Oscar Gardner

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]

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]

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]