Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr., May 3, 1921 - April 12, 1989), recognized as one of the greatest boxers of all time, his performances in the second welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create a “p4p” (pound for pound) ranking, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. Robinson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1967. As an amateur, Robinson achieved a record of 85-0, 69 wins by knockout. He held world domination in the second welterweight division from 1946 to 1951, and won the world middleweight title in 1951. He left boxing in 1952, but returned two and a half years later and regained the middleweight title in 1955. He became the first boxer in history to win the championship crown five times. The last time he did it, he beat Carmen Basilio in 1958. Robinson was named "fighter of the year" twice: first in 1942, then after 9 years and 90 fights, in 1951. Robinson, including several times, met with such members of the Boxing Hall of Fame as Jake LaMotta, Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer, Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan, Randy Tarpin, Joey Giardello and Carl 'Bobo' Olson. In general, Ray Robinson, spent 200 fights (173(108)-19(1)-6-2) and his professional career lasted almost 26 years.The Associated Press called Robinson the greatest boxer of the 20th century, ESPN.com-the greatest fighter in history. Ring magazine rated him in 1997 as the best “pound for pound" boxer of all time, and as the fighter of the decade in the 1950s. Muhammad Ali, who has repeatedly called himself "The Greatest" throughout his career, Joe Louis, Ray Leonard and many others rated Robinson as the best boxer of all time regardless of weight class. "The king, the master, is my idol”" Muhammad Ali exclaimed. By the way, it can be noted that Ali borrowed many elements of the style from the young Robinson.Robinson, born Walker Smith Jr., the son of Sir Walker Smith and Leila Hurst, was born, according to his birth certificate, in Ailey, Georgia. But according to his own autobiography-in Detroit, Michigan. Robinson was the youngest of three children; his older sister Mary was born in 1917, his younger sister Evelyn in 1919. His father grew cotton, peanuts and corn on his farm in Georgia, but then moved with his family to Detroit, where he found work as a construction worker. According to Robinson, his father later began working two jobs to support the family: a cement mixer and a collector worker. "He had to get up at six in the morning, and returned home close to midnight. Six days a week. The only day I really saw him was Sunday... I've always wanted to be with him more."His parents divorced, and at the age of twelve he moved with his mother to a place next door to Harlem. Walker Smith originally wanted to be a doctor, but after graduating from school, ninth grade, he switched to boxing. When he was 14, he tried to participate in the first boxing tournament, but he was told that he had to get an AAU membership card first. However, the ticket was issued only from the age of 16. That's when he took on the name Ray Robinson when he circumvented the AAU age limit by borrowing a ticket from his friend, Ray Robinson. Subsequently, Joge Gainford, Robinson's manager, said that his style is "sweet as sugar". That's how “Sugar” appeared Ray Robinson... Even at a young age, Robinson idolized Henry Armstrong and Joe Louis, and actually lived in the same block of Detroit as Louis when Robinson was 11 and Louis was 17. Robinson wrote in his autobiography that he was devastated when Louis lost to Max Schmelling in 1936 – for a short time he even considered leaving boxing. Outside of the ring, Robinson often got into trouble, being associated with an influential street gang. He got married at the age of 16. He had a child with his wife before he divorced at the age of 19. Robinson finished his amateur career with a record of 85-0, 69 knockouts (40 already in the first round). He won the Golden Gloves in Featherweight (1939) and the Lightweight Championship in 1940. 1. Early etapRobinson made his debut on October 4, 1940, defeating Joe Ichevario by knockout in the second round. In 1940, he entered the ring five more times, winning every fight, 4 times by knockout. In 1941, he defeated world champion Sammy Engot, knocking him down, future champion Marty Servo (42-0-2) and former champion Fritz Zivik by unanimous decisions. Robinson and Engot's fight was held above the lightweight limit, as Engot did not want to risk the title. Robinson defeated Zivik in front of 20,551 spectators at Madison Square Garden. It was one of the largest crowds in the arena to that date. In 1942, Robinson knocked out Zivik in the tenth round in a rematch. It was Zivik's second knockout in more than 150 fights.. Fritz Zivik fell in the ninth and tenth rounds before the referee stopped the fight, which caused dissatisfaction on the part of the loser and his corner.

Sugar Ray Robinson and Fritz Zivik

Robinson then wins 4 meetings by knockout, before defeating Marty Servo (43-1-2) and Sammy Engot by split decision and unanimous decisions, respectively, for the second time. After winning by knockout in two more fights, Robinson holds his first fight with Jake Lamotta, nicknamed "The Buffalo from the Bronx", and defeats him by unanimous decision in ten rounds. Ray Robinson weighed 145 pounds in that fight compared to Lamotta's 157.5, but he controlled the whole fight and hit much more often. Robinson won four more fights that year, including two against Izzy Giannazo. He finished 1942 with a total of no losses, with 14 victories and quite naturally was recognized as the "fighter of the year".Before the second fight with Lamotta, Robinson's record was 40-0. Lamotta, again having a weight advantage of 16 pounds, managed to send Sugar Ray to a knockdown in the ninth round and win by unanimous decision (4-5 for all judges). The fight took place in Robinson's hometown of Detroit and attracted a record number of people. Although Ray had the advantage in the initial rounds, Jake managed to snatch the initiative in the later ones, for which he got the victory, the first and last victory in their confrontation. Just 2 weeks after the defeat, Robinson holds a 10-round fight in which he wins, and a week later -the third match with Lamotta. Despite a knockdown in the seventh round, Ray wins by unanimous decision. On August 27, 1943, it was the turn of the legendary Henry Armstrong, a childhood idol for Ray Robinson. This meeting took place only because the 31-year-old Armstrong needed money and with this fight, as Robinson later said, he helped Henry.Sugar Ray Robinson and Henry Armstrong Can be noticed that in three years of his professional career, Robinson had 46 fights!!!!! On February 27, 1943, Robinson was commissioned into the United States Army, where he was again referred to as Walker Smith. Robinson had a short 15-month military career. He served with Joe Louis, where they both performed demonstration battles in front of American troops. Several times Ray Robinson got into trouble with his superiors because of the discriminatory attitude towards him. Robinson refused to participate in tournaments if he found out that African-American soldiers were not allowed to watch the fights, in response, he received dementia in 1944 according to the diagnosis of military doctors and was discharged on June 3. During their joint service, Robinson and Joe Louis became very close friends and even wanted to organize a liquor business together in New York upon returning to civilian life, but due to license problems, their plans were not destined to come true.

Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis.

After the third victory in February 1945 over Jake Lamotta, ”Sugara" Ray, in addition to losing to Lamotta, had a second spot on his record. It was a 10-round draw against Jose Basor, who looked good at the end of the match2. Champion in the second welterweight division in 1946, beating Jake Lamotta for the fourth time, this time by a split decision of the judges in 12 rounds, Robinson had a record of 73-1-1, and beat all the top fighters of this division at that time. However, he refused to cooperate with the mafia, which controlled a large part of boxing at that time, and therefore could not get the right to a championship fight for a long time. It is worth noting the fight with Artie Levine (45-9-5), that's what the Ring magazine wrote about this fight: It was a great fight. In the fourth round, Robinson was on the verge of being knocked out when a left hook followed by a right cross knocked him over. Only incredible fortitude and flair helped Robinson to win the round Several more times during the evening Ray found himself in difficult positions, but his boxing class and body blows gradually took their toll on the heavier Levine. Robinson entered the last tenth round with the intention of knocking out his opponent. After two minutes, he managed to paralyze Levine with a right blow to the solar plexus, and then dropped him to the floor with a heavy attack. Victory KO10”. After this fight, Ray finally got a chance to challenge for the welterweight championship crown. It happened on December 20, 1946 in a fight against Tommy Bell, whom he had already defeated on points in 1945. Having been knocked down in the third round, Robinson sent Bell there in the 11th round and eventually won the meeting by unanimous decision in fifteen rounds. The following year, after four meetings in which the title of champion was not drawn, Robinson defended his champion belt for the first time, knocking out Jimmy Doyle in the eighth round. Before that fight, Robinson dreamed that he accidentally kills Doyle in the ring. He decided to give up the fight. However, the priest and the minister persuaded him to hold a meeting. One left hook ended the fight. Doyle died in the hospital a few hours later. Robinson said that Doyle's death affected him very much. There is evidence that it has become psychologically more difficult for Robinson to strike with full force. Robinson spent a number of fights, giving all the income to the Doyle family. In that 1947, Robinson had 5 more fights, won all by knockout, but only one had the title at stake.1948 was marked by a fight against the future champion, the legendary Kid Gavilan. Gavilan had successful episodes in that fight, but Robinson completely controlled the final rounds, using a series of jabs and left hooks. As a result, the victory was a unanimous decision. In 1949, Ray Robinson boxed 16 more times, of which one fight was officially recognized as a title defense and again against Kid Gavilan. And again, a unanimous decision victory in a 15-round match. The first half of the fight was equal. As Robinson later admitted, he was afraid to take risks. In the fourth round, he also received a cut above his right eye, which bled the whole fight. But despite this, no one doubted that Ray looked better in the second half. Gavilan had to wait another two years before launching his own historic welterweight dominance. It is also worth noting Henry Brimm, who managed to achieve a draw in a 10-round fight. It may have been said that this fight was separated from the previous one by only 5 days. In 1950, Robinson fought 19 times. He successfully defended his title of the second welterweight champion for the last time, defeating Charlie Fusari on points, sending him to a knockdown. Robinson donated all of his income to cancer research. However, Robinson spent most of this year's fights in the first middleweight and middleweight division. A week before the fight with Robinson, George Costner, who also called himself “Sugar”, said that he was the rightful owner of such a nickname. "Let's better touch gloves, because this is the only round. Sugar is not your name. It belongs to me”" Robinson said as they stood in the center of the ring before the first round. Kostner was knocked out in the 169th second of the fight.

The middleweight champion In his autobiography, Robinson wrote that his transition to middleweight was largely due to his increasingly difficult entry into the 147-pound welterweight limit over time. However, the transition to middleweight was also financially beneficial, because at that time a lot of the biggest names of boxing gathered there. In the rivalry for the Pennsylvania World Middleweight title, Robinson defeated Robert Williman in 1950. Later that year, in defense of this crown, he took a convincing revenge for a draw against Jose Basor, knocking him out in the first round. He also knocked out future middleweight champion Carl "Bobo" Olson in the 12th round, whom Robinson beat a total of four times. On February 14, 1951, Robinson and Lamotta met for the sixth time. Subsequently, the fight was dubbed the "Valentine's Day massacre." Rounds 11, 12, 13 Robinson escalated the fight with wild combinations and for the first time prematurely stopped the "Bull from the Bronx” in their confrontation, in fact inflicting his first knockout defeat in 95 fights (the defeat by TKO4 from Billy Fox, as Lamotta later admitted, was contractual).