Gene Fullmer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 July 21, 1931

 West Jordan, Utah, United States

Died April 27, 2015 (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.

Contents
[hide]

 1Professional career
o 1.1Middleweight champion
o 1.2Losing the title
 2Professional boxing record (most recent at the top)
 3Personal
 4References
 5External links

Professional career[edit]
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[edit]
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. 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[edit]
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)[edit]

55 wins (24 knockouts), 6 defeats (2 knockouts), 3 draws[1]

Rd.,
Reco Typ Dat
Res. Opponent Tim Location Notes
rd e e
e

For WBA &

7 1963
55-6- Dick vacant WBC Wor
Loss RTD (15), -08- Liberty Stadium, Ibadan
ld Middleweight
3 Tiger 3:00 10
Titles

1963 For WBA World

55-5- Dick Las Vegas Convention Center, Las
Draw PTS 15 -02- Middleweight
3 Tiger 23
Vegas, Nevada
Titles

For
1962
55-5- Dick Candlestick vacant WBA Wor
Loss UD 15 -10-
ld Middleweight
2 Tiger 23
Park, California, California
Title
 Retained NBA W
10 1961
55-4- Benny Las Vegas Convention Center, Las orld
Win KO (15), -12-
Middleweight
2 Paret 2:30 09
Vegas, Nevada
Title

Florent Retained NBA W

1961
54-4- orld
Win ino SD 15 -08- Ogden Stadium, Ogden, Utah
Middleweight
2 05
Fernández Title

Sugar Retained NBA W

1961
53-4- Las Vegas Convention Center, Las orld
Win Ray UD 15 -03-
Middleweight
2 04
Vegas, Nevada
Robinson Title

Sugar Retained NBA W

1960
52-4- Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los orld
Draw Ray PTS 15 -12-
Middleweight
2 03
Angeles, California
Robinson Title

Retained NBA W
1960
52-4- Carme 12 orld
Win TKO
(15)
-06- Derks Field, Salt Lake City, Utah
Middleweight
1 n Basilio 29
Title

Retained NBA W
1960
51-4- Joey Montana St. College orld
Draw PTS 15 -04-
Middleweight
1 Giardello 20
Fieldhouse, Bozeman, Montana
Title

Retained NBA W
1959
Spider George Nelson Field orld
Win 51-4 UD 15 -12-
Middleweight
Webb 04
House, Logan, Utah
Title

Won
vacant NBA Worl
d Middleweight
14 1959
Carme Title
Win 50-4 TKO (15), -08- Cow Palace, California, California
The
n Basilio 0:39 28
Ring magazine's
"Fight of the
Year" (1959)

1959
Wilf Madison Square Garden, New
Win 49-4 MD 10 -02-
Greaves 20
York, New York

1959
Milo Freeman Coliseum, San
Win 48-4 UD 10 -01-
Savage 09
Antonio, Texas

2 1958
Joe Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake
Win 47-4 KO (10), -11-
Miceli 0:38 10
City, Utah
 1958
Spider
Win 46-4 UD 10 -09- Derks Field, Salt Lake City, Utah
Webb 11

1958
Jim West Jordan Arena, West
Win 45-4 UD 10 -07-
Hegerle 07
Jordan, Utah

1958
Milo Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake
Win 44-4 UD 10 -03-
Savage 03
City, Utah

1957
Neal Madison Square Garden, New
Win 43-4 MD 10 -11-
Rivers 15
York, New York

1957
Chico West Jordan Arena, West
Win 42-4 UD 10 -09-
Vejar 04
Jordan, Utah

1957
Ralph
Win 41-4 UD 10 -06- Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Jones 07

Sugar 5 1957 Lost World

Loss 40-4 Ray KO (15), -05- Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois Middleweight
Robinson 1:27 01 Title

1957
Ernie Denver Auditorium
Win 40-3 UD 10 -02-
Durando 18
Arena, Denver, Colorado

1957
Wilf Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake
Win 39-3 UD 10 -01-
Greaves 28
City, Utah

Sugar 1957 Won World

Madison Square Garden, New
Win 38-3 Ray UD 15 -01-
York, New York
Middleweight
Robinson 02 Title

1956
Moses 3 West Jordan Arena, West
Win 37-3 KO
(10)
-09-
Ward 22
Jordan, Utah

1956
Win 36-3 Charles UD 10 -05-
Madison Square Garden, New
Humez York, New York
25

1956
Ralph
Win 35-3 UD 10 -04- Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio
Jones 20

Win 34-3 Gil SD 10 1956 Madison Square Garden, New

 Turner -02- York, New York
17

1956
Rocky
Win 33-3 SD 10 -01- Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Castellani 04

1955
Eduard Madison Square Garden, New
Loss 32-3 UD 10 -11-
York, New York
o Lausse 25

1955
Bobby Madison Square Garden, New
Loss 32-2 UD 10 -11-
Boyd 25
York, New York

1955
Al
Win 32-1 UD 10 -09- Ogden Stadium, Ogden, Utah
Andrews 12

1955
Del Butte Civic Center, Butte, Montana
Win 31-1 UD 10 -07-
Flanagan
26

30 West Jordan
Win Gil Turner PTS 10 1955-06-20
-1 Park, West Jordan, Utah

Los 29 Eastern Parkway

Gil Turner UD 10 1955-04-04
s -1 Arena, Brooklyn, New York

29
Win Govan Small PTS 10 1955-03-21 Salt Lake City, Utah
-0

28 Eastern Parkway
Win Paul Pender UD 10 1955-02-14
-0 Arena, Brooklyn, New York

27 Eastern Parkway
Win Marcel Assire UD 10 1955-01-31
-0 Arena, Brooklyn, New York

26 Eastern Parkway
Win Peter Mueller UD 10 1954-11-15
-0 Arena, Brooklyn, New York

25 Eastern Parkway
Win Jackie LaBua UD 10 1954-11-15
-0 Arena, Brooklyn, New York

4
24 West Jordan
Win Dick Wolfe KO (10), 1954-08-16
-0 1:27
Park, West Jordan, Utah

Win 23 Reno Abellira UD 10 1954-07-29 West Jordan

 -0 Arena, West Jordan, Utah

22 West Jordan
Win Govan Small PTS 10 1954-07-12
-0 Arena, West Jordan, Utah

21 Fairgrounds
Win Rio Rico PTS 10 1954-07-12 Coliseum, Salt Lake
-0 City, Utah

20 Andy Fairgrounds
7
Win RTD
(10)
1954-05-17 Coliseum, Salt Lake
-0 Anderson City, Utah

1 Fairgrounds
19
Win Charley Cato KO (10), 1954-04-26 Coliseum, Salt Lake
-0 1:43 City, Utah

18 West Jordan Junior

Win Kid Leon KO 1 1954-02-06
-0 High, West Jordan, Utah

17 Legion
Armando
Win UD 6 1952-09-20 Stadium, Hollywood, Califor
-0 Cotero nia

16 Mickey Ogden
Win KO 6 1952-08-08
-0 Rhodes Stadium, Ogden, Utah

15
Win Baby Ray KO 1 1951-10-17 Vernal, Utah
-0

14 Forbes
Win Rudy Zadell PTS 6 1951-10-10 Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylva
-0 nia

13
Win Gary Hanley KO 1 1951-10-03 West Jordan, Utah
-0

12 Fairgrounds
Win Garth Panter MD 10 1951-09-25 Coliseum, Salt Lake
-0 City, Utah

11 Uintah High School

Win Sam Healy KO 4 1951-09-14
-0 Gym, Vernal, Utah

10 4
Win Charley Cato KO
(10)
1951-09-07 West Jordan, Utah
-0

Personal[edit]
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.[2]

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.

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.[3][4]