BoxRec

Tough solid fighter the 1950s Philadelphia welterweight Gil Turner had an impressive resume consisting of victories over :
Virgil Akins
Del Flanagan
Yama Bahama
Gene Fullmer who was 29-0 at the time. Turner floored him.
Joe Miceli
Johnny Saxton
Bobby Dykes
Ike Williams who he kod
Charley Fusari
Beau Jack
I wonder if there is some film out there of him.
He was one of the 50s toughest contenders. Turner learned his craft in typical old scool fashion taking on the best in his division.Avoiding none of the best welters.He lost to Gavilan in a title shot and dropped a md to Carmen Basilio as well. After fighting the fighters this guy did he can hold his head high.

..very exciting fighter. the film of him against gavilan is available....it's been on espnc a few times.

Lets bump this.
Any info or thoughts on Turner?

I got highlights of his fights against Saxton, Gavillan and Giardello.

Woller

...espnc has the complete gavilan/turner fight. it's a pip.

gil turner was one of the hottest young boxing attractions, at a time when boxing still got decent news coverage. when he fought gavilan he was 31 and 0, with 24 kayos. now compare this to today's boxing situation..with that record he was considered LACKING IN EXPERIENCE....to make a title challenge! gavilan had around 100 fights at when they fought. plus he got some coverage because then it was highly unusual for an undefeated fighter to get a title shot. the norm was for a seasoned guy to have dropped at least one and usually more before he got there. (marciano was another who was an anomaly). again, compare that to the fitghters now.....no many undefeated guys challenging undefeated champions.)

stepping back..to turner's earlier career:
he made his national tv debut...(in new york, i think) which i saw, against vic cardell. unfortunately cardell had one of those nullifying awkward styles and though turner won, he didn't look impressive, especially after the big build up. (i will refer to fights i saw on live tv as i write about them. ) i don't remember seeing him flanagan, but he won, and i did see him against don williams. turner was a full charge in both hands pumping non-stop machine...williams was a stick and mover ...usually moving back...and his style was made for turner, who practically chased him out of the ring, and stopped him.

re: those 24 kos in 31 fights..his manager said he "hasn't learned to punch yet"..which the sports writers thought was a hoot, but i could see what they meant...as he threw blow after blow after blow and wore his guy down but wasn't sitting down on his punches. still, he was a terror....a force that couldn't even be slowed down.

so..the gavilan fight...which for some reason wasn't televised in my area (cincinnati) but i think it must have been on tv somewhere because of the way the tape is presented. when i saw it....about a year ago, it confirmed the writeups. turner started strong...and with these two punches-in bunches fighters it was a real battle. but...gavilan was at his peak then..not having weight problems, and his chin and own aggressive style..but with the added factor of his slickness just withstood the early onslaught and had turner exhausted and finally he just withered and the keed stopped him

turner was still a good attraction, and made for tv...non-stop action...always always moving forward and i saw him often and he was one tough cookie. he eventually started fighting middleweights...and would win a few...drop a couple..win again....but that kind of style does not lend itself to ring longevity and he retired. check him out on box rec...mostly he was fighting the best in the business at the time.

his style was more like beau jack's than henry armstrong's. armstrong leaned his head on his opponents' chest and just kept pumping away. turner flung them more from the outside, which made for more visible excitement. he was great to watch..one of my favorites at the time...and the time was in the tv era so i got to see him a lot, and was sorry when his career slid to an end.

Jaclem wrote:...espnc has the complete gavilan/turner fight. it's a pip.

gil turner was one of the hottest young boxing attractions, at a time when boxing still got decent news coverage. when he fought gavilan he was 31 and 0, with 24 kayos. now compare this to today's boxing situation..with that record he was considered LACKING IN EXPERIENCE....to make a title challenge! gavilan had around 100 fights at when they fought. plus he got some coverage because then it was highly unusual for an undefeated fighter to get a title shot. the norm was for a seasoned guy to have dropped at least one and usually more before he got there. (marciano was another who was an anomaly). again, compare that to the fitghters now.....no many undefeated guys challenging undefeated champions.)

stepping back..to turner's earlier career:
he made his national tv debut...(in new york, i think) which i saw, against vic cardell. unfortunately cardell had one of those nullifying awkward styles and though turner won, he didn't look impressive, especially after the big build up. (i will refer to fights i saw on live tv as i write about them. ) i don't remember seeing him flanagan, but he won, and i did see him against don williams. turner was a full charge in both hands pumping non-stop machine...williams was a stick and mover ...usually moving back...and his style was made for turner, who practically chased him out of the ring, and stopped him.

re: those 24 kos in 31 fights..his manager said he "hasn't learned to punch yet"..which the sports writers thought was a hoot, but i could see what they meant...as he threw blow after blow after blow and wore his guy down but wasn't sitting down on his punches. still, he was a terror....a force that couldn't even be slowed down.

so..the gavilan fight...which for some reason wasn't televised in my area (cincinnati) but i think it must have been on tv somewhere because of the way the tape is presented. when i saw it....about a year ago, it confirmed the writeups. turner started strong...and with these two punches-in bunches fighters it was a real battle. but...gavilan was at his peak then..not having weight problems, and his chin and own aggressive style..but with the added factor of his slickness just withstood the early onslaught and had turner exhausted and finally he just withered and the keed stopped him

turner was still a good attraction, and made for tv...non-stop action...always always moving forward and i saw him often and he was one tough cookie. he eventually started fighting middleweights...and would win a few...drop a couple..win again....but that kind of style does not lend itself to ring longevity and he retired. check him out on box rec...mostly he was fighting the best in the business at the time.

his style was more like beau jack's than henry armstrong's. armstrong leaned his head on his opponents' chest and just kept pumping away. turner flung them more from the outside, which made for more visible excitement. he was great to watch..one of my favorites at the time...and the time was in the tv era so i got to see him a lot, and was sorry when his career slid to an end.

Now thats a post.
Thanks Jaclem .
That answers my question sbout Turner.

It's nice to see Jaclem utilize his considerable journalistic skills once in while around here. I was beginning to think he was starting a new career as a stand up comic. Or a tv chef.

Gil Turner was also US Amateur Champion at 147 in 1950.

..thanks buzzhead....i guess...actually stand up comic was my old career....back in the 60s. as for tv chef....if it doesn't microwave, i don't eat it.

to expug....glad you liked my post...and glad you did your thread on gil turner.....a colorful, exciting fighter.