950. Career Born in Vienna, Weidin made his professional debut in December 1945 wi ...

for the European Heavyweight Championship by decision in March 1951 after 15 rounds. As the British and European Heavyweight Champion, Jack Gardner, had a record of 22 - 2 (19 KO's). However, he lost his European Heavyweight Title in November 1951 by decision after 15 rounds to

Hein ten Hoff Hein ten Hoff (19 November 1919 – 13 June 2003) was a German boxer and ''Präsident des Bundes Deutscher Berufsboxer'' (BDB). He was the son of a Dutch peasant, who left The Netherlands for Germany (Oldenburg Land) in the end of the 1930s, ...

, a 6' 5 boxer at

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

. And in March 1952, he lost his British Heavyweight Title to Johnny Williams in a rematch by decision after 15 rounds. Afterwards, he retired from boxing with a record of 22 - 5 (19 KO's).

Comeback, retirement and death

Gardner made his comeback in 1953 with five straight victories, knocking out the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

heavyweight champion

Uber Bacilieri Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...

and the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

heavyweight champion

Lucien Touzard Lucien is a male given name. It is the French form of Luciano or Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of Lucius. Lucien, Saint Lucien, or Saint-Lucien may also refer to: People Given name * Lucien of Beauvais, Christian saint *Lucien, a band member ...

. On 6 June 1955 Gardner knocked out

Johnny Williams (boxer) Johnny Williams (25 December 1926 – 28 January 2007) was a British former professional boxer in the 1940s and 1950s and was at one time both the British and Empire heavyweight champion. Life and career Born in Barmouth, Wales, Williams grew ...

after 5 rounds in a title eliminator for the British Heavyweight Titles. However, due to an injury, he never was set to face

Don Cockell Donald John Cockell (22 September 1928 – 18 July 1983) was an English boxer. He fought for most of his career as a light-heavyweight and became the British and European champion at that weight. Later in his career he moved up to heavyweight a ...

, therefore never getting his title shot. Afterwards, he defeated

Kitione Lave Kitione Takitau Lavemai (16 April 1934 – 2 June 2006), who fought under the name Kitione Lave, was a Tongan heavyweight boxer from the island of Hunga, Vava'u and Kotu, Ha'apai. At the age of 18 he became the South Pacific heavyweight champ ...

after 10 rounds by decision, the only fight in which he was ever knocked down, but lost by TKO in the second round due to cuts to

Joe Bygraves Joe Bygraves (26 May 1931 – 16 January 2012) was a British heavyweight boxer. Bygraves turned professional in 1953, and after an impressive early career he successfully challenged Kitione Lave for the vacant Commonwealth Heavyweight b ...

. At the age of 29, Jack Gardner retired with a record of 28 wins, 23 by knockout, and 6 losses, 2 by TKO due to cuts. Gardner retired to his farm in

Market Harborough, England Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the adm ...

, and died at age 52 on 11 November 1978 from a brain tumor.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Jack Heavyweight boxers 1926 births 1978 deaths Military personnel from Leicestershire English male boxers People from Market Harborough Sportspeople from Leicestershire Olympic boxers of Great Britain Boxers at the 1948 Summer Olympics 20th-century British Army personnel Grenadier Guards soldiers Deaths from brain cancer in England Neurological disease deaths in England