Honorable Mentions Part 2
10. Donald, Bruce and Graylin Curry
Donald Curry was the youngest, but the most talented of the Curry brothers. He became the very best welterweight in the world when he beat Marlon Starling (for the second time) in 1984. “The Lone Star Cobra,” as he was called, eventually held the WBC, WBA and IBF 147-pound titles simultaneously.
Bruce Curry won the super lightweight version of the WBC belt. Some will tell you they were the first brothers to claim championships at the same time, but the aforementioned Attell brothers beat them to it by nearly 90 years.
Their brother Graylin Curry was the odd man out, walking away from the sport with just 13 wins to six losses.
9. Gene, Jay and Don Fullmer
Gene Fullmer was knocked out cleanly just once in his 64-fight career. Sugar Ray Robinson lit him up with a picture-perfect left hand in Round 5 of their middleweight title contest of 1957. Ray Robinson, was unable to beat Gene, a two-time champion, in their other three bouts.
The youngest brother, Don Fullmer, also partook in pugilistic affairs, proving himself a contender, sharing the ring with the likes of Emile Griffith and Dick Tiger.
Jay Fullmer, the middle child, also dabbled, retiring with a record of 54-20-5.
8. The Zivic Clan
Sons of Croatian refugees, the five Zivic brothers were bred for the fight game. Fritzie Zivic, the best of kin, is a Hall of Famer and former welterweight world champion, with a reputation for some of the roughest fighting the sport has ever seen.
Jack Zivic was a fine boxer himself, fighting in the 1920 Olympics and holds a win over Hall of Famer Lew Tendler in the paid ranks.
Eddie Zivic finished his career with a record below .500 but tangled with immortals like Tony Canzoneri and Henry Armstrong.
Pete Zivic was another 1920 Olympian and fought bantamweight legend Panama Al Brown.
Joe Zivic never did turn pro, but was a judge and referee.
7. Abe and Monte Attell
The two fought in an era in the early, early 20th century where championship claims were aplenty and proper record keeping was very scarce. Nonetheless, the Attell brothers fought for various championship bodies—Abe Attell at featherweight and Monte Attell at bantamweight.
Abe was the greater of the two sporting wins over the legendary George Dixon and murderous-punching Aurelio Herrera.
They rank this high for setting such a precedent so early.
6. Terry and Orlin Norris
Following Julian Jackson’s move up to middleweight, Terry Norris, who suffered a vicious Round 2 KO to Jackson in 1989, got his second crack at super welterweight supremacy when he took on John “The Beast” Mugabi.
The man they called “Terrible Terry” didn’t waste the opportunity, flattening Mugabi within one round. Under a year later he handed the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard a boxing lesson over a one-sided 12 rounds.
He made a total of 16 title defenses of his WBC and IBF 154-pound belts—beating other standouts Meldrick Taylor and Donald Curry.
Brother Orlin Norris also picked up a world title—defending his WBA cruiserweight strap four times—and later becoming a ranked heavyweight as well.
