#Sugar ray robinson

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The cream of boxing Greats....

From left to right:-

Sugar Ray Robinson...Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali 💕

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Robinson and Fans, Bert Hardy, 1951

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😬

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Sugar Ray Robinson

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Sugar Ray Robinson tending a crowded bar on Seventh Avenue (now Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.) between 122nd and 123rd Streets, June 25, 1953. He owned and operated several businesses on 7th Ave., including the bar/café Sugar Ray's, which may be the bar in the picture.

Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images/Fine Art America

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Sugar Ray Robinson lands a right on Kid Gavilán in their world welterweight title bout on July 11, 1949.

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1967.

The Odd Couple starring Mickey Rooney, Tony Randall, Gary Crosby, Buddy Lester, Arnold Stang, and Sugar Ray Robinson.

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Remembering Roy Haynes: A Tribute to "We Three" and a Life of Rhythmic Genius

Introduction: In jazz, few drummers have left as indelible a mark as Roy Haynes, who passed away on November 12, 2024, at the age of 99. With a career spanning over seven decades, Haynes’ contributions to the genre reach far beyond his virtuosic technique and unmistakable swing. His work transcends traditional boundaries, transforming the role of the drummer from mere rhythmic support to an…

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"Sugar" Ray Robinson and baseball legend Willie Mays. In 1951, Robinson was voted "Fighter of the Year" by The Ring, and Mays was voted "Rookie of the Year" in the National League.

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Great Twitter Posts of my favorite athletes, past and present. Do you recognize them all?

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Rocky Graziano grew up as a street fighter and learned to look after himself before he could read or write. His father kept boxing gloves around the house and encouraged Rocky and his brothers to fight one another. When he was three years old, his father would make Rocky and his brother, Joe (three years his senior), fight almost every night. He spent years in reform school, jail and Catholic protectories. At age 18 Rocky won the Metropolitan A.A.U. welterweight championship.

As an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title, Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch. He was ranked 23rd on The Ring magazine list of the greatest punchers of all time. He fought many of the best middleweights of the era including Sugar Ray Robinson. He was the subject of the 1956 film, Somebody Up There Likes Me, based on his 1955 autobiography, starring Paul Newman as Graziano.

Born Thomas Rocco Barbella on January 1, 1919 in New York City and died on May 22, 1990 in New York City at the age of 71.

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Terence "Bud" Crawford: Spence Down, Canelo To Go?

By Chris Osborn On July 29th, 2023, Terence “Bud” Crawford dispatched Errol Spence Jr. in dominant fashion. He did so with as much cunning, calculation and ferocity as have ever been displayed in a boxing ring. Most boxing insiders picked Crawford to win, but very few expected the domination that took place in this match. Continue reading Untitled

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A Tribute to Sugar Ray Robinson

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By Sina Latif

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Published: May 03, 2023

When speaking about Walker Smith Jr, otherwise known to box fans as Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali referred to him as “the king, the master, my idol.”

Joe Louis said Robinson was “the greatest fighter to ever step into the ring.”

“Beauty, power, greatness, perfection — Sugar Ray Robinson was the best,” said Sugar Ray Leonard.

Take a moment to comprehend the caliber of the men giving Robinson such high praise. Some of the finest to ever grace the sport bowed down to Robinson as the greatest of them all. 

Robinson fought great opposition at activity levels that are unheard of in modern boxing, and it is surreal when one considers the number of quality opponents he was consistently fighting and defeating while fighting so regularly. Robinson’s accomplishments will never be equaled.

In 1946, the year Robinson finally won the welterweight title, he fought 16 times. In 1947, he fought 10 times. In 1948, he had somewhat of a quiet year, fighting five times, before fighting 13 times in 1949, and he fought on an astonishing 20 occasions in 1950.

Ray fought 18 world champions and defeated 10 Hall of Famers. The great fighters that he defeated include Jake LaMotta, Henry Armstrong, Sammy Angott, Fritzie Zivic, Kid Gavilan, Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer, Randy Turpin, Rocky Graziano, and Bobo Olson.

The original Sugar Ray was a revolutionary fighter during the ’40s and ’50s. He had his own style and made it work. He could do certain things in the ring unconventionally and have success. Robinson was simply too advanced for his time.

Robinson possessed magnificent all-around skills, terrific timing, quick feet, power in both hands, great jab, hand speed, ring IQ, strength, granite chin, heart, brilliant combination punching, stamina, and courage. Fluidity and power while throwing triple hooks with either hand. Great athleticism paired with great all-around boxing ability. The general consensus is clear; Sugar Ray Robinson is the most complete fighter to have ever set foot in a boxing ring.

Ray was vicious but graceful. He defied all limitations of boxing. He was that rare breed of fighter who was brutal but elegant. A.J. Liebling described Robinson as “the epitome of ring grace,” but he was also a chilling puncher with vicious power in both fists.

Ray once said: “Rhythm is everything in boxing. Every move you make starts with your heart, and that’s in rhythm or you’re in trouble. Your rhythm should set the pace of the fight. If it does, then you penetrate your opponent’s rhythm. You make him fight your fight, and that’s what boxing is all about.”

After a brilliant amateur career in which he went 85 fights undefeated with 69 KOs and 40 KOs in the first round, winning two New York Golden Gloves championships along the way, he turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19.

Over a career spanning a quarter of a century, from 1940 to 1965, Robinson recorded 174 victories, 19 losses, and six draws, with 109 KOs.

Robinson was welterweight world champion from 1946 to 1951, then became an unprecedented five-time middleweight world champion between 1951 and 1958.

The welterweight division is known for its rich history and amazing talent. “Barbados” Joe Walcott, Armstrong, Kid Gavilan, Leonard, just to name a few of the legends to grace the 147 lbs division. The most accomplished of them all. Sugar Ray Robinson. There have been few fighters throughout history who were so utterly talented and special in their prime that they were considered unbeatable in any era of their optimal weight class. Roberto Duran’s reign of terror as world lightweight champion was devastating for all opponents. A prime Duran at 135 lbs was the ultimate fighting specimen. A peak Roy Jones Jr was dominant and simply unbeatable as a super-middleweight. Sugar Ray Robinson was untouchable as a welterweight. Then, in an equally historically revered division as a middleweight, he was competitive well beyond his prime against the roughest competition and cemented his place as one of the greatest middleweights ever.

Within 12 months of turning professional and after a mere 20 professional fights in 1941, Robinson had defeated Angott, an experienced 80-fight veteran who would become the best lightweight of his era. From the very start, Robinson was fighting frequently and fighting great opposition. He proceeded to beat Angott twice more in his career.

Four fights and two months after the first Angott fight, in September 1941, Robinson was only 20 when he beat undefeated veteran Marty Servo before again defeating Servo via split decision a year later.

In February 1943, Robinson completed three 10-rounders in four weeks, and two of them were against fellow Hall of Famer LaMotta. Later that same year, Robinson defeated another all-time great in Armstrong, the legendary prizefighter and Robinson’s idol, who holds the distinction of holding world titles in three divisions at a time when there were only eight divisions altogether.

Ray was unbeaten in 40 fights before losing in his 41st bout against LaMotta in February 1943, losing a ten-round decision to a man who out-weighed him by 16 lbs. It was now 1–1 between the pair as Robinson had previously defeated “The Raging Bull,” and they proceeded to fight four more times to create one of boxing’s most epic rivalries. In the end, Robinson won five of their six clashes, but Robinson stated that LaMotta was his most brutal opponent.

Robinson and LaMotta served fight fans with a legendary rivalry and cemented an everlasting legacy for one another.

LaMotta was famously quoted as saying: “The three toughest fighters I’ve ever been up against were Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Sugar Ray Robinson. I fought Sugar so many times, I’m surprised I’m not diabetic!”

After losing to LaMotta, Robinson went on a 91-fight unbeaten streak for the next eight years.

After finally defeating boxing politics along with the best welterweights, Robinson got his first welterweight title shot on December 20, 1946, against Tommy Bell, who he outpointed to win the vacant title. At this point, Robinson had a phenomenal record of 74–1–1.

In September 1948, Robinson beat the great Kid Gavilan via unanimous decision in a 10-rounder. Less than a year later, they had a rematch. Robinson proved too strong and won another unanimous decision over 15 rounds.

His loss to Lamotta was his only loss in Robinson’s first 132 fights, in which he recorded 84 knockouts.

During his long career, arguably his most impressive feat is that while moving through 46 lbs in weight, no man could knock out the original Sugar Ray. Only the unbearable heat in Yankee Stadium managed to do that during a fight in which the referee had to be replaced at the end of the 10th round due to the intense heat. Ray had dominated the bewildered 175 lbs light-heavyweight champion Joey Maxim for 13 rounds before collapsing at the end of the 13th due to disorientation as a result of the heat, and the fight was over. This was the only time Robinson had lost a fight within the distance.

Ray fought in a magnificent era with many great fighters and fought them while they were at their best.

A fitting manner in which to conclude would be to quote the former president of boxing at Madison Square Garden, Harry Markson: 

"With all due respect to all the good fighters who were before my time, I can’t conceive of a better fighter than Ray Robinson, and here’s why: If you take all the requisites necessary for a great boxer, you find that Ray Robinson not only possesses them all, but does everything to perfection. Everybody agrees on that. So, to be better than Ray Robinson you have to improve on perfection. I ask you — is that possible?"

(Featured Photo: The Ring Archive)