Gene Fullmer

Gene Fullmer
Statistics
Real name	Lawrence Gene Fullmer
Nickname(s)	Cyclone
Rated at	Middleweight
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Reach	69 in (175 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	(1931-07-21)July 21, 1931 West Jordan, Utah, United States
Died	April 27, 2015(2015-04-27) (aged 83) West Jordan, Utah, United States
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	64
Wins	55
Wins by KO	24
Losses	6
Draws	3
No contests	0

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

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, 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 (most recent at the top)

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 & vacant WBC World Middleweight Titles
Draw	55-5-3	Dick Tiger	PTS	15	1963-02-23	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada	For WBA World Middleweight Titles
Loss	55-5-2	Dick Tiger	UD	15	1962-10-23	Candlestick Park, California, California	For vacant WBA World 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 World Middleweight Title
Win	54-4-2	Florentino Fernández	SD	15	1961-08-05	Ogden Stadium, Ogden, Utah	Retained NBA World Middleweight Title
Win	53-4-2	Sugar Ray Robinson	UD	15	1961-03-04	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained NBA World Middleweight Title
Draw	52-4-2	Sugar Ray Robinson	PTS	15	1960-12-03	Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California	Retained NBA World Middleweight Title
Win	52-4-1	Carmen Basilio	TKO	12 (15)	1960-06-29	Derks Field, Salt Lake City, Utah	Retained NBA World Middleweight Title
Draw	51-4-1	Joey Giardello	PTS	15	1960-04-20	Montana St. College Fieldhouse, Bozeman, Montana	Retained NBA World Middleweight Title
Win	51-4	Spider Webb	UD	15	1959-12-04	George Nelson Field House, Logan, Utah	Retained NBA World Middleweight Title
Win	50-4	Carmen Basilio	TKO	14 (15), 0:39	1959-08-28	Cow Palace, California, California	Won vacant NBA World 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 World 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 World 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 Junior High, 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

Personal

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.^[3]

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, "the day his younger brother Jay Fullmer was laid to rest," Gene died at the age of 83 in his home surrounded by friends and family.^[4][5]

Filmography

• The Devil's Brigade (1968) - The Bartender

See also

• List of lineal boxing world champions
• List of middleweight boxing champions

References

External links

• History of Gene Fullmer and Marvin Jensen, West Jordan History Pages
• Biography and Fight-by-Fight Record, International Boxing Hall of Fame
• Fullmer Brothers Boxing website
• Photograph of Fullmer
• Professional boxing record for Gene Fullmer from BoxRec