It’s usually the case with dynamic brawlers who depend on bodily energy, fixed aggression, and a seemingly inhuman means to soak up punishment that, like an engine habitually pushed past the pink line, the bodily toll accrues and the flexibility to carry out abruptly and precipitously declines. A sturdy battler who simply brief years earlier possessed the vigour and clout to defeat nice champions like Sugar Ray Robinson and Carmen Basilio, abruptly slows, weakens, and turns into susceptible. So it was for Gene Fullmer, who, at solely 31 years of age, unexpectedly misplaced his middleweight championship to challenger Dick Tiger in San Francisco and within the course of appeared a drastically diminished fighter.
That’s to not say a warrior as rugged and highly effective as Tiger couldn’t have competed with a chief Fullmer. Tiger, whose actual identify was Richard Ihetu, is a two-time middleweight champion who defeated an extended listing of Corridor of Famers together with Joey Giardello, Rubin Carter, Joey Archer, Jose Torres and Nino Benvenuti, and little question had the products to carry his personal with just about any middleweight in historical past. Nevertheless it was apparent the Fullmer who misplaced to the Nigerian after fifteen one-sided rounds was not the identical Fullmer who had scored massive wins over Robinson, Basilio and Benny Paret.
Gene appeared a bit higher within the rematch 4 months later in Las Vegas, or at the least ok to salvage a draw, although one more grueling, fifteen spherical battle did little good for the worn down springs in his legs and the fading sharpness of his reflexes. However the draw properly arrange a 3rd Tiger vs Fullmer bout, one which turned an historic occasion, the primary ever world title match held on the African continent exterior of apartheid South Africa. This was greater than a decade earlier than the well-known “Rumble within the Jungle” between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. Nigeria, a nation reeling from varied political upheavals and inner strife, got here collectively as one to cheer on their champion, with warring factions, briefly at the least, burying the hatchet.
The one actual shock of the evening for American audiences was the enthusiastic reception given the previous champion. “Idiot-mah! Idiot-mah!” chanted the large throng because the “The Utah Cyclone” made his option to the ring. Evidently, his gallant stands towards their countryman had made him the second hottest boxer in Nigeria.
The bout itself lacked drama, although not bruising motion, albeit one-way, as Tiger’s benefits in energy and quickness have been instantly obvious and shortly blood was as soon as once more pouring down the facet of Fullmer’s face. By the top of a brutal fourth spherical which noticed Fullmer’s tenderized mug take a sustained beating, the previous champ had cuts above and beneath each eyes, the gash above the suitable significantly nasty.
Tiger pursued his benefit, stalking his man, whereas Fullmer tried unsuccessfully to field from a distance, pressured to undertake a mode clearly unnatural to him. By the sixth the match had change into a rout. Fullmer had no choices; on the surface, when he jabbed and tried to guard the cuts round his eyes, he stored getting nailed by highly effective proper palms due to Tiger’s longer arms. On the within, the champion pummeled Gene with heavy left hooks.
Spurred on by his countrymen, Tiger dished out a beating in spherical seven, hammering Fullmer from nook to nook. The challenger by no means stopped making an attempt, by no means stopped combating again, however all might see the competition had been determined. On the bell Gene walked haltingly again to his nook, as if unsure of the ground beneath him, his expression one in every of weary resignation. Seconds later his supervisor signaled give up. Because the referee raised Tiger’s hand, joyous pandemonium erupted in Liberty Stadium and followers flooded by means of the ropes. It took half an hour for police to clear the ring.
“If it’s important to lose, it’s a pleasure to lose to a terrific fighter, sportsman and gentleman like Dick Tiger,” declared the gracious Fullmer, who was astonished by the tributes and adulation the Nigerian followers bestowed upon him. “There have been at the least a thousand followers ready exterior to cheer goodbye,” he marveled after his return to the USA. The poignant farewell might have been on behalf of all the sport, for Fullmer, clearly probably the greatest middleweights of his time, by no means fought once more. — Michael Carbert
