Gene Fullmer, American boxer (born
July 21, 1931, West Jordan Utah, died April 27, 2015, Taylorsville,
Utah), Fullmer campaigned at a time when there were plenty of quality
fighters and the world titles, in just eight weight division, were
for the most part still undisputed. But true fight fans appreciate
the achievements of a boxer who had only 64 pro fights (55 wins including
24 inside the distance, six defeats and three draws) but who boxed
13 times for a world middleweight title.
The nickname “Cyclone”
gives away the fighting style of the man from the small town of West
Jordan, Utah.
The 5’ 8” Fullmer was a pressure fighter, a durable
crowd pleaser who got stuck in and punched away all night long.
It
was a style for which he paid a price in later years. Gene spent his
final few months at a Salt Lake County care center, suffering form
Alzheimer’s and dementia, although it was a bacterial infection that
finally put him down for the count.
His brother Jay, a pro welterweight
who boxed from 1956-60, had passed away just five days earlier. The
youngest of these three boxing brothers, 1968 world middleweight title
challenger Don, died in 2012.
Gene turned out to be the most
successful of the lot, turning pro in 1951 after an amateur career
that saw just four losses from 70 bouts. The former apprentice welder
in a Utah copper mine made swift progress, not losing until 1955 when
Gil Turner outpointed him in New York. He beat Turner twice in return
and by January 1957 was challenging Robinson for the world middleweight
title at Madison Square Garden.
Fullmer battered his way into
the world middleweight championship twice (1957, 1959-62) besting
Sugar Ray Robinson to win the crown the first time. Fullmer had a
brawling style of boxing and was known for his near imperviousness
to his opponents’ attacks. In the 1957 title fight at Madison Square
Garden in New York City, Robinson was favored to win, but Fullmer
prevailed by unanimous decision. In a storied rematch four months
later in Chicago, Robinson knocked Fullmer out with a fifth round
blow that became known as “the perfect punch.” The National Boxing
Association later stripped Robinson of the middleweight crown because
of his failure to defend it, and in 1959 Fullmer faced Carmen Basilio
for the title. Fullmer stopped his opponent in the 14th round and
thus regained the championship. He made seven successful defenses
of the title including a 1960 rematch with Basilio and two fights
against Robinson, one of which ended in a draw and the other in a
unanimous decision. Fullmer lost the title in 1962 to Dick Tiger of
Nigeria. Fullmer started his professional career in 1951 and won his
first 11 fights by knockout. He retired in 1963 with a record of 55
wins, 6 losses, and 3 draws. Fullmer was inducted into the International
Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.
