WEST JORDAN, Utah (AP) - Don Fullmer, the former middleweight boxer who fought nine world champions in 79 matches and came within a fight of a world title himself, has died at the age of 72.
He died Saturday in West Jordan after suffering from lymphocytic leukemia for 15 years, his family told the Deseret News.
Fullmer was the brother of former world middleweight champion Gene Fullmer. He lost to such former champions as Dick Tiger, Jose Torres, Joey Archer and Emile Griffith during a career that spanned from 1957 to 1973.
He defeated Griffith and Archer in rematches before losing to Nino Benvenuti in 1966. In a 1968 rematch with Benvenuti for the middleweight title, Fullmer knocked the Italian down in the seventh round but lost a 15-round unanimous decision.
His family said Fullmer was weak from weeks of battling the flu before that fight, and he often wondered how life might have changed if he had the strength to hit Benvenuti harder or follow up with more punches.
"About 10 years ago, he told me that a day never goes by that he hasn't thought about that fight," said Hud Fullmer, one of his five sons.
"He told me he dreams about it every night," added another son, Kade.
On the 43rd anniversary of that fight, the Fullmer sons gathered at the South Jordan home of their parents to discuss it and their father's life.
"Maybe our lives would have been a lot different from one punch," son Brad said.
Don Fullmer became a firefighter after retiring from the ring.
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Information from: Deseret News
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