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Sugar Ray Robinson (born
Walker Smith Jr., May 3, 1921 –
April 12, 1989) was a
professional boxer. Generally
regarded as one of the greatest
boxers of all time, Robinson's
performances at the
welterweight and middleweight
divisions prompted
sportswriters to create "pound
for pound" rankings, where they
compared fighters regardless of
weight. He was inducted into
the International Boxing Hall
of Fame in 1990.
Robinson was 85-0 as an amateur
with 69 of those victories
coming by way of knockout, and
started his professional career
128-1-2 with 84 knockouts.
Robinson held the world
welterweight title from 1946 to
1951, and won the world
middleweight title in the
latter year. He retired in
1952, only to come back two and
a half years later and regain
the middleweight title in 1955.
He then became the first boxer
in history to win a divisional
world championship five times,
a feat he accomplished by
defeating Carmen Basilio in
1958 to regain the middleweight
championship. Robinson was
named "fighter of the year"
twice: first for his
performances in 1942, then nine
years and over 90 fights later,
for his efforts in 1951. He
engaged in several multi-fight
rivalries with other Hall of
Fame fighters such as Jake
LaMotta, Carmen Basilio, Gene
Fullmer, and Carl 'Bobo' Olson.
Robinson engaged in 200 pro
bouts, and his professional
career lasted nearly 26
years.
Robinson was named the greatest
fighter of the 20th century by
the Associated Press, and the
greatest boxer in history by
ESPN.com in 2007. The Ring
magazine rated him the best
pound for pound boxer of
all-time in 1997, and its
"Fighter of the Decade" for the
1950s. Muhammad Ali, who
repeatedly called himself "The
Greatest" throughout his
career, ranked Robinson as the
greatest pound for pound boxer
of all time. Other Hall of Fame
boxers such as Joe Louis and
Sugar Ray Leonard have said the
same.
Renowned for his flamboyant
lifestyle outside the ring,
Robinson is credited with being
the originator of the modern
sports "entourage". After his
boxing career ended, Robinson
attempted a career as an
entertainer, but struggled, and
lived in poverty until his
death in 1989. In 2006, he was
featured on a commemorative
stamp by the United States
Postal Service.
 Early
life
Robinson was born Walker Smith
Jr. in either Ailey, Georgia,
(according to his birth
certificate) — or Detroit,
Michigan, (according to his
autobiography), to Walker Smith
Sr. and Leila Hurst. Robinson
was the youngest of three
children; his older sister
Marie was born in 1917 and his
younger sister Evelyn was born
in 1919. His father was a
cotton, peanut, and corn farmer
in Georgia, who moved the
family to Detroit where he
initially found work as a
construction worker. According
to Robinson, Smith Sr. later
worked two jobs to support his
family—cement mixer and sewer
worker. "He had to get up at
six in the morning and he'd get
home close to midnight. Six
days a week. The only day I
really saw him was Sunday...I
always wanted to be with him
more."
His parents separated, and he
moved with his mother to the
Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of
Harlem at the age of twelve.
Robinson originally aspired to
be a doctor, but after dropping
out of school in ninth grade he
switched his goal to boxing.
When he was 14, he attempted to
enter his first boxing
tournament but was told he
needed to first obtain a AAU
membership card. However, he
could not procure one until he
was sixteen years old. He
received his name when he
circumvented the AAU's age
restriction by borrowing a card
from his friend Ray Robinson.
Subsequently told that his
style was "sweet as sugar" by
future manager George Gainford,
Smith Jr. became known as
"Sugar" Ray Robinson.
Robinson idolized Henry
Armstrong and Joe Louis as a
youth, and actually lived on
the same block as Louis in
Detroit when Robinson was 11
and Louis was 17. Robinson
stated in his autobiography
that he was devastated when
Louis lost to Max Schmeling in
1936—he even briefly
contemplated quitting boxing.
Outside of the ring, Robinson
got into trouble frequently as
a youth, and was involved with
a violent street gang. He also
married when he 16. He had one
child with his wife before
divorcing her at the age of 19.
He finished his amateur career
with an 85–0 record with 69
knockouts—40 coming in the
first round. He won the Golden
Gloves featherweight
championship in 1939, and the
organization's lightweight
championship in 1940.
Early
career
Robinson made his professional
debut on October 4, 1940,
winning via second round
knockout over Joe Echevarria.
Robinson fought five more times
in 1940, winning each time,
with four wins coming by way of
knockout. In 1941, he defeated
world champion Sammy Angott,
future champion Marty Servo and
former champion Fritzie Zivic.
The Robinson-Angott fight was
held above the lightweight
limit, since Angott did not
want to risk losing his
lightweight title. Robinson
defeated Zivic in front of
20,551 at Madison Square
Garden—one of the largest
crowds in the arena to that
date. Robinson won the first
five rounds according to The
New York Times Joseph C.
Nichols, before Zivic came back
to land several punches to
Robinson's head in the sixth
and seventh rounds. Robinson
controlled the next two rounds,
and had Zivic wobbly in the
ninth. After a close tenth
round, Robinson was announced
as the winner on all three
scorecards.
In 1942, Robinson knocked out
Zivic in the tenth round in a
January rematch. The knockout
loss was only the second of
Zivic's career in more than 150
fights. Robinson knocked him
down in the ninth and tenth
rounds before the referee
stopped the fight. Zivic and
his corner protested the
stoppage; James P. Dawson of
The New York Times stated,
however, that "hey were
criticizing a humane act. The
battle had been a slaughter,
for want of a more delicate
word." Robinson then won four
consecutive bouts by knockout,
before defeating Servo in a
controversial split decision in
their May rematch. After
winning three more fights,
Robinson faced Jake LaMotta,
who would become one of his
more prominent rivals, for the
first time in October. He
defeated LaMotta via unanimous
decision. Robinson weighed 145
lb compared to 157.5 for
LaMotta, but he was able to
control the fight from the
outside the entire bout, and
actually landed the harder
punches during the fight.
Robinson then won four more
fights, including two against
Izzy Jannazzo, from October 19
to December 14. For his
performances, Robinson was
named "Fighter of the Year". He
finished 1942 with a total of
14 wins and no losses.
Robinson built a record of 40–0
before losing for the first
time to LaMotta in a 10 round
re-match. LaMotta, who had a 16
lb weight advantage over
Robinson, knocked Robinson out
of the ring in the eighth
round, and won the fight by
decision. The fight took place
in Robinson's former home town
of Detroit, and attracted a
record crowd. After being
controlled by Robinson in the
early portions of the fight,
LaMotta came back to take
control in the later rounds.
After winning the third LaMotta
fight less than three weeks
later, Robinson then defeated
his childhood idol former
champion Henry Armstrong.
Robinson only fought Armstrong
because Armstrong was in need
of finances. By now Armstrong
was an old fighter, and
Robinson later stated that he
carried Armstrong.
On February 27, 1943, Robinson
was inducted into the United
States Army, where he was again
referred to as Walker Smith.
Robinson had a short 15 month
military career. Robinson
served with Joe Louis, and the
pair went on tours where they
performed exhibition bouts in
front of US troops. Robinson
got into trouble several times
while in the military. He
argued with superiors who he
felt were discriminatory
against him, and refused to
fight exhibitions when he was
told African American soldiers
were not allowed to watch them.
In 1944, Robinson was examined
by Military authorities who
claimed he had a mental
deficiency. Robinson received
his honorable discharge on June
3, 1944. Robinson did develop a
close friendship with Louis
while in the military however,
and the two went into business
together after returning from
service. They planned to start
a liquor distribution business
in New York City, but were
denied a license due to their
race.
Besides the loss in the LaMotta
rematch, the only other mark on
Robinson's record during this
period was a 10 round draw
against Jose Basora in
1945.
Welterweight
Champion
By 1946, Robinson had fought 75
fights to a 73–1–1 record, and
beaten every top contender in
the welterweight division.
However, he refused to
cooperate with the Mafia, which
controlled much of boxing at
the time, and was denied a
chance to fight for the
welterweight championship.
Robinson was finally given a
chance to win a title against
Tommy Bell on December 20,
1946. Robinson had already
beaten Bell once via decision
in 1945. The two fought for the
title vacated by Servo, who had
himself lost twice to Robinson
in non-title bouts. In the
fight, Robinson, who only a
month before had been involved
in a 10 round brawl with Artie
Levine, was knocked down by
Bell. The fight was called a
"war," but Robinson was able to
pull out a close 15 round
decision, winning the vacant
welterweight title.
The following year, after four
non-title bouts, Robinson
defended his title for the
first time by knocking out
Jimmy Doyle in the eighth
round. Before that fight,
Robinson had a dream that he
was going to accidentally kill
Doyle in the ring. As a result,
he decided to pull out of the
fight. However, a priest and a
minister convinced him to go
ahead with the bout. His foe,
however, died from the injuries
he sustained. Robinson said
that the impact of Doyle's
death was "very trying."
In 1948, Robinson fought five
times, but only one bout was a
title defense. Among the
fighters he defeated in those
non-title bouts, was future
world champion Kid Gavilan in a
close, controversial 10 round
fight. Gavilan hurt Robinson
several times in the fight, but
Robinson controlled the final
rounds with a series of jabs
and left hooks. In 1949, he
boxed 16 times, but again only
defended his title once. In
that title fight, a rematch
with Gavilan, Robinson again
won via decision. The first
half of the bout was very
close, but Robinson took
control in the second half.
Gavilan would have to wait two
more years to begin his own
historic reign as welterweight
champion. The only boxer to
match Robinson that year was
Henry Brimm, who fought him to
a 10-round draw in Buffalo.
Robinson fought 19 times in
1950. He successfully defended
his welterweight title for the
last time against Charley
Fusari. Robinson won a lopsided
15 round decision, knocking
Fusari down once. Robinson
donated all but $1 of his purse
for the Fusari fight to cancer
research. In 1950, Robinson
fought George Costner, who had
also taken to calling himself
"Sugar" and stated in the weeks
leading up to the fight that he
was the rightful deserver of
the name. "We better touch
gloves, because this is the
only round," Robinson said as
the fighters were introduced at
the center of the ring. "Your
name ain't Sugar, mine is."
Robinson then knocked Costner
out in 2 minutes and 49
seconds.
Middleweight
Champion
Robinson stated in his
autobiography that one of the
main considerations for his
move up to middleweight was the
increasing difficulty he was
having in making the 147 lb
welterweight weight limit.
However, the move would also
prove beneficial financially as
the division then contained
some of the biggest names in
boxing. Vying for the
Pennsylvania state middleweight
title in 1950, Robinson
defeated Robert Villemain.
Later that year, in defense of
that crown, he defeated Jose
Basora, who had previously
drawed with Robinson, and
defeated Carl Olson, a future
title holder at that weight
whom Robinson would meet and
beat four times. Robinson's
50-second knock-out of Basora
in the rematch set a record
that would stand for 38
years.
On February 14, 1951, Robinson
and LaMotta met for the sixth
time. The fight would become
known as The St. Valentine's
Day Massacre. Robinson won the
undisputed world middleweight
title with a 13th round
technical knockout. Robinson
out boxed LaMotta for the first
10 rounds, then unleashed a
series of savage combinations
on LaMotta for three rounds,
finally stopping the champion
for the first time in their
legendary six bout series—and
giving LaMotta his first
legitimate knockout loss in 95
professional bouts. This bout,
and some of the other bouts in
the six-fight Robinson-LaMotta
rivalry, was depicted in the
Martin Scorsese film Raging
Bull. "I fought Sugar Ray so
often, I almost got diabetes,"
LaMotta later said.
After winning his second world
title, he embarked on a
European tour which took him
all over the Continent.
Robinson travelled with his
flamingo-pink Cadillac, which
caused quite a stir in Paris,
and an entourage of 13 people,
some included "just for
laughs". He was a hero in
France due to his recent defeat
of LaMotta—the French hated
LaMotta for defeating Marcel
Cerdan in 1949 and taking his
championship belt (Cerdan died
in a plane ride en route to his
rematch with LaMotta).
Robinson, even met the
President of France and made an
impromptu decision to kiss his
wife four times—twice on each
cheek—in front of a ceremony
attended by France's upper
crust. During his fight in
Berlin against Gerhard Hecht,
Robinson was disqualified when
he knocked his opponent with a
punch to the kidney: a punch
legal in the US, but not
Europe. The fight was later
declared a no-contest. In
London, he lost the world
middleweight title to
Englishman Randy Turpin in a
sensational bout. Three months
later in front of 60,000 fans
at the Polo Grounds, he knocked
Turpin out in ten rounds to
recover the title. In that bout
Robinson was leading on the
cards but was cut by Turpin.
With the fight in jeopardy,
Robinson let loose on Turpin,
knocking him down, then getting
him to the ropes and unleashing
a series of punches, causing
the referee to stop the bout.
Following the victory,
residents of Harlem danced in
the streets. Robinson won the
"Fighter of the Year" award
again for his performances in
1951.
In 1952, he fought a rematch
with Olson which he won by
decision. He then defeated
former champion, Rocky
Graziano, in a 3 round fight,
before challenging world light
heavyweight champion Joey Maxim
at Yankee Stadium. Robinson
built a lead on all three
judges scorecards, but the 103
degree temperature inside the
ring took its toll. The
referee, Ruby Goldstein, was
the first victim of the heat,
and had to be replaced by
referee Ray Miller. The
fast-moving Robinson was next,
and at the end of round 13,
Robinson collapsed from the
heat and failed to answer the
bell for the next round, and
suffered the only knock-out of
his career.
After that bout, Robinson
retired with a record of
131-3-1-1 and dedicated his
time to show business; singing
and tap dancing. After about
three years, the decline of his
businesses, lack of success in
his performance career,
Robinson decided to make his
return to boxing.
Comeback
In 1955, Robinson returned to
the ring. Although he had been
inactive for two and a half
years, his work as a dancer
kept him in peak physical
condition: in his
autobiography, Robinson states
that in the weeks leading up to
his debut for a dancing
engagement in France, he ran
five miles every morning, and
then danced for five hours each
night. Robinson even stated
that the training he did in his
attempts to establish a career
as a dancer were harder that
any he undertook during his
boxing career. He won five
fights in 1955, before losing a
decision to Ralph 'Tiger'
Jones. He bounced back,
however, and defeated Rocky
Castellani by a split decision,
then challenged Bobo Olson for
the world middleweight title.
He won the middleweight
championship for the third time
via a second round knockout—his
third victory over Olson. After
his comeback performance in
1955, Robinson expected to be
named fighter of the year.
However, the title went to
welterweight Carmen Basilio.
Basilio's handlers had lobbied
heavily for it on the basis
that he had never won the
award, and Robinson later
described this as the biggest
disappointment of his
professional career. "I haven't
forgotten it to this day, and I
never will" Robinson wrote in
his autobiography. Robinson and
Olson fought for the last time
in 1956, and Robinson closed
the four fight series with a
fourth round knockout.
In 1957, Robinson lost his
title to Gene Fullmer. Fullmer
used his aggressive, forward
moving style to control
Robinson, and knocked him down
in the fight. Robinson,
however, noticed that Fullmer
was vulnerable to the left
hook. Fullmer headed into their
May rematch as a 3–1 favorite.
In the first two rounds
Robinson followed Fullmer
around the ring, however in the
third round he changed tactics
and made Fullmer come to him.
At the start of the fourth
round Robinson came out on the
attack and stunned Fullmer, and
when Fullmer returned with his
own punches, Robinson traded
with him, as opposed to
clinching as he had done in
their earlier fight. The fight
was fairly even after four
rounds. But in the fifth,
Robinson was able to win the
title back for a fourth time by
knocking out Fullmer with a
lightning fast, powerful left
hook. Boxing critics have
referred to the left-hook which
knocked out Fullmer as "the
perfect punch". It marked the
first time in 44 career fights
that Fullmer had been knocked
out, and when someone asked
Robinson after the fight how
far the left hook had
travelled, Robinson replied: "I
can't say. But he got the
message."
Later that year, he lost his
title to Basilio in a rugged 15
round fight in front of 38,000
at Yankee Stadium, but regained
it for a record fifth time when
he beat Basilio in the rematch.
Robinson struggled to make
weight, and had to go without
food for nearly 20 hours
leading up to the bout. He
badly damaged Basilio's eye
early the fight, and by the
seventh round it was swollen
shut. The two judges gave the
fight to Robinson by wide
margins: 72–64 and 71–64. The
referee scored the fight for
Basilio 69–64, and was booed
loudly by the crowd of 19,000
when his decision was
announced. The first fight won
the "Fight of the Year" award
from The Ring magazine for 1957
and the second fight won the
"Fight of the Year" award for
1958.
Decline
Robinson knocked out Bob Young
in the second round in Boston
in his only fight in 1959. A
year later, he defended his
title against Paul Pender.
Robinson entered the fight as a
5–1 favorite, but lost a split
decision in front of 10,608 at
Boston Garden. The day before
the fight Pender commented that
he planned to start slowly,
before coming on late. He did
just that and outlasted the
aging Robinson, who, despite
opening a cut over Pender's eye
in the eighth round, was
largely ineffective in the
later rounds. An attempt to
regain the crown for an unheard
of sixth time proved beyond
Robinson. Despite Robinson's
efforts, Pender won by decision
in that rematch. On December 3
of that year, Robinson and
Fullmer fought a 15-round draw
for the NBA middleweight title,
which Fullmer retained. Many
felt that Robinson deserved the
decision, however. In 1961,
Robinson and Fullmer fought for
a fourth time, with Fullmer
retaining the WBA middleweight
title by a unanimous decision.
The fight would be Robinson's
last title bout.
Robinson spent the rest of the
1960s fighting 10-round
contests. In October 1961,
Robinson defeated future world
champion Denny Moyer via
unanimous decision. A 12–5
favorite, the 41 year old
Robinson defeated the 22 year
old Moyer by staying on the
outside, rather than engaging
him. In their rematch four
months later, Moyer defeated
Robinson on points, as he
pressed the action and made
Robinson back up throughout the
fight. Moyer won 7–3 on all
three judges scorecards.
Robinson lost twice more in
1962, before winning six
consecutive fights against
mostly lesser opposition. In
February 1963, Robinson lost
via unanimous decision to
former world champion and
fellow Hall of Famer Joey
Giardello. Giardello knocked
Robinson in the fourth round,
and the 43 year old took until
the count of nine to rise to
his feet. Robinson was also
nearly knocked down in the
sixth round, but was saved by
the bell. He rallied in the
seventh and eight rounds,
before struggling in the final
two. Robinson also embarked on
another tour of Europe.
Robinson fought for the final
time in 1965. He lost via
unanimous decision to Joey
Archer. Famed sports author
Pete Hamill mentioned that one
of the saddest experiences of
his life was watching Robinson
lose to Archer. He was even
knocked down and Hamill pointed
out that Archer had no knockout
punch at all; Archer admitted
afterward that it was only the
second time he had knocked an
opponent down in his career.
The crowd of 9,023 at the Civic
Arena in Pittsburgh gave
Robinson several standing
ovations, even while he was
being thoroughly outperformed
by Archer.
On November 11, 1965, Robinson
announced his retirement from
boxing, saying: "I hate to go
too long campaigning for
another chance." Robinson
retired from boxing with a
record of 175-19-6 with 110
knockouts in 200 professional
bouts, ranking him among the
all-time leaders in
knockouts.
After
retiring as a
boxer
In his autobiography Robinson
states that by 1965 he was
broke, having spent all of the
$4 million in earnings he made
inside and out of the ring in
his career. A month after his
last fight, Robinson was
honored with a Sugar Ray
Robinson Night on December 10,
1965 in New York's Madison
Square Garden. During the
ceremony, he was honored with a
massive trophy. However, there
was not a piece of furniture in
his small Manhattan apartment
with legs strong enough to
support it. Robinson was
elected to the International
Boxing Hall of Fame in 1967,
two years after he retired. In
1969 he founded the Sugar Ray
Robinson Youth Foundation for
inner-city Los Angeles area.
The foundation does not sponsor
a boxing program. He was
diagnosed with diabetes
mellitus that was treated with
insulin. In Robinson's last
years, he was diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease. He died in
Los Angeles at the age of 67
and was interred in the
Inglewood Park Cemetery,
Inglewood, California.
Personal
life
Robinson met his second wife
Edna Mae Holly, a noted dancer
who performed at the Cotton
Club and toured Europe with
Duke Ellington and Cab
Calloway, in 1940. According to
Robinson, he met her at a local
pool he frequented after his
boxing workouts. In an attempt
to get her attention he pushed
her into the pool one day, and
claimed it was an accident.
After this attempt was met with
disdain, he appeared at the
nightclub she danced at and
introduced himself. Soon the
couple was dating and they
married in 1943. They had one
son, Ray Robinson Jr. and
divorced in 1960. In April
1959, Robinson's oldest sister
Marie died of cancer at the age
of 41.
In 1965, Robinson married
Millie Wiggins Bruce, who was
several years his senior, and
the couple settled in Los
Angeles. When Robinson was sick
with his various ailments, his
son accused Robinson's wife of
keeping him under the influence
of medication to manipulate
him. According to Ray Robinson
Jr., when Sugar Ray's mother
died, Sugar Ray could not
attend his mother's funeral
because Millie was drugging and
controlling him. However,
Robinson had been hospitalized
the day before his mother's
death due to agitation which
caused his blood pressure to
rise. Robinson Jr. and Edna Mae
also claimed that they were
kept away from Robinson by
Millie during the last years of
his life.
Boxing
style
"Rhythm is everything in
boxing. Every move you make
starts with your heart, and
that's in rhythm or you're in
trouble."
—Ray Robinson
Robinson was a fluid boxer who
possessed a quick jab and
knockout power. He possessed
tremendous
versatility—according to boxing
analyst Bert Sugar, "Robinson
could deliver a knockout blow
going backward." Robinson was
efficient with both hands, and
he displayed a variety of
effective punches—according to
a TIME magazine article in
1951, "Robinson's repertoire,
thrown with equal speed and
power by either hand, includes
every standard punch from a
bolo to a hook—and a few he
makes up on the spur of the
moment." Robinson commented
that once a fighter has trained
to a certain level, their
techniques and responses become
almost reflexive. "You don't
think. It's all instinct. If
you stop to think, you're
gone."
Legacy
"Someone once said there was a
comparison between Sugar Ray
Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson.
Believe me, there's no
comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson
was the greatest."
Sugar Ray Leonard
"The king, the master, my
idol."
Muhammad Ali on Robinson
Robinson is widely considered
one of the greatest boxers in
history, and has been ranked as
the greatest boxer of all time
by sportswriters, fellow
boxers, and trainers. The
phrase "pound for pound", was
created by sportswriters for
him during his career as a way
to compare boxers irrespective
of weight, and Hall of Fame
fighters such as Muhammad Ali,
Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Leonard
have ranked Robinson as the
greatest pound for pound boxer
in history. In 1997, The Ring
ranked him as the best pound
for pound fighter in history,
and in 1999, he was named
"welterweight of the century"
and "middleweight of the
century" by the Associated
Press. In 2007, ESPN.com
featured the piece "50 Greatest
Boxers of All Time", in which
it named Robinson the top boxer
in history. In 2003, The Ring
magazine ranked him number 11
in the list of all-time
greatest punchers in
history.
Robinson was one of the first
African Americans to establish
himself as a star outside of
sports. He was an intricate
part of the New York social
scene in the 1940s and 1950s.
His glamorous restaurant, Sugar
Ray's, hosted stars such as
Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason,
Nat "King" Cole, Joe Louis, and
Lena Horne among others.
Robinson was known as a
flamboyant personality outside
the ring. He combined striking
good looks, with charisma, and
a flair for the dramatic: He
drove a flamingo-pink Cadillac,
and was an accomplished singer
and dancer, who once pursued a
career in the entertainment
industry. According to
ESPN.com's Ron Flatter: "He was
the pioneer of boxing's
bigger-than-life entourages,
including a secretary, barber,
masseur, voice coach, a coterie
of trainers, beautiful women, a
dwarf mascot and lifelong
manager George Gainford." When
Robinson later returned to
Paris in 1962—where he was
still a national hero—to get
him to cross the seas the
French had to promise to bring
over his masseur, his
hairdresser, a guy who whistled
while he trained, and his
trademark Cadillac. This larger
than life persona made him the
idol of millions of African
American youths in the 1950s.
Robinson inspired several other
fighters who took the nickname
"Sugar" in homage to him such
as Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar
Shane Mosley. He was also
featured on a 2006 United
States postage stamp, which
reportedly had a circulation of
over 100 million.
Source : Some
of the information on this page
came from a Wikipedia
article and is
licensed under the GNU
Documentation License.
©2008
www.geneticmatrix.com.
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