Don Fullmer

Don Fullmer
Statistics
Rated at	Middleweight
Nationality	American
Born	February 21, 1939(1939-02-21) West Jordan, Utah
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	79
Wins	54
Wins by KO	14
Losses	20
Draws	5
No contests	0

Don Fullmer (born February 21, 1939) 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.^[1]

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.

External links

• Professional boxing record for Don Fullmer from BoxRec
• Fullmer Brothers Boxing website

References

1. ^ Goldman, Herbert (February 2000), "Answerman", Boxing Digest 42, no. 2: 62 

Persondata
Name	Fullmer, Don
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 21, 1939
Place of birth	West Jordan, Utah
Date of death
Place of death