BoxRec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImVATTw9x08

I found a video of the John L. Gardner vs. Lorenzo Zanon fight for the European Heavyweight Title.

Although John's critics say he did not have knockout power, he did have 29 KO's during his career and Gardner knocked out Zanon cold in the fifth round with a left hook.

The left hook is what always gets your opponent on the button.

I've seen these fights of his:
Paul Sykes - he clearly outboxed him and made him turn, but again could never knock him down.
Lorenzo Zanon - he knocked him out in 5 rounds, and Zanon was the most experienced boxer he ever met, 27 - 5 record.
Micheal Dokes - he looked twice his size and in 4 rounds, he hit John L. with a combination, knocked his mouthpiece out, and as John tried to get up, he was counted out, you could tell he was hurt though.
Noel Quarless - John L. was game as ever and took a big shot like a man in the first, but in the second he was being hit fast by Quarless; even though it was a loss, John L. Gardner still showed he was a game fighter.

Did John L. Gardner ever knockout Ossie Ocasio cold?

Was John ever knocked out cold?

And I see what the British mean by he didn't have much natural ability, he didn't have great movement, he wasn't a physical specimen, and he did not have a one shot knockout punch, but in his defense, he put together a great record of 35 - 4 (29 KO's).

Most fighters dream of having a record like Gardner's 35 - 4 (29 KO's) or Lorenzo Zanon 27 - 5, those are good records.

Zanon had some pretty good boxing ability. He didn't have much power but his big weakness was his chin. Interesting that both he and Gardner had relatively short careers.

Wow, I followed Gardner's career closely back in the day via accounts of his fights in THE RING & other magazines, but I only actually got to see him fight the one time here in the States when he met Michael Dokes. Which, as I recall was a rather short, but violent affair. Now that I've seen this video of him knocking out Zanon though, I remember the frenetic pace he set vs Dokes.
Forgot what a small heavyweight he was though.

One interesting thing about the Zanon fight that I distinctly recall however, is that the victory was supposed to lead Gardner into a bout with Muhammad Ali who was looking to comeback from the previous October's one sided TKO loss to Larry Holmes. In fact, I remember that Ali was sitting ringside at a title fight in Los Angeles awaiting word about whether Gardner beat Zanon or not ( apparently, it was all up to Gardner to win as Zanon was never in the picture, even if he'd have upset Gardner that night ). And by all accounts, Ali & his camp were thrilled when they got the call that Gardner had won.
The whole deal for said contest was supposedly set in stone to take place later that year.
Unfortunately for poor Gardner, it was all derailed when the MAPS-scam scandal reared it's ugly head when it was discovered that the promoter's funding for the plethora of high profile, big money promotions that had been taking the country & the sport by storm over the course of the previous couple of years or so had been entirely funded via funds embezzled from Wells Fargo Bank.
Thus, rather than Muhammad Ali vs John L. Gardner at the end of 1981, we got Ali vs Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas instead.
Who knows which contest would have been more favorable to Ali?
Certainly, one would think that Ali may have been more competitive against Gardner than he was vs the future heavyweight titlist Trevor Berbick. Perhaps, even though he was proven to be just a sad, worn out shell of his former self, Ali may have been able to take advantage of the smaller, raw skilled UK fighter. Maybe enough to squeak by with a win in what one would have certainly hoped would have been his final fight, like the Berbick bout was.
But, then again, who knows?
Ali was pretty damned far gone with next to nothing in the tank & maybe Gardner's frenetic pace & busy, bruising attack would have been even more difficult for Ali to handle than Berbick's more deliberate pressure was. Like Leon Spinks before him in their initial contest, Gardner could have just been much too quick & busy for Ali.

What do you think?

Wow, I followed Gardner's career closely back in the day via accounts of his fights in THE RING & other magazines, but I only actually got to see him fight the one time here in the States when he met Michael Dokes. Which, as I recall was a rather short, but violent affair. Now that I've seen this video of him knocking out Zanon though, I remember the frenetic pace he set vs Dokes.
Forgot what a small heavyweight he was though.

One interesting thing about the Zanon fight that I distinctly recall however, is that the victory was supposed to lead Gardner into a bout with Muhammad Ali who was looking to comeback from the previous October's one sided TKO loss to Larry Holmes. In fact, I remember that Ali was sitting ringside at a title fight in Los Angeles awaiting word about whether Gardner beat Zanon or not ( apparently, it was all up to Gardner to win as Zanon was never in the picture, even if he'd have upset Gardner that night ). And by all accounts, Ali & his camp were thrilled when they got the call that Gardner had won.
The whole deal for said contest was supposedly set in stone to take place later that year.
Unfortunately for poor Gardner, it was all derailed when the MAPS-scam scandal reared it's ugly head when it was discovered that the promoter's funding for the plethora of high profile, big money promotions that had been taking the country & the sport by storm over the course of the previous couple of years or so had been entirely funded via funds embezzled from Wells Fargo Bank.
Thus, rather than Muhammad Ali vs John L. Gardner at the end of 1981, we got Ali vs Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas instead.
Who knows which contest would have been more favorable to Ali?
Certainly, one would think that Ali may have been more competitive against Gardner than he was vs the future heavyweight titlist Trevor Berbick. Perhaps, even though he was proven to be just a sad, worn out shell of his former self, Ali may have been able to take advantage of the smaller, raw skilled UK fighter. Maybe enough to squeak by with a win in what one would have certainly hoped would have been his final fight, like the Berbick bout was.
But, then again, who knows?
Ali was pretty damned far gone with next to nothing in the tank & maybe Gardner's frenetic pace & busy, bruising attack would have been even more difficult for Ali to handle than Berbick's more deliberate pressure was. Like Leon Spinks before him in their initial contest, Gardner could have just been much too quick & busy for Ali.

What do you think?

Me too mercman. Me too.
And, I agree with you regarding the likely outcome of the fight.
Whereas Berbick went ahead & put in a good workman-like effort in winning by a wide margin over Ali. I tend to think that very early on, he discovered exactly what he had in front of him & fought accordingly. Setting a deliberate, unspectacular pace in all but shutting out the faded legend whom he wasn't threatened by in the least.
Had that been Gardner in there instead? Either way,
He only really had the one gear then, didn't he?
All out aggressive at his usual frenetic pace, throwing & VERY likely landing lots & LOTS of punches in bunches like Spinks had in February of '78.
Like Leon, Gardner didn't have the luxury of the physical advantages of a big, athletic build like a Berbick did, nor the skills to dictate like he did without hurting the aged, debilitated Ali. He'd have had to go all out & fought with both guns blazing until they'd either pulled him off or the final bell rang.
Either way, I believe it have been an uglier end for Ali than it already was.

I think Arrington knocked JLG out for the count.

Im in the vast minority it seems, but ref Ali-Berbick, I think if you forget it is Ali out there and imagine its another fighter, I actually have the fight a draw or very close loss for Ali....even a Parkinsons ravaged aged and shot to pieces Ali was able to push Berbick close which just shows the gulf in class if the fight had been back in 77.

mugabi wrote:Im in the vast minority it seems, but ref Ali-Berbick, I think if you forget it is Ali out there and imagine its another fighter, I actually have the fight a draw or very close loss for Ali....even a Parkinsons ravaged aged and shot to pieces Ali was able to push Berbick close which just shows the gulf in class if the fight had been back in 77.

Seriously, a draw?? I think a case could be made for 10-0 Berbick. I gave Ali a share of the first and had him winning one of the later rounds. You're right about 77 Ali, he would have shut Berbic out for sure.

mercman wrote:I've seen a lot worse beatings but I thought Ali lost to Berbick pretty clearly.

I think Berbic eased up on him in the last 3 rounds