Mysterious Career and End of Cleveland Golden Gloves Champion Ted Gullick
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
A native of Youngstown, Ohio, trained by Sammy Greggs, 1961 Ohio Golden Gloves champion Ted Gullick fought his way out of prison through boxing, compiling a 43-1 record, with 41 knockouts, and his only amateur loss avenged by knockout. Fighting professional between 1969 and 1974, Gullick was 15-8-1 with 14 knockouts, and a top prospect until 1971 when his heavyweight career nosedived. Gullick’s legal troubles included being convicted of assaulting a security officer outside a Youngstown skating rink in 1961. Gullick was later sentenced to prison for breaking into a beauty salon. Gullick was never a heavyweight by modern standards, but then again, neither was the late Rocky Marciano either, if one considers the modern heavyweight threshold as being above 200 pounds. Gullick, in actuality, was a cruiserweight, and only fought two bouts of his 24 pro bouts at the true heavyweight weight limit by today’s standards.
After knocking out his first five undistinguished journeymen opponents in the first or second round, Gullick came to prominence on December 10, 1969, in only his sixth pro bout, when he knocked out 29-1 contender Ray Anderson at Cleveland Arena in the ninth round of a major upset. (Anderson would go on to fight 15 rounds with Bob Foster in Tampa, Florida, in 1971, in a losing effort for Foster’s World Boxing Council World Light Heavyweight title). Big things seemed to be headed Gullick’s way. From 1971 onwards Gullick’s title aspirations were not to be as his career faded.
In April 1971, Gullick was dropped in the tenth round at Cleveland Arena by Cleveland Williams, who won a majority 10-round decision, in what otherwise would have been a 10-round split decision for Gullick without the knockdown. Knockout losses to George Foreman, Duane Bobick, Terry Daniels and Earnie Shavers signaled the end of Gullick’s career. In November 1094, Gullick lost a 10-round majority decision to 11-7 Bellfuss at Milwaukee Auditorium, and then retired.
Gullick fought his career at 188 to 200 with two exceptions, one of them being the knockout loss to Williams at a career high 226 pounds. Gullick was a cruiserweight in an era when there was no cruiserweight division, and could have been better off campaigning at light heavyweight. In December 1986, the nude charred body of Gullick, 41, was mysteriously discovered in a field near the downtown YMCA where he lived. Nothing is known of Gullick’s activities during his retirement years. Police officials learned from Gullick’s acquaintances the former boxer, long forgotten, was sad, and spent much time alone.
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