Gene Fullmer

Lawrence Gene Fullmer (July 21, 1931 – April 27, 2015) was an American professional boxer and World Middleweight champion.

Gene Fullmer
Statistics
Real nameLawrence Gene Fullmer
Nickname(s)Cyclone
Weight(s)Middleweight
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Reach69 in (175 cm)
NationalityAmerican
Born(1931-07-21)July 21, 1931
West Jordan, Utah, U.S.
DiedApril 27, 2015(2015-04-27) (aged 83)
West Jordan, Utah, U.S.
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights64
Wins55
Wins by KO24
Losses6
Draws3
No contests0

Professional career

Fullmer began his professional career in 1951 and won his first 29 fights, 19 by knockout. His manager during many years of his career was his mentor, Marv Jenson, who encouraged many youth in West Jordan, Utah, to enter boxing as amateurs.

Middleweight champion

Fullmer won the world middleweight championship on January 2, 1957, when he upset the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson by soundly winning a unanimous 15-round decision. [1] On May 1, 1957 they fought a rematch. The fight began as expected, with Fullmer using his strength and awkwardness to bull into Robinson and really force him onto his heels. In the fifth round Robinson, while backing up, lashed out with what has been called the perfect left hook. It caught Fullmer flush on the chin and knocked him out.

In 1959, the National Boxing Association withdrew its recognition of Robinson as middleweight champion. Fullmer and fellow former middleweight champion Carmen Basilio fought for the vacant NBA title on August 28, 1959, and Fullmer won the crown when he TKOed Basilio in the 14th round. Meanwhile, Robinson was to lose his version of the middleweight championship to Paul Pender.

Fullmer and Pender never met to settle their claims to the middleweight title, and Pender eventually retired. Meanwhile, Fullmer fought and turned back the challenges of many top contenders, such as Basilio, Ellsworth "Spider" Webb, Florentino Fernández, and welterweight champion Benny "Kid" Paret. He narrowly escaped being dethroned when he was held to 15-round draws by Robinson and future titleholder Joey Giardello. The draw against Robinson was widely criticised by almost every ringside observer, who had Robinson winning 11-4 or 10-5 in rounds. In their final meeting, a title bout in 1961, Fullmer beat Robinson by unanimous decision.

Losing the title

Fullmer finally lost the middleweight title to Dick Tiger on October 23, 1962 in a unanimous decision. They fought a rematch on February 23, 1963, which resulted in a draw. Fullmer's attempts to regain the middleweight crown finally ended when he was TKOed in seven rounds by Tiger on August 10, 1963.

Fullmer's final record included 55 wins (24 by KO), 6 losses, and 3 draws.

Professional boxing record
55 wins (24 knockouts), 6 defeats (2 knockouts), 3 draws[2]
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
Loss 55–6–3 Dick Tiger RTD 7 (15), 3:00 1963-08-10 Liberty Stadium, Ibadan For WBA middleweight title
For inaugural WBC middleweight title
Draw 55–5–3 Dick Tiger PTS 15 1963-02-23 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada For WBA middleweight title
Loss 55–5–2 Dick Tiger UD 15 1962-10-23 Candlestick Park, California, California Lost WBA middleweight title
Win 55–4–2 Benny Paret KO 10 (15), 2:30 1961-12-09 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained NBA middleweight title
Win 54–4–2 Florentino Fernández SD 15 1961-08-05 Ogden Stadium, Ogden, Utah Retained NBA middleweight title
Win 53–4–2 Sugar Ray Robinson UD 15 1961-03-04 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained NBA middleweight title
Draw 52–4–2 Sugar Ray Robinson PTS 15 1960-12-03 Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California Retained NBA middleweight title
Win 52–4–1 Carmen Basilio RTD 12 (15) 1960-06-29 Derks Field, Salt Lake City, Utah Retained NBA middleweight title
Draw 51–4–1 Joey Giardello PTS 15 1960-04-20 Montana St. College Fieldhouse, Bozeman, Montana Retained NBA middleweight title
Win 51–4 Spider Webb UD 15 1959-12-04 George Nelson Fieldhouse, Logan, Utah Retained NBA middleweight title
Win 50–4 Carmen Basilio TKO 14 (15), 0:39 1959-08-28 Cow Palace, California, California Won vacant NBA middleweight title
The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" (1959)
Win 49–4 Wilf Greaves MD 10 1959-02-20 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win 48–4 Milo Savage UD 10 1959-01-09 Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas
Win 47–4 Joe Miceli KO 2 (10), 0:38 1958-11-10 Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah
Win 46–4 Spider Webb UD 10 1958-09-11 Derks Field, Salt Lake City, Utah
Win 45–4 Jim Hegerle UD 10 1958-07-07 West Jordan Arena, West Jordan, Utah
Win 44–4 Milo Savage UD 10 1958-03-03 Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah
Win 43–4 Neal Rivers MD 10 1957-11-15 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win 42–4 Chico Vejar UD 10 1957-09-04 West Jordan Arena, West Jordan, Utah
Win 41–4 Ralph Jones UD 10 1957-06-07 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Loss 40–4 Sugar Ray Robinson KO 5 (15), 1:27 1957-05-01 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois Lost The Ring middleweight title
Win 40–3 Ernie Durando UD 10 1957-02-18 Denver Auditorium Arena, Denver, Colorado
Win 39–3 Wilf Greaves UD 10 1957-01-28 Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah
Win 38–3 Sugar Ray Robinson UD 15 1957-01-02 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York Won The Ring middleweight title
Win 37–3 Moses Ward KO 3 (10) 1956-09-22 West Jordan Arena, West Jordan, Utah
Win 36–3 Charles Humez UD 10 1956-05-25 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win 35–3 Ralph Jones UD 10 1956-04-20 Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio
Win 34–3 Gil Turner SD 10 1956-02-17 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win 33–3 Rocky Castellani SD 10 1956-01-04 Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Loss 32–3 Eduardo Lausse UD 10 1955-11-25 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Loss 32–2 Bobby Boyd UD 10 1955-11-25 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win 32–1 Al Andrews UD 10 1955-09-12 Ogden Stadium, Ogden, Utah
Win 31–1 Del Flanagan UD 10 1955-07-26 Butte Civic Center, Butte, Montana
Win 30–1 Gil Turner PTS 10 1955-06-20 West Jordan Park, West Jordan, Utah
Loss 29–1 Gil Turner UD 10 1955-04-04 Eastern Parkway Arena, Brooklyn, New York
Win 29–0 Govan Small PTS 10 1955-03-21 Salt Lake City, Utah
Win 28–0 Paul Pender UD 10 1955-02-14 Eastern Parkway Arena, Brooklyn, New York
Win 27–0 Marcel Assire UD 10 1955-01-31 Eastern Parkway Arena, Brooklyn, New York
Win 26–0 Peter Mueller UD 10 1954-11-15 Eastern Parkway Arena, Brooklyn, New York
Win 25–0 Jackie LaBua UD 10 1954-11-15 Eastern Parkway Arena, Brooklyn, New York
Win 24–0 Dick Wolfe KO 4 (10), 1:27 1954-08-16 West Jordan Park, West Jordan, Utah
Win 23–0 Reno Abellira UD 10 1954-07-29 West Jordan Arena, West Jordan, Utah
Win 22–0 Govan Small PTS 10 1954-07-12 West Jordan Arena, West Jordan, Utah
Win 21–0 Rio Rico PTS 10 1954-07-12 Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah
Win 20–0 Andy Anderson RTD 7 (10) 1954-05-17 Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah
Win 19–0 Charley Cato KO 1 (10), 1:43 1954-04-26 Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah
Win 18–0 Kid Leon KO 1 1954-02-06 West Jordan High School, West Jordan, Utah
Win 17–0 Armando Cotero UD 6 1952-09-20 Legion Stadium, Hollywood, California
Win 16–0 Mickey Rhodes KO 6 1952-08-08 Ogden Stadium, Ogden, Utah
Win 15–0 Baby Ray KO 1 1951-10-17 Vernal, Utah
Win 14–0 Rudy Zadell PTS 6 1951-10-10 Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win 13–0 Gary Hanley KO 1 1951-10-03 West Jordan, Utah
Win 12–0 Garth Panter MD 10 1951-09-25 Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah
Win 11–0 Sam Healy KO 4 1951-09-14 Uintah High School Gym, Vernal, Utah
Win 10–0 Charley Cato KO 4 (10) 1951-09-07 West Jordan, Utah
Win 9–0 Buddy Sloan KO 2 1951-08-25 Hurricane, Utah

Personal life

Fullmer graduated from Jordan High School and worked at Kennecott Copper Mine for several years, he also served in the Korean War. He married Dolores Holt on October 13, 1955 in the Salt Lake Temple. They raised 2 daughters and 2 sons.[3]

Fullmer had two younger brothers who boxed: Don Fullmer (February 21, 1939 - January 28, 2012), who twice challenged for the World Middleweight Title, and Jay Fullmer (March 9, 1937 - April 22, 2015), who boxed as a lightweight.

Fullmer was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and his living the tenets of his religion, especially the Word of Wisdom, was heavily covered in the press. It was also frequently mentioned that he was a father and that he paid tithing on his boxing winnings.[4]

Fullmer appeared in a cameo role in the 1968 film The Devil's Brigade as a Montana bartender.

Fullmer is featured on the cover of the album Greatest Hits by Alice in Chains.

On January 21, 1962, Fullmer appeared on What's My Line? but not as a mystery guest. His line was that he was a mink rancher.

His fight with Dick Tiger appears prominently in the music video for the Iggy Pop song 'American Valhalla'.

On April 27, 2015, five days after younger brother Jay's death, Gene died at the age of 83 in his home surrounded by friends and family.[5][3]

Filmography
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See also
  • List of middleweight boxing champions

References
  1. "The Lineal Middleweight Champions". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia.
  2. Gene Fullmer's Professional Boxing Record. BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-30.
  3. "Former middleweight world champion boxer Gene Fullmer dead at 83". The Salt Lake Tribune. April 30, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  4. J. B. Haws, The Mormon Image in the American Mind (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 29-30
  5. Donaldson, Amy (April 27, 2015). "Former world middleweight champion Gene Fullmer dies at 83". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
Achievements
Preceded by
Sugar Ray Robinson		 World Middleweight Champion
2 January 1957– 1 May 1957		 Succeeded by
Sugar Ray Robinson
Preceded by
Sugar Ray Robinson
Stripped		 NBA World Middleweight Champion
Later WBA Title
28 August 1959– 23 October 1962		 Succeeded by
Dick Tiger
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