BoxRec

Did John L. Gardner knock Lorenzo Zanon out cold for the European title?

I saw a picture of it on boxing news and it looked like Zanon was laid out flat.

I was the original person to write a wikipedia article for John L. Gardner. He was a great boxer. Where is he now?

Great fitness, great pressure - Gardner made fighters quit, including Ocasio, Sykes, Aird and many more. However, he was not a big puncher but did pull out a shot to flatten Zanon.

Sorry, I repeated most of what Mercman had posted. Good post, Mercman.

Does anyone have any details of his other fights, such as with Ibar Arrington, was he out for the count or out cold?

Having seen three of his fights, I personally think he was or is a good boxer.

John L. Gardner did win titles, defended his titles, finished all of his opponents in title fights, and had a very good record of 35 - 4 (29 KO's). Sounds like a successful career to me. However, a boxer does did heavy punches.

I've seen three of his fights on youtube. The first was against Paul Sykes, which he used his game plan. It was a good fight and Gardner beat the hell out of big, bad Sykes.

His fight against Dokes, he was scrappy and game as usual, but Dokes looked twice his size and Gardner was tough in taking more than one punch from the huge Dokes which put him down for the count, most guys would have been out with one punch from Dokes.

I think in his fight against Noel Quarless, Gardner looked better than ever. In his other two fights he was white and flabby and in the Quarless fight he was tan and looked more fit. He put up a good fight, but in the second round he came up short.

coreygardner wrote:Does anyone have any details of his other fights, such as with Ibar Arrington, was he out for the count or out cold?

Having seen three of his fights, I personally think he was or is a good boxer.

John L. Gardner did win titles, defended his titles, finished all of his opponents in title fights, and had a very good record of 35 - 4 (29 KO's). Sounds like a successful career to me. However, a boxer does did heavy punches.

I've seen three of his fights on youtube. The first was against Paul Sykes, which he used his game plan. It was a good fight and Gardner beat the hell out of big, bad Sykes.

His fight against Dokes, he was scrappy and game as usual, but Dokes looked twice his size and Gardner was tough in taking more than one punch from the huge Dokes which put him down for the count, most guys would have been out with one punch from Dokes.

I think in his fight against Noel Quarless, Gardner looked better than ever. In his other two fights he was white and flabby and in the Quarless fight he was tan and looked more fit. He put up a good fight, but in the second round he came up short.

If you think that Gardner looked better than ever in the Quarless fight, you lack boxing know-how. John L. was well past his sell-by date against Quarless and just couldn't get out of the way of punches. As for his fight with Arrington, John L. was out for 10 not out cold.

I meant he looked better than ever as far as being in shape against Noel Quarless.

John L. was kind of a flabby guy. He looked tough as far as features, but not a physical specimen. Although he was in great shape in the Quarless fight, he was past his prime and he put up a short, but entertaining fight, definitely game.

Maybe he spent too much time tanning and getting in shape than training.

I've seen his fights:
Paul Sykes - John L lacked power, but was relentless and put the pressure.

Lorenzo Zanon - probably John L. Gardner at his best, and proved that he didn't hit like a girl; and Zanon was a good fighter, not great, he was 27 - 5 record. Gardner hit Zanon with a good 2 - 3 combination that put the former European champ out cold.

Ossie Ocasio - never saw the fight, but the fact that Ocasio became a decent World Cruiserweight Champion, proves John L. Gardner was a not a 'mediocre' fighter as one newspaper put it, and Gardner probably would have been a dominant force in the Cruiserweight division.
Now with guys like Kayote, in today's boxing and Antonio Tarver, John L. would have had to move down to Light Heavyweight, if that fit his build.

Noel Quarless - I think John L could have beat him back in the day like he did Sykes.

Michael Dokes - looked like he was in another weight class. It wasn't that brutal. John L. was hit with several hooks, but it was actually a TKO because the ref never counted him out, although John was getting back up, even though it was pretty much over anyway.


I'd consider John L. Gardner a gatekeeper and good British champion. He wasn't a legit contender on world level. However, he wasn't a journeyman either.

A photo of John L. Gardner vs Rudi Gauwe April 1980.


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