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Oscar Gardner

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Oscar Gardner
Sketch from The Buffalo Times, 1898
Born
Oscar Desire Gardner

(1872-05-19)May 19, 1872
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
DiedDecember 25, 1928(1928-12-25) (aged 56)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Other namesThe Omaha Kid
Statistics
Weight(s)Bantamweight
Featherweight
Height5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Reach63 in (1.60 m)
Boxing record[1]
Total fights537-547
Wins85
Wins by KO59
Losses18
Draws32
No contests1

Oscar Gardner (May 19, 1872 – December 25, 1928) was an American bantamweight and featherweight boxer known as the Omaha Kid.[2][3] He was a top contender for the Featherweight Championship of the World[4] and the Featherweight Champion of America,[5] though he never won any awards or titles; many claim this was due to poor refereeing.[6][2] Gardner was small but unusually strong, tough in the ring but "quiet, affable..., gifted with a winning personality, who made friends easily" when not boxing.[2] During his career, he fought between 537 and 547 battles (sources vary).[7][8][6]

Biography

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Early life

[edit]

Oscar Desire Gardner was born May 19, 1872, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the middle son of Joseph Gardner and his French-Canadian wife Alvina (c. 1852-1917).[9][10][2][11] He grew up on the east side of the city with older brother Joe, younger brother Eddie (also a boxer), and sister Grace.[2][8][12] As a teenager, he and Eddie worked at the Salisbury & Satterlee mattress factory, where many of the workers "engag[ed] in rough and tumble battles... during the lunch hour."[2] Gardner struggled at first and was often used by more practiced boxers to pad their stats, but eventually became a top contender and earned himself the nickname "The Fighting Machine."[13] At 17, he moved to Sioux City, where he worked as a mattress maker and foreman and was active in the local boxing scene.[7] He relocated to Omaha after learning he could earn more money in their pugilistic community, then returned to Minneapolis in 1891.[2]

Career

[edit]

Gardner stood almost 5'4" and weighed anywhere from 115 to 124 pounds during his career.[6] His "one weakness" was his weak hands, which he broke at least 7 separate times.[6][14] Gardner was skilled at the knockout and favored 20-25 round fights, which he sometimes fought only two days or three apart.[2][15] He claimed not to train for matches and both drank and smoked cigars, oftentimes waiting to put out his smoke until right before entering the ring.[16][17][18]

On April 7, 1898, Gardner was fighting George Stout in Columbus, Ohio when Stout tripped, fell, or was pushed down.[19][20] Stout lost consciousness after hitting his head on the unpadded floor, cited by many as the fault of the event promoters, and he died the next morning.[20] Gardner was brought to court, facing charges of manslaughter and prize-fighting, but was quickly acquitted.[19]

In 1898, Gardner was a top contender for the World Featherweight title.[21] In October, he knocked out Sam Kelley after fourteen rounds; earned a TKO against Solly Smith after six rounds the following February; and drew with Martin Flaherty two weeks later.[22][23][24] Despite this success, he never won the championship.[6][2] He lost his third and fourth attempts in 1900 and 1901 to Terry McGovern.[25][26] Gardner retired in 1901 at age 29 and returned to Minneapolis.[2][10]

Among those he fought were George Dixon, Harry Forbes, James J. Corbett, Eddie Santry, Dave Sullivan, Solly Smith, Torpedo Billy Murphy, Terry McGovern, Joe Bernstein, and Austin Rice.[2]

Retirement

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Gardner spent the first decade of his retirement in Minneapolis, where he owned a saloon called "The Only Omaha Kid."[27][28] In 1912, he moved to Washington with a plan to open a fight club in Vancouver, and by 1914 he owned a boxing school in Portland, Oregon.[29][30][31][32] In 1918, Gardner was reportedly back in Minneapolis, this time as a bar owner with his brother Eddie and, according to writer Jack Grace, as a politician, but was in Pittsburgh by 1924.[33][14][34][2] He worked as a promoter with Tex Rickard for several years and in 1928 was working as a boxing judge and a factory watchman in Brooklyn.[2][35][36] He contracted yellow jaundice in June 1928 but did not respond to treatment and was seriously ill by September.[35] Gardner died on December 25, 1928, in a Minneapolis hospital.[7] He was survived by his wife and his children, Oscar Jr. and Grace, who lived in Portland, Oregon; his two brothers; and his sister.[7] At the time of his death, he had four grandsons and one granddaughter.[2] Oscar Jr. debuted as a boxer on June 3, 1913, against Dick Hewitt.[37]

He was inducted into the Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame in 2012.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Boxing record for Oscar Gardner". BoxRec.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barton, George A. (1928-02-05). "Oscar Gardner Greatest Fighter Ever Produced Here". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. Retrieved 2022-02-06 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ The World Almanac and Encyclopedia. Press Publishing Company. 1902. p. 260.
  4. ^ "Oscar Gardner's Chances". The Buffalo Times. Buffalo, NY. 1900-03-09. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Old gladiators". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, AZ. 1922-01-20. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Oscar Gardner". Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame. n.d. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  7. ^ a b c d Barton, George A. (1928-12-26). "Oscar Gardner, Once Noted Boxer, is Dead". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Oscar Gardner, Former Ring Star, Visits Here". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. 1923-09-08. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Deces". The Minneapolis Journal (in French). Minneapolis, MN. 1917-11-09. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "The "Kid" Comes Back". The Minneapolis Journal. Minneapolis, MN. 1935-04-17. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Oscar Gardner". BoxRec. 2016. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  12. ^ "Count tolled over Eddie Gardner as veteran ringster dies in Rochester; never knocked out in over 300 bouts". The Minneapolis Star. Minneapolis, MN. 1935-04-17. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Oscar Gardner's Perserverance". The Buffalo Times. Buffalo, NY. 1902-03-27. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b Jab, Jim (1918-03-09). "Ring reminiscences". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  15. ^ McLachlan, Kyle (2019-11-09). "The All-Time Great Bantamweights: No 2: Terry McGovern". The Fight Site. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  16. ^ "Oscar Gardner's Rise". Kenosha News. Kenosha, WI. 1901-03-01. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Saunders, D.J. (1914-08-13). "News and Gossip of the Boxers". The Boston Globe. Boston, MA. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Flaw in his record". The Minneapolis Journal. Minneapolis, MN. 1901-07-02. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  19. ^ a b "Gardner acquitted". Buffalo Courier. Buffalo, NY. 1898-12-08. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ^ a b "Plucky Gardner". The Buffalo Times. Buffalo, NY. 1898-12-05. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Oscar Gardner (the "Omaha Kid")". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia. n.d. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  22. ^ "They fought a draw". The Brooklyn Citizen. Brooklyn, NY. 1899-02-23. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Wins out in the sixth". Pittsburgh Daily Tribune. Pittsburg, KS. 1899-02-08. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Sam Kelley knocked out". Daily Arkansas Gazette. Little Rock, AK. 1898-10-29. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Sports and Sportsmen". El Paso Herald. El Paso, TX. 1901-05-01. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "They fight next Friday". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, KY. 1900-03-05. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Sports of All Sorts". The Oregon Daily Journal. Portland, OR. 1908-10-21. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Saloon meeting crowded". The Minneapolis Journal. Minneapolis, MN. 1905-11-11. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Oscar Gardner will open fight club in Vancouver". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. 1912-01-18. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Notes of the Arena". The News Tribune. Tacoma, WA. 1912-01-22. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Pugilist Gardner retires". The Sheboygan Press. Sheboygan, WI. 1912-01-08. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Saunders, Daniel J. (1914-02-26). "Tidings from some of the old-timers". The Boston Globe. Boston, MA. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "Oscar Gardner Flays Modern Maulers". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. 1924-10-05. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  34. ^ "Oscar Gradner [sic] says "They hate to muss hair"". The Tacoma Daily Ledger. Tacoma, WA. 1924-11-02. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  35. ^ a b "Oscar Gardner, once star featherweight, seriously ill here". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. 1928-09-16. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "Oscar Gardner critically ill". The Yonkers Herald. Yonkers, NY. 1928-09-11. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
  37. ^ "Eyes on Fireman". The Oregon Daily Journal. Portland,OR. 1913-06-01. Retrieved 2022-02-26 – via newspapers.com.
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