George Gardner (March 17, 1877 – July 8, 1954) was an Irish-American boxer who was the second world light-heavyweight champion in the division's history. He held claims to both the world middleweight title as well as the world heavyweight title. He won the light-heavyweight title after defeating its inaugural champion, Jack Root, by KO after 12 rounds.

Background Gardner was born on March 17, 1877, in County Clare, Ireland, on Saint Patrick's Day. He was believed to have been the son of an Irish prizefighter and came from poverty. George and his brothers, Billy and Jimmy Gardner, were each recognized as accomplished boxers in their era.

George Gardner's name is often misspelled "George Gardiner," which was an alias, although some believe it was the correct spelling. He signed his name "George Gardner", though several newspapers of his era spelled his name "George Gardiner." However, his brother, Jimmy Gardner, signed his name "Jimmy Gardiner" when handing out autographs.

Professional career Gardner began his career in 1897 when he was 20 years old. He was almost six feet tall and weighed between 150–175 pounds during his career. He won several fights in the New England area, being noted in newspapers as the "Middleweight Champion of New England."

Middleweight champion of the world Gardner was the top middleweight contender in 1901 and claimed the world middleweight title that year. He defeated Frank Craig, the world colored middleweight champion, in London, England, and newspapers declared that Gardner "secured the World Middleweight Title." Afterwards, Gardner challenged Tommy Ryan for the title, but Ryan declined despite being the number one contender for the title.

Gardner first openly claimed the middleweight title on August 30, 1901, at the Mechanic's Pavilion in San Francisco after knocking out Kid Carter in a fight billed as the "Middleweight Championship of the World." He then defeated Joe Walcott, the welterweight champion of the world, in a 20-round rematch in 1902. On August 18, 1902, Gardner TKO'd the undefeated Jack Root in 17 rounds at Salt Lake City, Utah, in a close fight billed as both the light-heavyweight and middleweight world championship. Both fighters weighed in at 165 pounds.

On October 31, 1902, Gardner fought 20 rounds with Jack Johnson, the first African American to hold the world heavyweight title. Gardner weighed in at 155 while Johnson held a 30-pound weight advantage at 185. Johnson won on points by knocking Gardner down twice in the 8th and 14th rounds.

Light-heavyweight champion of the world Gardner was a contender for the newly created world light-heavyweight title in 1903, weighing about 170 pounds. On April 6, 1903, Gardner fought Peter Maher, the Irish heavyweight champion, considered to be one of the most dangerous hitters of his era. Gardner knocked out Maher in round one and then defeated Marvin Hart by TKO after 12 rounds.

On July 4, 1903, at Ontario, Canada, at the International Athletic Club, after 12 rounds of fighting, George Gardner knocked out Jack Root to take his light-heavyweight title. He was the first Irish-American to hold the title. Most records state that Root was the first champion of the division, but others, including George Gardner, had claimed the title before. The Root–Gardner fight was the first light-heavyweight title fight caught on film. Newspapers reported that Gardner knocked Root down seven times.

George Gardner defended his title later that year on November 25, 1903, at San Francisco, California, against Bob Fitzsimmons, who had killed two men in the ring and was the former middleweight and heavyweight champion. Fitzsimmons knocked the young champion down twice and won a questionable 20-round division, becoming boxing's first triple-division champion as well as the first champion at both heavyweight and light-heavyweight. After losing the title, George Gardner challenged Fitzsimmons to a rematch, but was denied a second chance at the title.

Gardner was still a highly regarded contender in his division, and was rated even higher than the champion Fitzsimmons. Nonetheless, Gardner set his sights on the world heavyweight title. It was held by Marvin Hart, whom Gardner had defeated and drawn with before.

Gardner challenged Marvin Hart for the heavyweight championship, but again he was denied a title shot. Afterwards, his career faded with losses and draws against Jim Flynn, Al Kaufman, Terry Mustain, and Tony Ross. Gardner retired at age 32 in 1908 with an official record of 44 wins, 32 by way of knockout, 12 losses, 7 draws, and 3 no contests.

Gardner continued to box, but considered himself a "washed-up prize fighter." He was reputed to have fought in over 300 battles. One newspaper source noted that Gardner "had drawn from their seats in applause more fight fans than any other light-heavyweight."

Later life Gardner opened a saloon in Chicago and married Margaret Smith of South Bend, Indiana. He fathered a son in 1905, who also became a professional boxer in the light-heavyweight division under the name, "Morgan Gardiner." Gardner's brother, Jimmy Gardner, claimed the world welterweight title in 1908, making the Gardner brothers the first Irish-American siblings in world history to hold world titles.

George Gardner was pictured in the summer of 1930 on the front of "Self Defense Quarterly."

Gardner was once ranked the #1 fighter in the world and he is considered one of the top fighters of all time, as well as one of the top light-heavyweights of all time.

Gardner died at age 77 on July 10, 1954, in Chicago. Four ex-champions were pallbearers at his funeral.

Professional boxing record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column. ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes68Draw John WilliePTS10Sep 5, 1908 67Loss43–11–7 Tony RossTKO7 (12)May 18, 1908 66Loss43–10–7 Terry MustainKO8 (20)Jan 29, 1908 65Draw43–9–7 Terry MustainPTS20Oct 12, 1907 64Loss43–9–6 Fireman Jim FlynnKO18 (20)Apr 17, 1907 63Loss43–8–6 Al KaufmanTKO14 (20)Dec 21, 1906 6243–7–6 Mike SchreckNC2 (15)Apr 19, 1906 61Win43–7–6 Jim JeffordsNWS6Jan 24, 1906 60Win43–7–6 Billy StiftKO5 (20)Jun 19, 1905 59Loss42–7–6 Mike SchreckTKO20 (20)Apr 17, 1905 58Draw42–6–6 Fireman Jim FlynnPTS10Sep 16, 1904 57Win42–6–5 Jim JeffordsKO3 (20)Aug 15, 1904 56Win41–6–5 Denis Ike HayesPTS4Aug 5, 1904 55Draw40–6–5 John WilliePTS6Jul 1, 1904 54Loss40–6–4 Jack RootPTS6May 2, 1904 53Draw40–5–4 Jack RootPTS6Feb 26, 1904 52Win40–5–3 Kid CarterUD6Feb 19, 1904 51Win39–5–3 Fred CooleyPTS6Feb 8, 1904 50Win38–5–3 Jim DriscollPTS6Feb 8, 1904 49Draw37–5–3 Marvin HartPTS15Jan 5, 1904 48Loss37–5–2 Bob FitzsimmonsPTS20Nov 25, 1903 47Win37–4–2 Jack RootTKO12 (20)Jul 4, 1903 46Win36–4–2 Marvin HartRTD12 (20)May 13, 1903 45Win35–4–2 Peter MaherKO1 (6)Apr 6, 1903 44Win34–4–2 Al WeinigTKO6 (?)Feb 13, 1903 4333–4–2 Bob ArmstrongNC4 (6)Feb 9, 1903 42Win33–4–2 Kid CarterPTS6Dec 29, 1902 41Win32–4–2 Billy StiftUD6Dec 11, 1902 40Loss31–4–2 Jack JohnsonPTS20Oct 31, 1902 39Win31–3–2 Jack RootTKO17 (20)Aug 18, 1902 38Win30–3–2 Barbados Joe WalcottPTS20Apr 25, 1902 37Loss29–3–2 Jack RootDQ7 (20)Jan 1, 1902 36Win29–2–2 Kid CarterKO8 (20)Dec 20, 1901 35Loss28–2–2 Barbados Joe WalcottPTS20Sep 27, 1901 34Win28–1–2 Kid CarterTKO18 (20)Aug 30, 1901 33Win27–1–2 Jack MoffatTKO3 (20)Jul 4, 1901 32Win26–1–2 Tim HurleyTKO5 (?)Apr 8, 1901 3125–1–2 Jack ScalesND3Sep 29, 1900 30Win25–1–2 Frank CraigDQ4 (20)Sep 10, 1900 29Win24–1–2 Kid CarterDQ19 (25)May 29, 1900 2823–1–2 George ByersNC15May 14, 1900 27Win23–1–2 Charles GoffTKO7 (?)May 2, 1900 26Win22–1–2 Wild Bill HanrahanTKO9 (15)Apr 23, 1900 25Win21–1–2 Dick BakerTKO4 (?)Apr 19, 1900 24Win20–1–2 J FitzpatrickTKO9 (?)Apr 17, 1900 23Win19–1–2 Jack BurkeTKO4 (15)Mar 14, 1900 22Win18–1–2 George ByersDQ14 (15)Feb 22, 1900 21Win17–1–2 Jimmy HandlerTKO3 (25)Feb 12, 1900 20Draw16–1–2 George ByersNWS15Feb 2, 1900 19Win16–1–2 Harry FisherTKO12 (?)Jan 9, 1900 18Win15–1–2 Jack MoffatRTD8 (25)Dec 12, 1899 17Loss14–1–2 Jimmy HandlerTKO18 (25)Oct 16, 1899 16Win14–0–2 Harry FisherTKO17 (20)Aug 5, 1899 15Draw13–0–2 Dick SimsPTS7 (15)Jul 31, 1899 14Win13–0–1 Young SharkeyTKO9 (?)Jun 7, 1899 13Win12–0–1 John E ButlerTKO7 (15)May 9, 1899 12Win11–0–1 Andy MoynahanKO3 (?)Mar 24, 1899 11Draw10–0–1 Bob MontgomeryPTS10Jan 20, 1899 10Win10–0 Charles C. SmithKO7 (?)Dec 25, 1898 9Win9–0 Professor EvansTKO3 (?)Dec 10, 1898 8Win8–0 Hugh HJ ColgrenKO3 (?)Nov 20, 1898 7Win7–0 Hugh McWintersKO6 (?)May 20, 1898 6Win6–0 Tom O'BrienKO1 (?)Apr 27, 1898 5Win5–0 Tom MooreKO4 (?)Apr 10, 1898 4Win4–0 J YoungKO2 (?)Mar 17, 1898 3Win3–0 J YoungKO3 (?)Mar 10, 1898 2Win2–0 Matt LearyPTS4Mar 7, 1898 1Win1–0 Hugh HJ ColgrenPTS4Nov 5, 1897

See also List of light heavyweight boxing champions List of bare-knuckle boxers List of light heavyweight boxing champions

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