Jack Renault

Léonard Dumoulin was born in Notre-Dame-des-Bois, a small village from the Eastern Townships in the province of Québec, near the Maine frontier, on January the 18th 1895 (and not 1898 like he wanted people to believe). He was known under that name when he moved to Montréal in the mid-1910's. He started boxing as an amateur in 1916 while working as a traffic cop. He didn't do too well, but hung in there, grew to about 175 pounds, and began fighting professionnally in 1918. His first fight (a no-decision against Kansas Jackson) took place on june the 1st, 1918, in Sherbrooke.

At first, Léonard wasn't very successful. But he began to fight in Montréal, and then moved to New Bedford (Mass.), where he was better known as Jack Renault (Jack possibly because of the popularity of Jack Dempsey, Renault, because his family was also known as Renault-Dumoulin). The name Jack Renault was easier to pronounce for Americans. The quality of his opposition picked up. The best men he faced were unquestionnably Battling Levinsky (a six round affair on june 29th, 1920) and the legendary Harry Greb with whom he had two pretty good scraps, one in Pittsburgh (march 16th 1921) and a return-go in Montréal (april 6th 1921). Always hesitant to lead, Jack had no choice but to fight back against the ever busy Greb who dominated on both occasions, but forced Jack to display a courage few tought he had.

Things picked up that summer when Jack became a regular at Jack Dempsey's training camp. Preparing for his mega-fight with Georges Carpentier (july the 2th, 1921), Dempsey found in Renault a tough customer who took what he had to give and then some. Leo P. Flynn also became Jack Renault's manager and from then on his career started to blossom.

Jack grew physically, becoming a full-fledge, 195-200 pounds heavyweight. In 1923, he began going places, knocking-out some stiff opposition in George Godfrey (march 9th), Fred Fulton (may 12th) and leading contender Floyd Johnson (november 2nd). On top of his game, Renault was on target for a title bout. But Dempsey didn't fight between 1923 and 1926, and other contenders, like Luis Angel Firpo, were not interested in mixing it up with the Canadian Cannonball who liked to pose as a Mountie, a job he never held.

A charming man, Jack loved golf and the high life. The money he made spoiled him and he began to go downhill, losing a questionnable decision against Quentin Romeo Rojas (december 5th 1924), and being beaten by Jack Sharkey (april 6th) and George Godfrey (june 6th) in 1925.

After that, Jack lost interest in boxing, but took time to play in a major motion picture, &laqno;Knockout Reilly», with a famous actor named Richard Dix. He returned to boxing, and fought some big names (Jack Delaney, Tommy Loughran, Young Stribling) before quitting the game around 1932.

Renault was never a world champion, but he was certainly, with Robert Cléroux who fought in the 1960's, Québec's greatest heavyweight. He is remembered by members of his family as a good person, full of wit, who liked to tell stories and make people feel good around him. He passed away on July the 28th, 1967, in a Sherbrooke hospital. He was buried in Stanstead, a Canadian village near the frontier separating Québec and Vermont.

Any information about this fighter would be appreciated.

Please contact Serge Gaudreau at the following E-mail address:

sgaudr@videotron.ca

Tale Of The Tape Born: Jan 18, 1895 Place: Chasham, Quebec, Canada Real Name: Leonard Renaud Height: 6' 1" Weight: 195 lbs.

RING RECORD AS OF 1925: 39 wins - 7 losses - 14 ND's -0 draw - (69 total bouts)

 selected bouts

1920
Dec 8	1920	Battling Levinsky		Portland		L 12
unknown	1920	Soldier Jones			unknown			W 9

1921
Mar 16	1921	Harry    Greb			Pitts.			ND 10
unknown	1921	Ted   Jamison			unknown			W 10
Apr 6	1921	Harry    Greb			Montreal		ND 10 
unknown	1921	Billy   Miske			unknown			ND 8

1922
Jul 18	1922	Jack  Dempsey			Montreal		Exh.
unknown	1922	Billy   Miske			unknown			TKO by 13
Jul 19	1922	Jack  Dempsey			Ottawa			Exh. 3

1923
Jan 29	1923	Gene   Tunney			Philadel.		NC 4
unknown	1923	Fred   Fulton			unknown			KO 9
unknown	1923	Soldier Jones			unknown			W 10
unknown	1923	Fred   Fulton			unknown			WF 4 (foul)
unknown	1923	Ted   Jamison			unknown			WF 2 (foul)
unknown	1923	Ted   Jamison			unknown			LF 2 (foul)

1924
Mar 21	1924	Capt. Bob Roper			Mich.			ND 10
unknown	1924	Al   Benedict			unknown			KO 1
unknown	1924	Quinton Romero Rojas	unknown			L 10
Aug 25	1924	Homer   Smith			Buffalo			W 10

1925
Jan 30	1925	Capt. Bob Roper			Omaha			ND 10
Mar 6	1925	Homer   Smith			Michi.			ND 10
Mar 23	1925	Quinton Romero Rojas	N.J.			ND 12
Apr 6	1925	Jack  Sharkey			Boston			L 10

1927
Oct 14	1927	Jack  Delaney			N.Y.C.			L 10

1928
May 24	1928	Chuck Wiggins			St.Louis		L 10

1930
Mar 17	1930	Tommy Loughran			Philadel.		L 10


IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION ON JACK RENAULT
PLEASE E-MAIL ME
--Jack's biography summary was supplied by Serge Gaudreau


www.harrygreb.com