‘I want him to be remembered as a gentleman and someone who loved the sport, but he loved people, too. If you ever look at any clips of his fights or see any interviews, you’ll never see any arrogance or cockiness or pride about his accomplishments. He was always a gentleman and never spoke ill of any of his opponents.’ Larry Fullmer – Gene’s nephew
Known by a number of monikers, including The Utah Cyclone, Lawrence Gene Fullmer was a two-time middleweight world champion in an era of tough hombres. Lawrence shared his father’s first name, but was known as Gene, having been named after world heavyweight boxing champion, Gene Tunney. It’s as if his destiny had been written from an early age.
Born on 21 July 1931 in a small mining town in the Salt Lake City Valley, Utah, young Gene saw a boxing trainer by the name of Merv Jenson on the green in front of a recreation centre of his local community of West Jordan. Having tried athletics and basketball with little success, young Fullmer decided to give boxing a go and was followed by his younger brothers, Don and Jay. From the get-go, the connection and trust between the Fullmers and Jenson was strong, with Gene trusting Merv with his management for the bulk of his professional career.
With Gene’s father having boxed as an amateur, as his sons started to engage in the sport, he built an outdoor ring at the family home. Gene had his first amateur contest at the age of eight and only lost four in 70 amateur fights over the next 11 years. From 1948 – April 1951, Fullmer grew from lightweight to middleweight, competing in multiple Amateur Athletics Union (AAU) contests. His quest for fighting at the Olympics was looking promising after knocking out lightweight Sonny Grazette on 17 June 1948 at the US Olympic trials, semi-finals, however, he came unstuck 10 days later in the finals, losing on points to Johnny Gonsalves.
Aged 19, on 9 June 1951, Fullmer turned professional at George Nelson Fieldhouse, Logan, Utah, knocking out Glen Peck in the first round. Over the next three months, he clocked up a further 10 stoppage victories, gaining a reputation as a fighter who could take a punch and wasn’t afraid to stand toe to toe and battle it out.
Fullmer served in the Korean War from 1952 – 1954, returned to boxing the year after and by 4 April 1955, was unbeaten in 29 contests. It was however this date where he incurred his first loss against Philadelphian, Gil Turner, via points in Brooklyn. Two months later, Fullmer avenged the loss in his own backyard, with non-other than former world heavyweight champion, The Cinderella Man, Jim Braddock refereeing the contest.
Outside of boxing, running parallel to his fistic career, Fullmer worked at Kennecott Copper mine, in addition to dabbling with mink farming in South Jordan, where he lived with his wife, Delores, who he married in 1955. They went on to raise four children, but sadly, Delores died of a heart attack in 1983.
Back to boxing. Over the next two years, Fullmer clocked up some very significant victories against the likes of future world champion, Paul Pender, plus Rocky Castellani and Ralph ‘Tiger’ Jones, all of which helped to move him closer to title contention.
On 2 January 1957, Fullmer’s big chance came when he challenged ring legend, Sugar Ray Robinson for his world middleweight title at Madison Square Garden. Despite being a massive underdog, Fullmer’s roughhouse style not only kept him in there for the full 15 rounds, but gained him the decision on all three scorecards. He was now world middleweight champion. Unfortunately, four months later, Ray Robinson detonated a sensational left hook to Fullmer’s chin, bringing the bout to an early conclusion in the fifth round. Years later, Fullmer would say, ‘People tell me it was a great left hook, but I wouldn’t know. I never saw it!’
FULLMER VS SUGAR RAY ROBINSON 2nd JAN 1957
However, all was not lost as he was about to embark on the most fruitful part of his career. Over the next two years, The Cyclone clocked up nine victories on the bounce, propelling him into another world title shot, but this time against The Upstate Onion Farmer, Carmen Basilio for the vacant world middleweight title.
On 28 August 1959, the pair locked horns at the Cow Palace, Daly City, California. The matchmaking for this fight was mouthwatering, with highly respected two weight world champion Basilio’s record standing at 54 victories, 13 losses (against rated opposition) and seven draws, whilst Fullmer now boasted 49 victories and four losses.
FULLMER VS CARMEN BASILIO 28th AUGUST 1959
After 14 of the scheduled 15 rounds, Fullmer stopped Basilio to be crowned a two-time world middleweight champion. The victory was headline news, but for many, calibre of the seven back to back title defences are what guaranteed his place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame years later.
After a points victory over Ellsworth ‘Spider’ Webb in December 1959, Fullmer ground out a split decision draw against future world champion, Joey Giardello, followed only two months later by another stoppage win over old foe, Carmen Basilio.
Keen to regain his old strap, Sugar Ray Robinson challenged Fullmer on 3 December 1960 at the Sports Arena, Los Angeles, with both men walking away with a split draw. With both fighters unhappy with the decision, the pair met again three months later, but this time Fullmer put on a more convincing performance for the judges, winning on all three scorecards and retaining his belt.
Despite fighting with a fractured elbow, Gentleman Gene defeated Cuban contender, Florentino Fernandez in August 1961, then four months later floored Benny Kid Paret three times in the tenth round to claim a stoppage victory. After such an impressive run of fights, unsurprisingly, Fullmer was named as the Boxing Writers Association of America’s ‘Fighter of the Year, 1961.’ On a side note, Paret sadly died a few months later, due to injuries sustained against a merciless beating from Emile Griffith. Paret was only 25.
FULLMER VS FLORENTINO FERNANDEZ AUGUST 1961
Fullmer’s last three fights were all against teak tough Nigerian, Dick Tiger. Unfortunately for Fullmer, he was on the end of two defeats and a draw, with the last loss being for the vacant WBC middleweight title on 10 August 1963. At 32 years old, hammer fisted Fullmer bowed out with a very respectable 55 victories, six losses and three draws and rightfully earned a place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 1991.
Brothers, Don and Jay, eight and six years younger respectively went on to have successful pro careers. Don, also a tough middleweight, amassed a record of 54 victories, 20 losses and five draws and challenged for the middleweight world title a couple of times, including a points loss to Nino Benvenuti. During his career he battled with nine world champions and his victories included wins over future world heavyweight challenger, Jimmy Ellis and also a wide points victory over Emile Griffith in 1965, for the WBA American middleweight title. Despite their careers overlapping in the same weight division, thankfully their trajectories never crossed paths. Jay’s career ran from 1956-1960, winning 20 of his 27 contests at welterweight, in a career sadly cut short due to an eye injury.
The year after Gene’s retirement, the three brothers started the Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves franchise in Utah and remained active in both a coaching and administrative capacity until their deaths. The Fullmer family was born and raised in Utah and left their legacy there. Inspired by Merv Jenson, they continued to train and nurture thousands of youngsters from the local community, helping them to make better choices through the power of sport.
Don Fullmer passed away on 28 January 2012, followed by Jay on 22 April 2015 and five days later, on 27 April (the day of Jay’s burial) Gene, a devout Mormon, died at the age of 83. IBHOF director, Ed Brophy said soon after Gene’s passing, ‘A tough and rugged middleweight champion, Gene Fullmer was one of the shining stars of the Golden ‘50s boxing scene.’
Gene was survived by his wife of 30 years, Karen Davey Fullmer, four children from his first wife, Dolores, 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Paul Zanon, has had 11 books published, with almost all of them reaching the No1 Bestselling spot in their respective categories on Amazon. He has co-hosted boxing shows on Talk Sport, been a pundit on London Live, Boxnation and has contributed to a number of boxing publications, including, Boxing Monthly, The Ring, Daily Sport, Boxing News, Boxing Social, amongst other publications.
