Fulgencio Obelmejias

Template:Short description Template:BLP sources Fulgencio Obelmejías (born January 1, 1953), sometimes known also as Fully Obel is a Venezuelan former boxer, who was world super-middleweight champion.

Biography

Obelmejias was born in San José de Río Chico. He represented his native country at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City, where he lost his first fight to Ricardo Arce of Argentina. He also competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, where he was eliminated in the first round by Cuba's eventual bronze medalist Luis Felipe Martínez.

Professional career

He began his professional career, in the Middleweight division, on January 30, 1977, knocking out Franklin Suzarra in the first round at Caracas. After another win over Suzarra, he embarked on a tour of Mexico and southern California, having six consecutive fights in those areas from October 1977 to April 1978. In his first fight abroad as a professional, held at Mexico City, he worked for nine rounds in only his third professional bout before knocking out Jesus Garcia Ortiz. His second to last fight of that tour was against Abel Cordoba, whom he beat by a ten-round decision in Tuxtla Gutierrez on February 27. His last fight on that tour, against Rudy Robles in Tijuana on April 3, marked the beginning of a seventeen fight knockout win streak. He knocked out Robles in four rounds.

After the fight with Robles, Obelmejias had six consecutive fights in his native Venezuela, including a win over Johnny Heard. He then returned to Mexico, to fight for the Fecarbox Middleweight title against Carlos Marks on December 17 in Culiacán. He won the regional title, as well as a top ten ranking at the Middleweight division by the WBC, by knocking Marks out in nine rounds.

Obelmejias kept winning fights by knockouts, and, on March 3 of 1980, he got one of the biggest wins of his career, when he beat former WBC world Jr. Middleweight champion Elisha Obed in three rounds at Caracas.

After eight more wins, all by knockout, Obelmejias was made the number one contender for the world Middleweight title by the WBC.

When his first chance to become a world champion arrived, on January 17 of 1981, many Venezuelans had faith that he would become world champion; his record at the time (30-0 with 28 knockouts) impressed many boxing fans. However, Obelmejias lost for the first time, being handed an eighth-round knockout loss by then world champion Marvin Hagler in an HBO Boxing televised fight that took place at the famed Boston Garden, home of the NBA basketball's Boston Celtics.

Obelmejias won eight fights in a row, all by knockout, before being given a rematch by Hagler. Among those beaten during that new streak were former world Jr. Middleweight champion Eddie Gazo, beaten in two rounds in Caracas, future world champion Chong-Pal Park, knocked out in eight rounds, also in Caracas, and Alfredo Escalera's cousin, Reyes Escalera, also beaten in two rounds, in Barquisimeto.

On October 30 of 1982, he and Hagler had a rematch which was, once again, shown in the United States by HBO. The second time around, Hagler defeated Obelmejias by a knockout in five rounds at Sanremo, Italy. Both Hagler and Obelmejias fell in love with Italy and the country's culture. Obelmejias established himself there immediately after the rematch with Hagler. Hagler moved to Italy as soon as he lost the world Middleweight title to Sugar Ray Leonard in 1987.

After his rematch with Hagler, Obelmejias won nine straight bouts before being upset, on July 27 of 1985, by Clarence Osby. Amongst the quality fighters that he defeated during that nine fight winning streak were Jeff Lampkin, beaten by an eight-round decision, Jerry Celestine, also beaten over eight rounds, and Eric Winbush, who was beaten in Monte Carlo by another eight-round decision.

Then, on May 30 of 1986, he became the Caribbean Light-Heavyweight champion, when he outpointed Tomas Polo Ruiz over ten rounds at Isla Margarita.

He lost the title in his first defense, when he was knocked out by future world champion Leslie Stewart in four rounds, at Trinidad and Tobago on November 15 of 1986.

After one more win, he was given a third try at becoming a world champion, when the Lineal and WBA Super Middleweight champion, Obelmejias' former rival, Chong-Pal Park, offered him a shot.

The third time proved to be the charm for Obelmejias, when he beat Park by a twelve-round decision on May 23, 1988 at South Korea. With that win, Obelmejias had fulfilled his lifelong dream; as well as the dream of his fans' of becoming a world champion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

His stint as world champion did not last long, however, and he lost the title during his first defense, 370 days after winning it, being knocked out in eleven rounds by In-Chul Baek, also in South Korea.

Retirement

Obelmejias retired for good after three more wins; he was approaching, at 38, the mandatory boxing retirement age of 40 in Venezuela after his last fight, a ten-round decision win over Eduardo Rodriguez.

Obelmejias had a record of 52 wins and five losses, with 41 wins by way of knockout.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
57	Template:Yes2Win	52–5	Template:Flagicon Eduardo Rodriguez	PTS	10	Dec 15, 1992	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	51–5	Template:Flagicon Otata	KO	3	Dec 18, 1991	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	50–5	Template:Flagicon Chris Nicolaou	KO	6 (10)	Sep 29, 1991	Template:Small
54	Template:No2Loss	49–5	Template:Flagicon In-Chul Baek	TKO	11 (12), Template:Small	May 28, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	49–4	Template:Flagicon Chong-Pal Park	Template:Abbr	12	May 23, 1988	Template:Small	Template:Small
52	Template:Yes2Win	48–4	Template:Flagicon Chris Reid	KO	10 (10), Template:Small	Jun 18, 1987	Template:Small
51	Template:No2Loss	47–4	Template:Flagicon Leslie Stewart	TKO	4 (12)	Nov 16, 1986	Template:Small	Template:Small
50	Template:Yes2Win	47–3	Template:Flagicon Tomas Polo Ruiz	PTS	12	May 30, 1986	Template:Small	Template:Small
49	Template:No2Loss	46–3	Template:Flagicon Clarence Osby	PTS	8	Jul 21, 1985	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	46–2	Template:Flagicon Leon Taylor	KO	2	Dec 15, 1984	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	45–2	Template:Flagicon Eric Winbush	PTS	8	Sep 22, 1984	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	44–2	Template:Flagicon Cesar Abel Romero	PTS	8	Jul 14, 1984	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	43–2	Template:Flagicon Arthel Lawhorne	PTS	8	Apr 28, 1984	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	42–2	Template:Flagicon Henry Sims	KO	4 (10)	Mar 23, 1984	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	41–2	Template:Flagicon Jerry Celestine	PTS	8	Feb 25, 1984	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	40–2	Template:Flagicon Jeff Lampkin	PTS	8	Dec 14, 1983	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	39–2	Template:Flagicon Raymond Gonzales	TKO	4	Oct 24, 1983	Template:Small
40	Template:No2Loss	38–2	Template:Flagicon "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler	TKO	5 (15), Template:Small	Oct 30, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	38–1	Template:Flagicon Willie Torres	TKO	8 (10)	Aug 9, 1982	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	37–1	Template:Flagicon Reyes Escalera	TKO	2	Jun 14, 1982	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	36–1	Template:Flagicon Johnny Wise	KO	2	Feb 15, 1982	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	35–1	Template:Flagicon Chong-Pal Park	KO	8 (10)	Nov 7, 1981	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	34–1	Template:Flagicon Eddie Gazo	KO	2	Oct 6, 1981	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	33–1	Template:Flagicon Wayne Barker	TKO	2 (10)	Aug 31, 1981	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	32–1	Template:Flagicon Joe Gonsalves	TKO	2 (10)	May 30, 1981	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	31–1	Template:Flagicon Norberto Rufino Cabrera	KO	5 (10)	May 4, 1981	Template:Small
31	Template:No2Loss	30–1	Template:Flagicon "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler	TKO	8 (15), Template:Small	Jan 17, 1981	Template:Small	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	30–0	Template:Flagicon James Waire	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Nov 28, 1980	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	29–0	Template:Flagicon Leroy Green Jr.	TKO	3	Oct 31, 1980	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	28–0	Template:Flagicon Fred Johnson	TKO	3	Sep 10, 1980	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	27–0	Template:Flagicon Felton Marshall	PTS	10	Aug 19, 1980	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	26–0	Template:Flagicon Clifford Wills	TKO	3	Jun 30, 1980	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	25–0	Template:Flagicon Lamont Lovelady	PTS	10	May 26, 1980	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	24–0	Template:Flagicon Walter Miranda	KO	1	Apr 14, 1980	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	23–0	Template:Flagicon Abel Cordoba	KO	2	Apr 1, 1980	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	22–0	Template:Flagicon Elisha Obed	TKO	3 (10)	Mar 3, 1980	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	21–0	Template:Flagicon Ray Phillips	KO	4	Dec 17, 1979	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	20–0	Template:Flagicon George Lee	TKO	1	Oct 26, 1979	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Template:Flagicon Sammy Floyd	TKO	10	Sep 16, 1979	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	Template:Flagicon Luis Arias	KO	2 (12)	Aug 7, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Template:Flagicon Jamie Thomas	KO	5	Apr 1, 1979	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Template:Flagicon Angel Jose Ortiz	KO	2	Feb 10, 1979	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Template:Flagicon Carlos Marks	TKO	9 (12)	Dec 17, 1978	Template:Small	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Template:Flagicon Ken Blackwell	KO	3	Nov 12, 1978	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Template:Flagicon Johnny Heard	KO	7	Sep 17, 1978	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Template:Flagicon Willie Warren	Template:Abbr	9 (10)	Jul 30, 1978	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Template:Flagicon Sandy Torres	KO	4	Jul 15, 1978	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Template:Flagicon Jose Anglada	KO	1	Jun 4, 1978	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Template:Flagicon Rolando Martinez	TKO	1	Apr 30, 1978	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Template:Flagicon Rudy Robles	TKO	4 (10), Template:Small	Apr 3, 1978	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Template:Flagicon Abel Cordoba	Template:Abbr	10	Feb 27, 1978	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Template:Flagicon Vicente Pinon	KO	2 (10)	Feb 4, 1978	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Rogelio Vera	KO	2 (10)	Dec 17, 1977	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Template:Flagicon Andre Beard	KO	1, Template:Small	Nov 18, 1977	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Jesus Garza Ortiz	Template:Abbr	9	Oct 22, 1977	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Franklin Suzarra	TKO	2	Apr 3, 1977	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Franklin Suzarra	Template:Abbr	1	Jan 30, 1977	Template:Small

See also

• List of super middleweight boxing champions
• List of WBA world champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Fulgencio Obelmejias - CBZ Profile