| Oscar Gardner | |
| Nickname: | The Omaha Kid |
| Weight: | Bantamweight Featherweight |
| Reach: | 63 in. (1.60 m) |
| Birth Name: | Oscar Desire Gardner |
| Birth Date: | 19 May 1872 |
| Birth Place: | Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
| Death Place: | Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
| Boxrec: | 01071 |
| Total: | 537-547 |
| Wins: | 85 |
| Ko: | 59 |
| Losses: | 18 |
| Draws: | 32 |
| No Contests: | 1 |
Oscar Gardner (May 19, 1872 - December 25, 1928) was an American bantamweight and featherweight boxer known as the Omaha Kid.[1] [2] He was a top contender for the Featherweight Championship of the World[3] and the Featherweight Champion of America,[4] though he never won any awards or titles; many claim this was due to poor refereeing.[1] 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.[1] During his career, he fought between 537 and 547 battles (sources vary).[5] [6]
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).[7] [8] [1] [9] He grew up on the east side of the city with older brother Joe, younger brother Eddie (also a boxer), and sister Grace.[1] [6] [10] 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."[1] 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."[11] At 17, he moved to Sioux City, where he worked as a mattress maker and foreman and was active in the local boxing scene.[5] He relocated to Omaha after learning he could earn more money in their pugilistic community, then returned to Minneapolis in 1891.[1]
Gardner stood almost 5'4" and weighed anywhere from 115 to 124 pounds during his career. His "one weakness" was his weak hands, which he broke at least 7 separate times.[12] Gardner was skilled at the knockout and favored 20-25 round fights, which he sometimes fought only two days or three apart.[1] [13] 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.[14] [15] [16]
On April 7, 1898, Gardner was fighting George Stout in Columbus, Ohio when Stout tripped, fell, or was pushed down.[17] 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.[18] Gardner was brought to court, facing charges of manslaughter and prize-fighting, but was quickly acquitted.[17]
In 1898, Gardner was a top contender for the World Featherweight title.[19] 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.[20] [21] [22] Despite this success, he never won the championship.[1] He lost his third and fourth attempts in 1900 and 1901 to Terry McGovern.[23] [24] Gardner retired in 1901 at age 29 and returned to Minneapolis.[1] [8]
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.[1]
Gardner spent the first decade of his retirement in Minneapolis, where he owned a saloon called "The Only Omaha Kid."[25] [26] 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.[27] [28] [29] [30] 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.[31] [12] [32] [1] 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.[1] [33] He contracted yellow jaundice in June 1928 but did not respond to treatment and was seriously ill by September.[34] Gardner died on December 25, 1928, in a Minneapolis hospital.[5] He was survived by his wife and his children, Oscar Jr. and Grace, who lived in Portland, Oregon; his two brothers; and his sister.[5] At the time of his death, he had four grandsons and one granddaughter.[1] Oscar Jr. debuted as a boxer on June 3, 1913, against Dick Hewitt.[35]
He was inducted into the Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame in 2012.[36]