{{Short description|Canadian boxing coach (1930-2011)}} {{Infobox boxer | name = Bob Edgett | birth_name=Robert Edgett | birth_place = Midgic, New Brunswick, Canada | birth_date=1930 | death_date = {{Death date|2011|9|20|}} | death_place = Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada | occupation = Boxing coach | weight = | nickname = | nationality = {{flagicon|Canada}} Canadian }} '''Bob Edgett''' (1930 - September 20, 2011) was a Canadian former boxer and amateur boxing coach.

==Early life== Robert Edgett was born in 1930 in Midgic, New Brunswick, Canada.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (2011)">{{cite news|title=EDGETT, ROBERT "BOB"|newspaper=The Times-Transcript|date=September 22, 2011|page=A5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1071568336/?match=1&terms=bob%20edgett&article=62ab65ca-e9b7-4778-b24a-9e6e36bd9f1a|access-date=2025-09-26}}</ref>

After WWII, he was at sea with the Royal Canadian Navy from 1949 to 1951.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (2011)"/><ref name="Sportsnet">{{cite web|url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/magazine/new-brunswick-fight-club/|title=New Brunswick fight club|website=sportsnet.ca|access-date=2025-09-26}}</ref>

The amateur boxer started working for Corrections Canada as a guard at Dorchester Penitentiary in 1955. Edgett retired as a correctional officer in 1988.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (1991)">{{cite news|title=Dorchester's Bob Edgett|newspaper=The Times-Transcript|date=October 15, 1991|page=30|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1107113176/?match=1&terms=bob%20edgett|access-date=2025-09-26}}</ref>

==Amateur boxing career== At the age of 15 in 1945, Bob Edgett took up training with Mount Allison University and Academy students through their athletic program.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (1991) 2">{{cite news|title=Edgett's club has always developed winners|newspaper=The Times-Transcript|date=October 16, 1991|page=34|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1107116528/?match=1&terms=bob%20edgett%20%22mount%20allison%22|access-date=2025-09-26}}</ref>

In his early bouts around Sackville-Amherst, he racked up twelve wins before losing to Lucky Abrams, then moved to Toronto for ten months, boxing out of the Diamond Boxing Club and at Massey Hall.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (1977)">{{cite news|title=Bob Edgett|newspaper=The Times-Transcript|date=April 21, 1977|page=23|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1107138361/?match=1&terms=bob%20edgett%20%22mount%20allison%22|access-date=2025-09-26}}</ref>

Edgett notably captured a three-round decision in Toronto in 1948 against Earl Walls, then the Canadian heavyweight champion and a top-ranked fighter worldwide.<ref name="The Moncton Transcript. (1954)">{{cite news|title=Bob Edgett|newspaper=The Moncton Transcript|date=November 4, 1954|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1104733461/?match=1&terms=bob%20edgett|access-date=2025-09-26}}</ref> At the 1948 Central Ontario Championships, he claimed the light heavyweight crown and advanced to the Olympic Boxing Trials finals, falling to Eddie Zastre. Missing the 1948 Olympic team, he relocated to Montreal to train with Gus Mell, Johnny Greco, and Danny Webb.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (1977)"/> He won the Quebec Golden Gloves light heavyweight title at the Montreal Forum in 1949.<ref name="The Moncton Transcript. (1954)"/>

During his Canadian Navy service, he secured the Maritime light heavyweight championship in 1949 and 1950.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (2011)"/> He returned to the Montreal area in 1951 after leaving the navy.<ref name="The Moncton Transcript. (1954)"/>

His 1952 Olympic hopes ended when a kidney ailment kept him from competing. He returned from injury to take the Maritime Golden Gloves in 1954 at the Saint John Forum and added another Maritime heavyweight title in Halifax in 1956.<ref name="The Moncton Transcript. (1954)"/>

Edgett won the Maine State Championship in 1962 at the age of 32.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (2011)"/>

His career included a 90–15 record along with over 100 exhibition matches.<ref name="The Moncton Transcript. (1954)"/>

==Coaching career== Edgett established an amateur boxing club, known as Bob Edgett's Boxing Club (BEBC), in Sackville, New Brunswick, in June 1953.<ref name="The Moncton Transcript. (1954)"/> He launched his first club on the third floor of an aging building in Sackville.<ref name="Telegraph-Journal. (1960)"/> Following a year of operation, he shifted to Amherst.<ref name="The Moncton Transcript. (1954)"/> The club was regarded as one of the leading athletic organizations in the Maritimes. He expanded to four boys' clubs by December 1960 in Sackville, Dorchester, Amherst, and Wallace.<ref name="Telegraph-Journal. (1960)">{{cite news|title=Bob Edgett-Boxing's Ambassador|newspaper=Telegraph-Journal|date=December 21, 1960|page=11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1109936251/?match=1&terms=bob%20edgett|access-date=2025-09-26}}</ref> His clubs extended to Big Cove, Rexton, Port Elgin, and Halifax.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (1991) 2"/>

At the 1987 Canada Winter Games, he coached the New Brunswick boxing team to two bronze medals.<ref name="NB Sports Hall of Fame">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbsportshalloffame.com/copy-of-special/e5254d8d-f294-4684-97fd-500c96ce7539|title=e5254d8d-f294-4684-97fd-500c96ce7539|website=nbsportshalloffame.com|access-date=2025-09-26}}</ref>

Edgett trained Maritime boxers such as Les Sprague and Yvon Durelle.<ref name="Sportsnet"/> Over 6,000 young fighters benefited from his coaching, entirely free, during his career.<ref name="NB Sports Hall of Fame"/>

==Death== Bob Edgett died on September 20, 2011, in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, at age 81.<ref name="The Times-Transcript. (2011)"/>

==Awards and recognition== *1968 New England Golden Gloves Coach of the Year *1974 PEI Amateur Boxing Association Award *1977 New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame inductee (builder) *1977 Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame inductee<ref name="NB Sports Hall of Fame"/> *1986 Moncton Sports Wall of Fame inductee *1989 Sackville Sports Wall of Fame inductee<ref name="Saltwire">{{cite web|url=https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/late-bob-edgett-to-be-honoured-with-community-advocate-award-from-multi-ethnic-sports-hall-of-fame-during-amherst-ceremony-223931|title=Late Bob Edgett to be honoured with community advocate ...|website=saltwire.com|access-date=2025-09-26}}</ref> *2018 Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame Community Advocate Award<ref name="Saltwire"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgett, Bob}} Category:1930 births Category:2011 deaths Category:People from Sackville, New Brunswick Category:Canadian boxers Category:Canadian boxing trainers Category:Light-heavyweight boxers Category:New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame inductees Category:Sportspeople from New Brunswick