Gene Fullmer: The West Jordan Welder Who Beat Sugar Ray Robinson Twice

Gene Fullmer came out of a farming town south of Salt Lake City, welded at a copper mine between fights and twice held the world middleweight championship. He beat Sugar Ray Robinson twice, drew with him once, fought Dick Tiger three times without a win, and went home to raise mink in Utah.

A Boy Named After Gene Tunney in West Jordan

Lawrence Gene Fullmer was born on July 21, 1931, in West Jordan, Utah. According to The Boston Globe, his father, Lawrence, known as "Tuff," had boxed as an amateur, and the boy's middle name was taken from the heavyweight champion Gene Tunney. The family belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Fullmer stayed a committed member all his life.

The Globe reports that he had his first pair of gloves at six and was boxing in youth exhibitions by eight. Two younger brothers followed him into the ring: Jay, who boxed as a professional lightweight and welterweight, and Don, who later challenged for the world middleweight title himself. Gene graduated from Jordan High School. Boxing News adds that he put together an amateur record of 66 wins and 4 losses.

Welder, Soldier and Unbeaten Prospect

Fullmer turned professional in 1951 under Marv Jenson, the manager and mentor who stayed with him for most of his career. He kept working while he climbed the rankings. The Kennecott Copper Corporation's own history project describes him as a welder at the company, and Boxing News calls him a former apprentice welder in a Utah copper mine. Wikipedia records that he also served during the Korean War.

He won his first 29 professional fights, 19 of them by knockout according to Wikipedia. The first defeat came in 1955, when Gil Turner outpointed him. Standing about five feet eight inches, Fullmer did not box from range. He walked forward, threw wide hooks and overhand rights, and held his arms in a crossed guard that let him take punishment and keep coming. Writers called him "the Mormon Mauler" and "the Utah Cyclone." In October 1955 he married Dolores Holt in the Salt Lake Temple.

January 1957: The Upset of Sugar Ray Robinson

Robinson was the middleweight champion and the most celebrated fighter of the era when he met Fullmer at Madison Square Garden in January 1957. Wikipedia, Kennecott's history project and British Vintage Boxing date the fight to January 2. Fullmer went in as a heavy underdog and won a unanimous decision over 15 rounds. Boxing News lists the round scores as 10-5, 9-6 and 8-5-2, and reports that Fullmer dropped Robinson in the seventh round with a right and left to the body and opened a cut over his left eye.

The Left Hook in Chicago

The rematch at Chicago Stadium on May 1, 1957, lasted less than five rounds. Robinson found a left hook in the fifth that put Fullmer down for the count, the first time he had been stopped as a professional. Wikipedia notes that the punch has been called the perfect left hook. Fullmer later joked that people praised the hook to him but he never saw it, a line quoted by British Vintage Boxing.

NBA Champion: Basilio, Giardello and Paret

Fullmer next met Carmen Basilio for the vacant NBA title at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, on August 28, 1959. He stopped Basilio in the 14th round and became a world champion for the second time.

The defenses that followed show how far he was willing to travel and how hard he was to beat. On April 20, 1960, in Bozeman, Montana, he and Joey Giardello fought to a split draw over 15 rounds. On June 29, 1960, he defended at Derks Field in Salt Lake City and stopped Basilio again, this time in the 12th. In August 1961 he outpointed the Cuban puncher Florentino Fernández on a split decision at Ogden Stadium, and on December 9, 1961, in Las Vegas, he knocked out the welterweight champion Benny "Kid" Paret in the 10th round. The Associated Press counted seven successful title defenses in all, and the Boxing Writers Association of America named him Fighter of the Year for 1961.

The Draw and the Last Robinson Fight

Fullmer met Robinson twice more with the NBA belt at stake. On December 3, 1960, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, they fought 15 rounds to a split draw. Wikipedia notes that many ringside observers thought Robinson had done enough to win. Boxing News describes two draws with Robinson in 1960, but the AP's account of their series, two wins for Fullmer, one for Robinson and one draw, supports a single drawn fight.

The fourth meeting, on March 4, 1961, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, was clearer. Fullmer won a unanimous decision over a Robinson who was by then 40 years old. That left Fullmer ahead in their four-fight series, two wins to one, with one draw.

Three Fights With Dick Tiger

The man who ended his reign came from Nigeria by way of Liverpool. On October 23, 1962, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Dick Tiger beat Fullmer by unanimous decision over 15 rounds and took the WBA middleweight title. Fullmer did not dispute the result. Tiger's Wikipedia biography quotes him as saying, "He beat me bad."

The rematch on February 23, 1963, at the Las Vegas Convention Center ended in a 15-round draw, so Tiger kept the title. A third fight followed on August 10, 1963, at Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, the first world championship bout held in Africa. Fullmer was retired by his corner after the seventh round. He never boxed again.

Mink, Horses and a Family Gym

Fullmer finished with 55 wins, 24 of them by knockout, 6 losses and 3 draws in 64 professional bouts. Boxing News counts 13 world middleweight title fights. He had been farming mink even while he was champion. On a January 1962 episode of the television game show What's My Line?, he gave his line of work as mink rancher. Kennecott's history project says he went back to his West Jordan property after boxing to farm, raise mink and race quarter horses, and British Vintage Boxing places the mink operation in South Jordan. Sources disagree on that detail. He also had a small part as a bartender in the 1968 film The Devil's Brigade.

The brothers stayed in the sport as well. They helped set up the Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves, and in 1978, according to the Kennecott project, they opened the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym in South Jordan. The International Boxing Hall of Fame inducted Gene in 1991.

Final Years and Legacy in Utah

Fullmer lived with Alzheimer's disease and dementia for years. He died on April 27, 2015, at 83, at a care center in Taylorsville while being treated for a bacterial infection, according to the AP. Jay had died five days earlier. Don had died in 2012. Accounts of his family differ: Wikipedia records his marriage to Dolores Holt and four children, while later obituary material names his wife as Karen Davey Fullmer.

His nephew Larry Fullmer told the AP that he wanted his uncle remembered "as a gentleman and someone who loved the sport." West Jordan named a recreation center after him in 2015, and part of 9400 South running through West Jordan and South Jordan now carries his name.

Sources

• Gene Fullmer, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Dick Tiger, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Former middleweight champion Gene Fullmer dies at 83, Associated Press via KSL.com, April 28, 2015
• Gene Fullmer, 83; middleweight boxing champion, The Boston Globe, May 1, 2015
• On this day: Tough as they come, Gene Fullmer died, Boxing News (Daniel Herbert), April 26, 2018
• G. Fullmer, Kennecott Groundbreakers, undated
• The Mormon Mauler: Gene Fullmer, British Vintage Boxing, undated