Elbert Jay Lambert (November 21, 1925 – February 6, 2012) was an American amateur and professional boxer, medical doctor and general surgeon in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, Utah. He was the 1948 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion and represented the United States as a heavy weight in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He fought professionally from 1948 to 1950 before leaving the sport to pursue a career in medicine.

Early life

Lambert was born on November 21, 1925, to Aleta Elvera (Vera) Rasmussen and Joseph Hovey Lambert in the small town of

Helper, Utah Helper is a city in Carbon County, Utah, United States, approximately southeast of Salt Lake City and northwest of the city of Price. The population was 2,201 at the 2010 census. The city is located along the Price River and U.S. Route 6/ ...

. He had five siblings: brothers Joseph (1919), Tony (1921), and Clyde (1924), and sisters Marian (1917) and Martha (1931). In 1932 the family moved from Helper to the

Point of the Mountain The Traverse Mountains, or sometimes Traverse Range, are an anomalous, geologically complex, east-trending range that separates Salt Lake Valley and Utah Valley in Salt Lake and Utah counties in the U.S. State of Utah. Point of the Mountain is ...

near

Lehi, Utah Lehi ( ) is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. The population was 75,907 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, up from 47,407 in 2010, and it is the center of population of Utah. The rapid growth in Lehi is due, in part, to t ...

where they opened and operated a filling station/diner and pig farm. His older brothers were involved in boxing at a local boxing club and Jay and his oldest brother Joe became part of a boxing training camp operated by Marv Jensen, legendary trainer of Utah boxing legend

Gene Fullmer Lawrence Gene Fullmer (July 21, 1931 – April 27, 2015) was an American professional boxer and World Middleweight champion. He was known as The Utah Cyclone, The Mormon Mauler, and as "Cyclone" Gene Fullmer. Professional career Fullmer began h ...

, in

West Jordan, Utah West Jordan is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is a suburb of Salt Lake City. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 116,961, placing it as the third most populous in the state. The city occupies the sou ...

. He graduated from Lehi High school in the spring of 1944.

Amateur Boxing career

Prior to joining Marv Jensen's camp, Lambert won the Intermountain

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) tournament middle weight division in 1941 and heavy weight division in 1942. He went on to win the Intermountain AAU Championship in 1943; and he was a two time Intermountain Intercollegiate champ and Intermountain AAU title holder. In 1947, he won the Intermountain Golden Glove Heavy Weight championship and the Intermountain Intercollegiate Heavy Weight championship and was given the Outstanding Boxer award. In 1948, he won the Intermountain AAU title.

Olympics

In 1948, at the age of 22, Lambert won the U.S. Boxing Olympic Trials in the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later ...

, Boston, Massachusetts securing a spot on the 1948 U.S. Olympic Team. Through three Olympic Trial tournaments, he notched notable victories over Rex Layne, who would later go on to fight

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1952 to 1956, and re ...

Ezzard Charles Ezzard Mack Charles (July 7, 1921 – May 28, 1975), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1959. Known as "the Cincinnati Cobra", Charles was respected for his slick defense and precision, and is often regarded as the gre ...

, and

Jersey Joe Walcott Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), best known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1930 to 1953. He held the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), National Boxing Associa ...

, as a top professional heavyweight contender in the 1950s, and

Norvel Lee Norvel L. R. Lee (September 22, 1924 – August 19, 1992) was an Amateur boxing, amateur boxer, Tuskegee Airman, WWII veterans, WWII veteran, scholar, Teacher, educator, field grade officer in the US Army Reserve, and Youth mentoring, youth ment ...

in the tournament's final; Lee would go on to win a gold medal as a light heavyweight in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. In London, he fought his way to the

quarterfinals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

before losing a split decision to

Johnny Arthur Johnny Arthur (born John Lennox Arthur Long; May 20, 1883 – December 31, 1951) was an American stage and motion picture actor. Early years Born in Scottdale, Pennsylvania to John William Long and Matilda (née Hertzog) Long, Arthur was a vete ...

of South Africa.

Professional Boxing career

Lambert turned professional in the wake of the Olympics and compiled an 8-3-1 professional record as well as an exhibition match with

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed "the Brown Bomber", Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He r ...

in 1949. Still considered a contender in the spring of 1950, he left the sport to attend medical school, using his professional boxing earnings to support his medical education.

Military service

Lambert served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

as an

aviation cadet A flight cadet or is a military or civilian occupational title that is held by someone who is in training to perform aircrew duties in an airplane. The trainee does not need to become a pilot, as flight cadets may also learn to serve as a bombard ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was stationed in the United States."Our Men and Women in Uniform"
''The Helper Journal'', Helper, Utah, volume 39, number 10, page 6.

Medical career after boxing

Lambert graduated from the University of Utah Medical School in 1954, beginning his general surgery residency at Sloan-Kettering Memorial Center in New York and finishing at

LDS Hospital LDS Hospital (formerly Deseret Hospital) is a general urban hospital and surgical center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The hospital was originally owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), but is now owned and operated by I ...

in Salt Lake City. He joined the staff of LDS Hospital in 1959 as a general surgeon. He continued to practice medicine in Salt Lake City until retiring in 1997. Dr. Lambert remained active in the local boxing community throughout his life donating his services for over 40 years as the ringside physician for the

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

Amateur Boxing in Utah and as the team physician for Granite High School football in the 70's and 80's.

Later years

Dr. Lambert was inducted into the Utah Sport Hall of Fame in 1977. He passed away on February 6, 2012.

Personal life

Lambert was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

References

Sources

Bio on Lambert's boxing"Utah boxing community mourns death of boxer, physician Jay Lambert". ''The Salt Lake Tribune''
*''2009 Deseret Morning News Church Almanac'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Morning News, 2008), p. 326.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Jay 1925 births 2012 deaths American Latter Day Saints American male boxers Boxers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Boxers from Utah Heavyweight boxers Latter Day Saints from Utah Military personnel from Utah Olympic boxers for the United States People from Helper, Utah United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II University of Utah alumni University of Utah School of Medicine alumni 20th-century American sportsmen