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Gaétan Hart: One All Out Action Warrior Remembered

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Former world title challenger Gaétan Hart, 57-31-4, 25 KO’s, was an all action warrior involved in several of Montreal’s best fights of the 1970’s and 80’s. A native of Buckingham, Quebec, Canada, his career was one chalked full of lows proceeding highs, tragedy, controversy, and excitement. A brawler with a ton of heart and a powerful right hand, among the hardest rights in the division, most that remember the name Gaétan Hart do so as a result of the unfortunate circumstances that plagued the career of this honest fighting man, however, he was a capable boxer and a three time national champion who was known in boxing circles as a man who regularly engaged in the type of give and take battles of attrition that fans clamor for.

Gaétan turned pro at 19 years old in 1972 and would lose his first professional bout en route to amassing a record of 14-12-2, 7 KO’s, before traveling to Puerto Rico to face their WBC superfeatherweight world champion Alfredo Escalera in November of 1975 in a non title fight, a bout Hart lost by TKO in the sixth round. Hart would bounce back with three KO wins to set up a fight with Tony Petronelli of the famous Brockton boxing family for the NABF super lightweight title in March of 1976. Hart fought well but suffered a heart breaking knockout in the final round.
Between March of 1976 and April of 1978, Hart would fight eleven times going 8-3. During this period he would have his first bouts with the two men that his name would forever become tragically synonymous with in undefeated Cleveland Denny, who Hart lost a ten round decision to, and Ralph Racine, who Hart beat by ten round decision. Denny would capture the Canadian lightweight title just over a month after he beat Hart, while Hart would notch six straight wins to set up a rematch against Denny with the Canadian title on the line in April of 1979, six months after their first encounter.

Developing a local rivalry in the process, Hart would get revenge in wrestling Denny’s title away via split decision in the type of back and forth battle that Hart was renown for. He was now the champion of Canada and would make three defenses, amassing a record of 35-18-3, 16 KO’s, before losing his title by razor thin majority decision in August to Nick Furlano, a man he beat two months earlier in a non title bout. The Furlano title fight was another epic battle and one that fans in Montreal would demand to see again. Being the never say die scrapper he was, Hart would come back with four straight wins and attempt to recapture his title from Furlano six months later in March of 1980.

With two extremely close and vicious all action fights between them, garnering a split decision win each, the rubber match between Hart and Furlano would turn out be one that would achieve legendary status in Canadian boxing history. Canadian boxing analyst, trainer and historian Russ Anber called it one of the greatest fights in the history of pugilism in his country. Both men left it all in the ring and after twelve rounds, Hart would regain his title by split decision, the third split decision in their three fights, proving these two were evenly matched and made for each other. In his very next fight, Hart would defend his title in a rematch against Ralph Racine.

The scene was set in May of 1980 at the Paul Sauve Arena in Montreal with the Canadian title on the line. Due to the nature of their first bout, and Hart’s penchant for Rocky’esque battles, fans were expecting the rematch between Hart and Racine to be another memorable encounter. The action did not disappoint. Racine got the best of the first two rounds, repeatedly snapping Hart’s head back with powerful right hands until Hart adapted and switched his strategy to forcing Racine to the ropes and smothering his attack in close quarters where Hart ripped hooks on the inside. In round four, Hart was suffering from cuts near both eyes adding to the visual brutality. A bloody faced Hart continued to force Racine back until round eight when Racine cracked him with several accurate right hands, worsening the cuts and adding a bloody nose to further paint Hart’s entire face red. True to form, Hart would press the action again in round nine, relentlessly attacking as he forced the exhausted Racine to the ropes. By round eleven, it was obvious that was Racine was too gassed to put together an attack as he was consistently mauled by the Canadian champion. Racine’s only hope now was a hail Mary KO punch that he was likely too gassed to deliver, yet he answered the bell for the twelfth and final round anyways showing the heart of champion.

It was all Racine could do to stay on his feet and Hart, noticing his opponent’s body language, went on the attack throwing a vicious barrage of punches that left Racine tangled in the ropes at which point Hart delivered a vicious twenty unanswered blows to his foe, who at this point was out on his feet, prompting the referee to wave off the fight, awarding Hart the twelfth round TKO victory. Racine would stumble to his corner on shaky legs where he lost consciousness and fell into a coma. Fortunately, Racine would emerge from his coma, but the injuries sustained would mean his fighting days were over. Worried about the damage he inflicted, Hart would visit Racine in hospital and call him daily to check up on his progress. Still, Hart was a fighter and it was all he knew. Hart was on the best run of his career and had world title ambitions. As such, he would attempt to win a trilogy by signing to fight a rubber match with former Canadian champion Cleveland Denny just a month later; they had each won a decision in their two previous encounters.

On June 20th of 1980, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium would play host to an absolute blockbuster of a super fight, and one of the most incredible victories in boxing history when lightweight great Roberto Duran moved up in weight to face welterweight great Sugar Ray Leonard. The odds were stacked against the smaller Duran but he upset them, forcing Leonard to fight his fight and battering the media darling en route to a fifteen round decision to claim his second division world championship. The rematch between Hart and Denny would serve as the opening bout for the mega fight. Although it figured to be an entertaining opener, the bout itself, and its tragic conclusion, were clearly overshadowed by the biggest fight in boxing and the most shocking result of the decade in the headliner.

Furious exchanges commenced almost as soon as the bell rang to signal that round one was officially underway. Although their first two fights were fan friendly affairs, it was evident from the get go that the rubber match between Denny and Hart would be fought at a more furious pace under the world’s scope, and on the biggest stage of either mans career. Each man served to benefit immensely from a win on such a massive card and planned to leave it all in the ring in pursuit of future world title glory. Hart would bull Denny to the ropes and unleash flurries of hard blows only to have Denny return fire with a more accurate approach that off-set Hart’s rhythm. As the rounds wore on, an even fight began to tilt in Hart’s favor with every thudding right hand that penetrated Denny’s guard. In the eighth and ninth rounds, Denny began to wilt under Hart’s relentless attack and was in rough shape coming out for tenth and final round. In the tenth, Hart landed several brutal right hands that had a defenseless Denny reeling around the ring on shaky legs, leaving many feeling the fight should have been stopped.

After over two minutes of virtually unanswered blows, Hart put the exclamation mark on his finish with a series of five consecutive powerful right hands and a left hook that all found their mark, dropping Denny in a corner. As Denny lay unconscious on the canvas appearing in dire need of medical attention, the referee who already allowed Denny’s beating to be prolonged far past the point of brutality, began to count the beaten man out, extending the lack of medical attention another ten seconds. There was only twelve seconds left in the fight when Denny was officially counted out, but the fight likely went on at least two minutes longer than the point at which most referees would have waved it off seeing that Denny was in bad shape and unable to mount any offense of his own to turn the tides.

Denny was put on a stretcher and carried out of the ring to an awaiting ambulance. Many feel he died right there in the ring, other accounts have him unconscious and barely clinging to life by way of a respirator, nonetheless, he was officially pronounced dead 16 days later. In a later interview Hart was quoted “I saw his eyes rolling around and around. I hit him again on the chin with a right, then a left hook to the eye. When the referee stopped the fight I raised my hands. I was happy I’d won. But a few seconds later when I turned around to see Denny still lying on the mat, I thought to myself, Oh no, oh no.” Denny’s widow filed a lawsuit for a half million dollars naming Hart, and the commission, among others. Hart, under the impression that Denny’s condition was improving based on various reports, went fishing and caught the devastating news of Denny’s passing on the radio. The news hit hard and Hart was crushed. Denny’s wife and mother were around boxing for a long time and allowed Hart to attend Denny’s funeral. Hart placed his first championship belt on Denny’s waist in his open casket in hopes of portraying to Denny’s family that Denny had not fallen to a “bum”, in his words. Hart would later state “I’m a boxer, not a killer. The man who died could have been me.”

Despite his remorse over Denny’s death, Hart had no plans to stop fighting stating “I can’t, I’ve spent the last 11 years getting ready for a crack at the world title. All I want to do now is concentrate on the future.” He would make his return three months later, winning a unanimous decision over a journeyman, extending the most impressive run of his entire career to eight straight wins with five of those coming by KO, and going 25-3-1 in the 29 bouts since his first fight with Cleveland Denny in 1977. This stellar streak, including two separate reigns as Canadian lightweight champion, coupled with his fan friendly style earned him international recognition as a top contender culminating in a long awaited and well deserved shot at a world title.

In November of 1980, at 27 years old, Hart would finally achieve his life long goal of fighting for a world title. Unfortunately for Hart, it was against an opponent who was bigger, a younger champion in a weight class above him, and someone who would go on to become one of the greatest fighters ever at junior welterweight in Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor. All the cards were stacked against Hart versus the dynamic young Pryor including having to face him in his hometown of Cincinnati. Pryor would be making the first defense of his WBA 140 lb title in a fight meant to showcase him in front of his hometown fans.

Just three months earlier, Pryor destroyed all time great Antonio Cervantes in the fourth round to take the title from the long reigning, spectacular champion. Coming into his defense against Hart, Pryor was 26-0 with 24 KO’s and was thought of as one of the top talents in the sport, and one of its deadliest combatants in an era full of all time greats. As expected, the always ferocious Pryor came out like a buzz saw and overwhelmed Hart in the same manner he had done to every man who had entered the ring with him. Hart fought a brave fight and showed his characteristic toughness, but the gulf in class and size proved too large. Hart was consistently rocked by powerful and blazing fast combinations. He was knocked down twice in round two, but got to his feet and tried his best to return fire. In rounds three and four, Hart actually landed some decent blows, proving his caliber, but Pryor’s speed was the difference, returning five shots for every one landed by Hart and staggering Hart several times. In round five, Pryor came out swinging for the fences trying to score a knockout, but Hart survived the onslaught and managed to escape the round despite accumulating a lot of punishment. Early in round six, a sneaky over hand right from Pryor found its mark, sending Hart crashing to the canvass in brutal fashion. Remarkably, Hart managed to get to his feet but he might as well have stayed down as Pryor was as deadly a finisher as any man who ever laced up a pair of gloves. Pryor unleashed a furious flurry of punches forcing a defenseless Hart into a corner where the referee waved off the fight, awarding Pryor the sixth round TKO win in the first defense of his title en route to an all time great career. Hart won a moral victory of sorts in lasting two rounds longer than the great Antonio Cervantes did against Pryor. Hart’s knockout loss to the bigger man was nothing to be ashamed of as only two men would last the distance during Pryor’s reign, and both instances were when Pryor was past his best days and on the decline.

True to the never say die maxim that had endeared the all action warrior to fans, Hart would rebound with a victory, an impressive one at that. Three months after the Pryor fight, Hart would win a split decision in a fight that was meant to showcase rising prospect Louis Hubela who was sporting an impressive record of 21-1, 6 KO’s. The following month, Hart would have a rematch with Claude Noel, whom he lost to by unanimous decision three years earlier. Noel stopped Hart in the third round and went on to become WBA world lightweight champion later that year.
Hart vacated his Canadian lightweight title when he opted to challenge Pryor for a word title in late 1980. Michel Lalonde won Hart’s vacated title in Hart’s absence from the Canadian scene. After the loss to Noel, Hart would win a couple regional quality fights to set up a fight with Lalonde to try and wrestle his old title back. Hart won a clear decision to begin his third reign as the lightweight champion of Canada.

Hart would begin 1982 with four straight victories as Canadian champ. In September, Hart would lose a third round TKO in an ill advised welterweight fight against the much bigger Donnie Poole. Because the Poole loss wasn’t a lightweight fight, Hart still held the Canadian title but he would lose it by split decision to Johnny Summerhays in December.

Hart would begin 1983 in March with a draw against unheralded Pierre Huneault, at the time 4-1, 2 KO’s. One month later, Hart would lose a unanimous decision to future champion Livingstone Bramble who would go on to defeat Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini for the WBA world lightweight title a year later. Hart was now winless in his last four fights after a very impressive streak dating back to 1977. He would once again make a comeback by rounding out 1983 with four more wins that set him up to try and win back the Canadian lightweight title for an unprecedented fourth time in March of 1984. By this time, the title was held by Remi De Carlo who had defeated former Hart conquerer Johnny Summerhays nine months earlier for Canadian lightweight supremacy. De Carlo beat Hart by a clear unanimous decision to retain the title in what would prove to be Hart’s last shot at glory. Hart would fight twice more in 1984, as but a shell of his former self, losing split decisions to club level fighters he would have had no trouble handling in his prime. At age 31 sporting a record of 56-28-4, 27 KO’s, Hart stepped away from the ring for the first time.
Hart would attempt an ill advised comeback just over six years later in October of 1990 at age 37.

He would upset the odds once again winning a majority decision over Michel Galerneau who was 7-0, 4 KO’s. He would lose two months later to an 8-6, 0 KO’s, club level fighter named Greg Gayle by majority decision. Hart clearly had nothing left in the tank but would make yet another comeback two years later at age 39 against the same Michel Galerneau he upset two years earlier. This time Galerneau’s youth prevailed as he won a clear unanimous decision over a completely shot Hart who was sixteen years his senior. Shockingly, Hart who made a life out of defying the odds would attempt another comeback eight years later at age 47 in February of 2000. As expected, the old warrior had let his love for the fight get the better of him and he was knocked out by a novice professional fighter with a losing record in the fourth round. Finally at age 47, Hart officially called it a day.

Upon officially retiring, Hart remained around the sport, training and advising young fighters at the Gatineau boxing club in Quebec. A fighting man through and through, Hart was quoted in recent years saying “Boxing is (still) my life”. Although in his early 60’s, Hart still stays in shape, trains and shadow boxes. Hart was an exciting all action brawler, a precursor to Arturo Gatti. Hart gained notoriety and was featured in Ring magazine and a documentary by the Boards of Canada. He was a three time Canadian champion and fought five fighters who at one point were world champions. When asked about his feelings on the sport, Hart added “when it all comes together…it’s magic, and some of the best moments of my life were spent in that ring. Hate leads to fear. Fear can lead to panic, and if you panic in the ring you’re finished. And besides, my opponent is just a man like me, he only has two arms and two legs and I have no reason to fear him. Respect him? Yes, but fear him? Never. Nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen, all you know for sure is you’re gonna be in a fight. The rest happens as it happens so you have to be ready for anything. At the end of the day, we’re all fighters and hating my opponent is like hating a part of myself. This sport transcends things like race, creed, color and religion. So no matter whether you’re black, white, yellow or purple, you’re still a fighter and deserve the same respect. I came from a tough home, my father was very strict and there wasn’t much love in the house. When I’m in the ring I’m at peace, it’s how I express myself, it’s who I am. Boxing isn’t for everyone, but I know it saved my life.”

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