Don Fullmer
Encyclopedia
Don Fullmer is a former boxer and brother of former world middleweight champion Gene Fullmer
.
Eight years younger than his more famous brother, Don followed Gene into the gym in West Jordan, Utah, to learn how to box. He fought as an amateur for four years and did not lose in sixty-five fights. Another brother, Jay, was also active in boxing.
Don turned professional in 1957 as a middleweight
and beat some top contenders during his early career, such as Rocky Fumerelle, Rocky Rivero, and Joe DeNucci. However, he also lost to some good fighters, such as former champions Terry Downes
, Dick Tiger
, José Torres
, Joey Archer
, and Emile Griffith
. In 1964 he beat Jimmy Ellis
, who later went on to win the World Boxing Association
version of the heavyweight
championship. The win against Ellis began a winning streak for Fullmer and he went on to defeat Emile Griffith
and Joey Archer
in rematches. This streak ended when he lost to Nino Benvenuti in Rome in 1966. Benvenuti went on to win the middlweight title, and after Fullmer beat Carl "Bobo" Olson he fought a rematch with Benvenuti for the title in 1968. He knocked the Italian down but lost a fifteen-round unanimous decision.
While never a recognized world champion, Fullmer did win a bout billed as for the "World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship" when he defeated Joe Hopkins in 1967. This title was the precursor to the current super middleweight
championship. Few in the boxing world recognized the legitimacy of that title.
Fullmer retired from the ring in 1973.
After he retired, Fullmer worked for the Salt Lake County Fire Department. He has five sons with his wife Nedra.
Gene Fullmer
Gene Fullmer is a former American middleweight boxer and world champion.-Professional career:Fullmer began his professional career in 1951 and won his first 29 fights, 19 by knockout...
.
Eight years younger than his more famous brother, Don followed Gene into the gym in West Jordan, Utah, to learn how to box. He fought as an amateur for four years and did not lose in sixty-five fights. Another brother, Jay, was also active in boxing.
Don turned professional in 1957 as a middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
and beat some top contenders during his early career, such as Rocky Fumerelle, Rocky Rivero, and Joe DeNucci. However, he also lost to some good fighters, such as former champions Terry Downes
Terry Downes
Terry Downes is a retired British middleweight boxer. He was nicknamed the "Paddington Express" for his aggressive fighting style. As of 2008, Downes was Britain’s oldest surviving former world champion...
, Dick Tiger
Dick Tiger
Dick Tiger CBE was a boxer from Ubahu village, Amaigbo, Nigeria, who emigrated to Liverpool and later to the United States of America. Tiger was a member of the Igbo ethnic group...
, José Torres
José Torres
José Torres , was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur boxer, he won a silver medal in the junior middleweight at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1965, he defeated Willie Pastrano to win the WBC and WBA light heavyweight championships...
, Joey Archer
Joey Archer
Joey Archer, , is a retired boxer. Archer defeated Sugar Ray Robinson in Robinson's final fight in 1965 , and fought Hall of Fame boxers such as Emile Griffith and Dick Tiger....
, and Emile Griffith
Emile Griffith
Emile Alphonse Griffith is a former boxer who was the first fighter from the U.S. Virgin Islands ever to become a world champion. He is perhaps best known for his controversial third fight with Benny Paret in 1962 for the welterweight world championship...
. In 1964 he beat Jimmy Ellis
Jimmy Ellis
James Albert "Jimmy" Ellis is a retired boxer from Louisville, Kentucky. He fought in what some consider to be the greatest heavyweight era of all-time, which included Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson, Oscar Bonavena, Earnie Shavers and George Chuvalo among...
, who later went on to win the World Boxing Association
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
version of the heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
championship. The win against Ellis began a winning streak for Fullmer and he went on to defeat Emile Griffith
Emile Griffith
Emile Alphonse Griffith is a former boxer who was the first fighter from the U.S. Virgin Islands ever to become a world champion. He is perhaps best known for his controversial third fight with Benny Paret in 1962 for the welterweight world championship...
and Joey Archer
Joey Archer
Joey Archer, , is a retired boxer. Archer defeated Sugar Ray Robinson in Robinson's final fight in 1965 , and fought Hall of Fame boxers such as Emile Griffith and Dick Tiger....
in rematches. This streak ended when he lost to Nino Benvenuti in Rome in 1966. Benvenuti went on to win the middlweight title, and after Fullmer beat Carl "Bobo" Olson he fought a rematch with Benvenuti for the title in 1968. He knocked the Italian down but lost a fifteen-round unanimous decision.
While never a recognized world champion, Fullmer did win a bout billed as for the "World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship" when he defeated Joe Hopkins in 1967. This title was the precursor to the current super middleweight
Super middleweight
Super Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds .- 1960s–1983 :There was interest in a division between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...
championship. Few in the boxing world recognized the legitimacy of that title.
Fullmer retired from the ring in 1973.
After he retired, Fullmer worked for the Salt Lake County Fire Department. He has five sons with his wife Nedra.