Lawrence Gene Fullmer (July 21, 1931 – April 27, 2015) was an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

and World

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

champion. He was known as The Utah Cyclone, The Mormon Mauler, and as "Cyclone" Gene Fullmer.

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 West Jordan is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is a suburb of Salt Lake City. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 116,961, placing it as the third most populous in the state. The city occupies the sou ...

, 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 Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarde ...

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 The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded i ...

withdrew its recognition of Robinson as middleweight champion. Fullmer and fellow former middleweight champion

Carmen Basilio Carmen Basilio (born Carmine Basilio, April 2, 1927 – November 7, 2012) was an American professional boxer who was a two-time Undisputed Welterweight Champion and Undisputed Middleweight champion, beating Sugar Ray Robinson for the latter ...

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 Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

champion Benny "Kid" Paret. He narrowly escaped being dethroned when he was held to 15-round draws by Robinson and future titleholder

Joey Giardello Carmine Orlando Tilelli (July 16, 1930 – September 4, 2008) was an American boxer who was the world middleweight champion from 1963 to 1965. He adopted the name Joey Giardello (the name of a cousin's friend) in order to join the U.S. Army whi ...

. 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 Richard Ihetu (August 14, 1929 – December 14, 1971), professionally known as Dick Tiger was a Nigerian professional boxer who held the undisputed middleweight and light-heavyweight championships. Tiger emigrated to Liverpool, England ...

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

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* NYSAC

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

champion (160 lbs) * NBA (WBA) middleweight champion (160 lbs) (2×)

''The Ring'' magazine titles

* ''The Ring'' middleweight champion (160 lbs)

Undisputed titles

* Undisputed middleweight champion

Fighting style

Fullmer was known as an aggressive brawler and relentless pressure fighter. He used wide hooks and overhands, but he is most known for his heavy use of the reverse cross-arm guard. This caused Fullmer to have an awkward, but effective jab which he used to set up power punches.

Personal life

Fullmer graduated from Jordan High School and worked at Kennecott Copper Mine for several years, he also served in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He married Dolores Holt on October 13, 1955, in the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a Temple (LDS Church), temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...

. They raised 2 daughters and 2 sons. 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 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(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 A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or ...

on his boxing winnings. 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 A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' by

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

. On January 21, 1962, Fullmer appeared on

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...

but not as a mystery guest. His line was that he was a

mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...

rancher. His fight with

appears prominently in the music video for the

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

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.

Filmography

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

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fullmer, Gene 1931 births 2015 deaths Middleweight boxers International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Boxers from Utah Sportspeople from West Jordan, Utah Latter Day Saints from Utah American male boxers 20th-century American sportsmen