Sugar Ray Robinson

At 67 years old, Sugar Ray Robinson has this physical status:

Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr.; May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965.

Robinson's success in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight.

In 1990, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Robinson is widely known as one of the top boxers of all time, and the first eight years on The Ring magazine's list of the "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years" rank him as an amateur, with 69 of those victories coming by way of knockout, 40 in the first round.

He began working as a kid in 1940 and by 1951, he had a career record of 128–1–2, with 84 knockouts.

Robinson's 91-fight streak ended in 1951, the third-longest in professional boxing history.

Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and the world middleweight championship was won in the latter year.

He retired in 1952, only to come back two-and-a-half years later and regain the middleweight crown in 1955.

He then became the first boxer in history to win a divisional world championship five times (a feat he achieved by defeating Carmen Basilio in 1958 in order to regain the middleweight championship).

Robinson twice, first for his appearances in 1942, then nine years and more fights later for his efforts Renowned for his flamboyant lifestyle outside of the ring, Robinson is credited with the inception of the modern sports "entourage."

Robinson attempted to work as an entertainer after his boxing career came to an end, but it wasn't profitable.

He suffered financially until his death in 1989.

He was featured on a commemorative stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in 2006.

Early life

Robinson was born Walker Smith Jr. and Leila Hurst of Ailey, Georgia. Robinson was the youngest of three children; his eldest sister Marie was born in 1917 and his older sister Evelyn in 1919. His father, a Georgia cotton, peanut, and corn farmer, moved his family to Detroit, where he first found work in construction. Smith Sr., a cement mixer and sewer worker, later worked two jobs to assist his family. "He had to get up at six in the morning and got home near midnight." A week is six days a week. The only day I remember seeing him was on Sunday... I've always wanted to be with him more."

His parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Harlem, New York City, at the age of 12. Robinson originally intended to be a doctor, but after falling out of DeWitt Clinton High School (in the Bronx) in ninth grade, he shifted to boxing.

When he was 14, he attempted to enter his first boxing tournament, but he was told he needed an AAU membership card first, which he couldn't obtain until he was 16. By using an ID card from a youth named Ray Robinson, who had stopped boxing, he beat the AAU's age requirement. So, Walker started his amateur fighting career under the nascent name—and it stuck. Later, as a woman in the audience of a fight in Watertown, New York, said he was "sweet as sugar," the nickname "Sugar Ray Robinson" was born.

When Robinson was 11 years old and Louis was 17, Robinson idolized Henry Armstrong and Joe Louis as a youth, and he had lived on the same block as Louis in Detroit. Robinson, who was not in the ring, was often in danger as a youth and was affiliated with a street gang. He married at the age of 16. When Robinson was 19 years old, the family had just one son, Ronnie, and divorced when Robinson was 19 years old.

He reportedly ended his amateur career with 69 knockouts, with 40 of them in the first round, although this has been contested. He won the 1939 Golden Gloves featherweight championship (defeating Louis Valentine on points in three rounds) and the 1940 Golden Gloves lightweight championship (defeating Andy Nonella by KO in 2).

Later life

Robinson claims he was broke by 1965 after making all of the $4 million in earnings he earned inside and out of the ring during his career. Robinson was honoured with a Sugar Ray Robinson Night in New York's Madison Square Garden a month after his last fight. He was honoured with a massive trophy during the event. However, there was not a piece of furniture in his tiny Manhattan apartment with legs that were strong enough to support it. Robinson was inducted into the Ring Magazine boxing Hall of Fame in 1967, two years after he retired and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He appeared on television shows like Mission: Impossible in the late 1960s. Sugar appeared in "Giants and All That Jazz" on Land of the Giants, a washed up boxer opening a nightclub. He appeared in several films, including the Frank Sinatra cop film The Detective (1968), the cult classic Candy (1968), and the thriller The Todd Killings (1971) as a police officer. He founded the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation in 1969 for the inner-city Los Angeles area. A boxing scheme is not funded by the foundation. He was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus that was treated with insulin.

Personal life

In 1938, Robinson married Marjorie Joseph; the marriage was annulled the following year. Ronnie Smith, Smith's uncle, was born in 1939. Robinson married Edna Mae Holly, a well-known dancer who appeared at the Cotton Club and toured Europe with Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, who performed at the Cotton Club and Cab Calloway. Robinson says he discovered her at a local pool he used after his boxing workouts. He pushed her into the pool one day in an attempt to compel her interest, but said it was an accident. He appeared at the nightclub she danced in and introduced himself after the first attempt was met with disdain. The couple were dating well before marriage in 1944. They had one son, Ray Robinson Jr. (born 1949), before their traumatic divorce in 1962. In 1951, she appeared on the first page of a Jet magazine.

Marie, Robinson's eldest sister, died of cancer at the age of 41 in April 1959.

Barbara Johnson (aka Barbara Trevigne) of South Ozone Park, a singer and dancer, filed a paternity lawsuit in New York against Sugar Ray Robinson, the father of her son Paul, born in 1953. The court had ruled in Robinson's favour on May 18, 1963, Jet reported. "Justice triumphed," Robinson says after the win.

Robinson married Millie Wiggins Bruce in 1965 and the couple lived in Los Angeles. Robinson's son accused the elder Robinson's wife of retaining him under the influence of drugs to manipulate him when he was sick with his various illnesses. Robinson Sr's mother died, but Ray Robinson Jr. could not attend his mother's funeral because Millie was drugging and controlling him. Robinson had been hospitalized the day before his mother's death due to agitation, which caused his blood pressure to rise. During the last years of Robinson's life, both Robinson Jr. and Edna Mae were kept away from Robinson by Millie.

Robinson was a Freemason, a membership shared with a number of other celebrities, including fellow boxer Jack Dempsey.

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Boxing career

Robinson made his professional debut on October 4, 1940, defeating Joe Echevarria in the second round. In 1940, Robinson defeated all but four by knockout, five times in total. He defeated world champion Sammy Anson, future champion Marty Servo, and former champion Fritzie Zivic in 1941. Since Annott did not want to risk losing his lightweight title, the Robinson-Angott match was held above the lightweight limit. The Zivic competition, held at the Madison Square Garden in Madison, attracted a crowd of 20,551 people, one of the largest in the arena to date. According to Joseph C. Nichols of The New York Times, Robinson won the first five rounds before zivic returned to land several punches to Robinson's head in the sixth and seventh rounds. Robinson dominated the first two weeks, with Zivic injured in the ninth. Robinson was crowned the champion on both scorecards after a close tenth round.

In the tenth round of a January 1942 rematch, Robinson defeated Zivic, the second time Zivic had been counted out in more than 150 fights. In the ninth and tenth rounds, Robinson was knocked down before the referee called the match to a halt. The ban was boycotted by Zivic and his neighborhood; The New York Times' James P. Dawson said, "[t]hey were criticizing a humane act." For the lack of a more precise term, the war had been a massacre." Robinson won four straight bouts by knockout before defeating Servo in a tense split decision in their May rematch. Robinson faced Jake LaMotta, one of his more famous opponents, for the first time in October after winning three more matches. He defeated LaMotta by a unanimous vote, but he failed to save Jake. Robinson weighed 145 pounds (66 kg) compared to 157.5 for LaMotta, but he was able to control the fight from the outside and hit the ground more punches during the contest. Robinson won four more fights, two against Izzy Jannazzo, from October 19 to December 14. Robinson was named "Fighter of the Year" in honor of his appearances. He won with 14 wins and no losses in 1942.

Robinson set a record of 40-0 before losing in a 10-round re-match for the first time to LaMotta. LaMotta won the fight by decision in spite of a 16 lb (7.3 kg) weight advantage over Robinson in the eighth round. The brawl took place in Robinson's hometown, Detroit, and attracted a record crowd. After being dominated by Robinson in the early rounds, LaMotta came back to take over in the later. Robinson later defeated his childhood idol, Henry Armstrong, who was only defeated because the older man was in need of funds after winning the third LaMotta fight less than three weeks later. Robinson later claimed that he was the aging former champion.

Robinson was inducted into the United States Army on February 27, 1943, where he was also referred to as Walker Smith. Robinson served in the United States for 15 months. Robinson was in Joe Louis, and the two then went on tours with the Special Services division, where they held exhibition bouts in front of US Army troops. When in the service, Robinson was in danger several times. He argued with superiors who he felt were unjustified against him and refused to attend exhibitions after being told African American soldiers were not allowed to attend them. Robinson was stationed at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, in late March 1944, awaiting to sail out to Europe, where he would compete in further exhibition matches. Robinson did not disappear from his barracks on March 29, but not before that. He had skipped his sailing for Europe and was under suspicion of deserting when he awakened in Fort Jay Hospital on Governor's Island on April 5. On the 29th, he himself admitted to falling down the stairs in his barracks on the 29th but said he had complete amnesia and that he did not recall any events from the date to the 5th. According to his diary, a stranger discovered him on the street on April 1 and carried him to a hospital. A Fort Jay doctor found that Robinson's interpretation of events was sincere in his examination report. Military officials questioned him, finding that he had a mental disorder. On June 3, 1944, Robinson was given an honorable discharge. He later claimed that unfair media coverage of the incident had "branded" him as a "deserter." Robinson maintained his close relationship with Louis from their time in military service, and the two partners went into business together following the war. They wanted to start a liquor distribution company in New York City but were refused a license due to their ethnicity.

Besides losing in the LaMotta rematch, Robinson's only other mark on his career during this time was a 10-round draw against José Basora in 1945.

Robinson had defeated 75 fighters to a 73–1-1 record and defeated every top contender in the welterweight division by 1946. However, he declined to cooperate with the Mafia, which dominated a significant amount of boxing at the time, and was denied a chance to compete for the welterweight championship. Robinson was given a chance to face Tommy Bell on December 20, 1946. By that time, Robinson had already defeated Bell once more by a vote in 1945. Both men fought for the title that had been vacated by Servo, who had himself lost twice to Robinson in non-title matches. Robinson, who had only been involved in a 10-round brawl with Artie Levine, was knocked down by Bell. Robinson was able to win the vacant World Welterweight championship despite being called a "battle."

Robinson fought five times in 1948, but only one bout was a title defense. Kid Gavilán, the future world champion, was one of the fighters he defeated in those non-title matches in a close, tense 10-round fight. Several times in the fight, Gavilán abused Robinson, but Robinson brought the final rounds with a string of jabs and left hooks. He boxed 16 times in 1949, but defended his position just once. Robinson also won by decision in the championship match between Gavilán and Gavilán. The first half of the game was close, but Robinson took over in the second half. Gavilán will have to wait two more years to begin his own as the welterweight champion. Henry Brimm, the only boxer to beat Robinson this year, was up in Buffalo, who defeated him to a 10-round draw.

In 1950, Robinson fought 19 times. For the last time against Charley Fusari, he successfully defended his welterweight crown. Robinson was a lopsided 15-round decision, knocking Fusari down once more. Robinson pledged only $1 of his funds to Cancer research in Fusari's fight. Robinson in 1950 defeated George Costner, who had previously adopted the word "sugar" and said in the weeks leading up to the war that he was the rightful possessor of the name. "We should have gloves because this is the only round," Robinson said as the fighters were introduced at the center of the ring. Your name isn't sugar, but mine is." Costner was then knocked out in 2 minutes and 49 seconds by Robinson.

Robinson, who had lost four non-title bouts, would regain his position in a match against Jimmy Doyle in June 1947. Robinson stayed out of the fight because he had a trepidation of Doyle. A priest and a minister persuaded him to fight. His aspirations were confirmed to be true. Robinson defeated Doyle on June 25, 1947 and delivered a decisive knockout in the eighth round that knocked Doyle unconscious and resulted in Doyle's death later that night. Doyle's death was "very trying," Robinson said. Robinson had a fantasy that he was going to mistakenly kill Doyle in the ring before that fight. As a result, he decided to drop out of the war. However, a priest and a minister convinced him not to continue with the fight.

Following Doyle's death, felony charges against Robinson in Cleveland were levied against him, including murder, but no charges were ever answered, according to the authorities. Robinson gave Doyle's mother the funds from his next four bouts so she could buy herself a house, fulfilling her son's dream after learning about Doyle's intention of using the internet to buy his mother's house.

According to his autobiography, one of the primary reasons for his ascension to middleweight was the increasing difficulty he was having in obtaining the 147 lb (67 kg) welterweight weight limit. However, the step up could also be financially beneficial, as the division then carried some of the biggest names in boxing. Robinson defeated Robert Villemain in 1950, vying for the Pennsylvania state middleweight championship. He defeated Jose Basora, with whom he had previously drawn, later this year, in defense of that crown. Robinson's defeat of Basora in the first round was the first in a record that would not be repeated for 38 years. Robinson knocked out Bobo Olson, the future middleweight champion, in October 1950.

Robinson and LaMotta met for the sixth time on February 14, 1951, in Winnipeg. The fight will be known as The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Robinson won the undisputed World Middleweight championship with a 13th round technical knockout. Robinson defeated LaMotta in the first ten rounds, unleashing a string of bizarre combinations on LaMotta, eventually stopping the champion for the first time in their legendary six-bout series—and dealing LaMotta for the first time in 95 professional bouts. LaMotta had lost by falling out to Billy Fox earlier in his career. However, the contest was later found to have been called, and LaMotta was fined for allowing Fox to win. In the Martin Scorsese film Raging Bull, the confrontation was depicted alongside some of the other fights in the six-fight Robinson-LaMotta war. "I used Sugar Ray so often that I nearly developed diabetes," LaMotta later said. Robinson won five of his six fights with LaMotta.

After winning his second world title, he embarked on a European tour that took him all over the continent. Robinson rode with his flamingo-pink Cadillac, which caused a riot in Paris, and an entourage of 13 people, some of whom were "merely for laughs." Despite his recent victory over LaMotta, the French feared LaMotta for defeating Marcel Cerdan in 1949 and winning his championship crown (Cerdan died in a plane crash en route to a rematch with LaMotta). At a dinner attended by France's social upper crust, Robinson met President of France Vincent Auriol. Robinson was disqualified in Berlin after he struck his opponent out with a punch to the kidney: a punch legal in the United States but not in Europe. The war was later declared a no-contest by the authorities. In a thrilling brawl, Robinson lost the world middleweight title to British boxer Randolph Turpin in London. Turpin was knocked out in ten rounds in a rematch against 60,000 fans at the Polo Grounds three months later. Robinson was leading the way in the fight but Turpin cut him off. Robinson let loose on Turpin, knocking him down, then bringing him to the ropes and unleashing a sequence of punches that caused the referee to call a truce. Residents of Harlem danced in the streets following Robinson's victory. For the second time since 1951, Robinson was named "Fighter of the Year" by Ring Magazine for the second time.

He fought a rematch with Olson in 1952, winning by a vote. After beating former champion Rocky Graziano in a third round knockout, he met World Light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim. Robinson had a lead on all three judges' scorecards in the Yankee Stadium match against Maxim, but the ring's 103 °F (39 °C) temperature took its toll. Ruby Goldstein, the referee, was the first victim of the heat and had to be replaced by referee Ray Miller. Robinson, the fast-moving, was the heat's next victim – after round 13's collapsed and failed to answer the bell for the next round, his only loss in his career was his career.

Robinson resigned from his position on June 25, 1952, just after the Maxim bout, but he ended up with a record of 131–3–1. He began his acting career, singing, and tap dancing. After about three years, his company's demise and lack of success in his performing career led him to return to boxing. In 1954, he resumed training.

In 1955, Robinson returned to the ring. Despite being inactive for two and a half years, Robinson's work as a dancer kept him in good physical shape: in his autobiography, he ran five miles a morning and then danced for five hours each night. Robinson also admitted that the training he undertook during his boxing career was much more difficult than any he undertook. In 1955, he won five fights before losing a to Ralph 'Tiger' Jones. He bounced back and stunned Rocky Castellani by a split decision, then challenged Bobo Olson for the world middleweight championship. With a second-round knockout, he secured the middleweight championship for the third time, his third victory over Olson. Robinson is expected to be named Fighter of the Year following his comeback in 1955. However, Carmen Basilio, a welterweight, retained the crown. Basilio's handlers had lobbied heavily for it on the grounds that he had never been nominated for the award, and Robinson later described it as the biggest disappointment of his professional career. In his autobiography, Robinson wrote, "I haven't forgotten it to this day and never will." Robinson and Olson met for the final time in 1956, and Robinson ended the four-fight series with a fourth-round knockout.

Robinson lost his title to Gene Fullmer in 1957. Fullmer dominated Robinson and knocked him down in the fight, using his ferocious, forward-moving style. Robinson, on the other hand, knew that Fullmer was vulnerable to the left hook. As a 3–1 favorite going into their May rematch, Fullmer is a 3–1 favorite. Robinson used Fullmer to navigate the first two rounds, but in the third round, he changed tactics and called Fullmer to him. Robinson was stunned fullmer at the start of the fourth round and stunned Fuller, and Robinson traded with him after he had regained their own punches rather than clinching as he had in the previous fight. After four rounds, the match was pretty even. Robinson, on the other hand, won the title for the fourth time by knocking out Fullmer with a lightning fast, strong left hook. Boxing experts have referred to the left-hook that knocked out Fuller as "the perfect punch." It was the first time in 44 combats that Fuller had been knocked out, and Robinson said, "I can't tell you." But he got the message."

He lost his title to Basilio in a dramatic 15 round match at Yankee Stadium in front of 38,000 fans, but regained the fight for the fifth time when he defeated Basilio in the rematch for the fifth time. Robinson struggled to gain weight and had to go without food for nearly 20 hours leading up to the outbreak. Basilio's eye was badly wounded early in the contest, and by the seventh round, it had swollen shut. The two judges decided to fight Robinson by wide margins: 72–64 and 71–64. When his decision was announced, the referee scored the fight for Basilio 69-64, and was booed vociferously by the crowd of 19,000. The first fight received The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" award for 1957, and the second fight received the "Fight of the Year" award for 1958.

In the second round of Boston, Robinson defeated Bob Young in his first bout since 1959. He defended his position against Paul Pender a year ago. Robinson was a 5-1 favorite going into the game but he lost in a split decision in front of 10,608 at Boston Garden. Pender said he intended to start slowly the day before he went into battle late. Despite opening a cut over Pender's eye in the eighth round, he did just that and beat the aging Robinson, who, despite opening a cut in the eighth round, was largely ineffective in the later rounds. Robinson's attempt to recover the throne for the sixth time was unhearded. Despite Robinson's efforts, Pender regained by decision in the rematch. Robinson and Fullmer fought in a 15-round match for the WBA middleweight title, which Fullmer retained on December 3rd of this year. Robinson and Fullmer met for the fourth time in 1961, with Fullmer winning the WBA middleweight title by a unanimous vote. This will be Robinson's last title match.

Robinson spent the majority of the 1960s fighting in 10-round tournaments. Robinson defeated future world champion Denny Moyer by a unanimous decision in October 1961. The 41-year-old Robinson, a 12–5 favorite, defeated the 22-year-old Moyer by staying on the outside rather than engaging him. Moyer defeated Robinson on points four months later as he pressed the issue and brought Robinson back to life. On all three judges' scorecards, Moyer won 7–3 in Moyer's 7–3. Robinson lost twice more in 1962 before winning six straight fights against mostly smaller opponents. Robinson lost by a unanimous decision to former world champion and fellow Hall of Famer Joey Giardello in February 1963. In the fourth round, Giardello knocked Robinson down, and the 43-year-old didn't get to his feet until the count of nine. Robinson was almost knocked down in the sixth round, but the call was enough to save it. He gathered strength in the seventh and eight rounds before faltering in the final two. He then embarked on an 18-month boxing tour of Europe.

In September 1965 in Norfolk, Virginia, Robinson's second no-contest match was decided to be an impostor. Bill Henderson, a fugitive and suspected robber, signed up for the fight as a talented club fighter, at the time. The match was a fiasco, with Morrison being knocked twice in the first round and once in the second before the obnoxious referee, who said, "Henderson put up no fight," led Morrison out of the arena. After the "obviously terrified" Morrison laid himself down on the canvas, Robinson was initially given a TKO in 1:20 of the second round. In November 1965, Robinson fought for the final time. Joey Archer was disqualified by a unanimous vote. Pete Hamill, a well-known sports writer, said that one of his life's saddest experiences was watching Robinson lose to Archer. He was even knocked down and Hamill pointed out that Archer had no knockout punch at all; afterward, Archer admitted that it was the second time he had knocked a competitor down in his career. Even though Robinson was being largely outperformed by Archer, the audience at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh gave him several standing ovations.

Robinson resigned from boxing on November 11, 1965, saying, "I hate to go on campaigning for another opportunity." Robinson retired from boxing with 109 knockouts in 200 pro bouts, making him one of the all-time leaders in knockouts.

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