A More Happy Fella Than Yesterday.
New York -- Brawny Gene Fullmer and his wife Dolores stand in front of Broadway's Imperial Theater where 'The Most Happy Fella' is playing; an appropriate spot for Fullmer the morning after his victory over Charles Humez in a bloody ten-round fight at Madison Square Garden. The Fullmers are heading for their West Jordan, Utah, home. The 24-year-old mining welder stood out as the number one challenger for the Middleweight crown of Sugar Ray Robinson after his victory over France's Humez. Fullmer said a millionaire friend would underwrite a $1,000,000 guarantee to Robinson if necessary to entice the champion into the ring. (1956)
New York -- Brawny Gene Fullmer and his wife Dolores stand in front of Broadway's Imperial Theater where 'The Most Happy Fella' is playing; an appropriate spot for Fullmer the morning after his victory over Charles Humez in a bloody ten-round fight at Madison Square Garden. The Fullmers are heading for their West Jordan, Utah, home. The 24-year-old mining welder stood out as the number one challenger for the Middleweight crown of Sugar Ray Robinson after his victory over France's Humez. Fullmer said a millionaire friend would underwrite a $1,000,000 guarantee to Robinson if necessary to entice the champion into the ring. (1956)
Here's a photo from the era when the fight game was jam packed with great middleweights. Along with Fullmer and Robinson, there were Zale, Graziano, Benvenuti, Tiger, and Griffith among others. These were the fighters I grew up seeing on TV and listening to on the radio. The fight game doesn't command the national audience it once did but when I was a kid all the champion fighters were household names, especially the middle and heavyweights. Maybe it was the snappy looking ties they wore.
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