Professional Boxer
Gardner won his first 24 fights in a row, remaining undefeated for almost five years, most of his fights won by TKO against a collection of British, European and American journeymen. He defeated Neville Meade, a future British Heavyweight Champion, and the fairly useful Bjorn Rudi and Ngozika Ekwelum during this period, before being caught cold in the first round in 1977 by Ibar Arrington (Gardner was a notoriously slow starter). However, he earned his first title shot that year in 1977 when he defeated Denton Ruddock by TKO for the Southern Area British Heavyweight Championship.
Read more about this topic: John L. Gardner
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