Jake lamotta, a brawling middleweight champion whose epic battles with sugar ray robinson defined nonheavyweight boxing in the 1940s and. Sugar ray robinson is considered by many including ali and louis to be the best pound for. Ray was looking to avenge that defeat and did so in emphatic fashion. Fnc league season 2, week 16 this week in boxing wednesday 19th june kazuto ioka vs aston palicte hiroto kyoguchi vs tanawat nakoon friday 21st june ted cheeseman vs kieron conway. Fivetime middleweight champion of the world, sugar ray robinson is remembered as the greatest boxer ever produced by the sport. In 1947, doyle challenged sugar ray robinson for the world welterweight title. He is a tough fight for anyone including ray robinson who as you know had some very tough fights with lamotta, basillio, and fullmer. My life in and out of the ring by sugar ray leonard is a autobiography about one of the most famed boxers in history. Sugar ray leonard is a boxing legend who enjoyed a long career. Sugar ray robinson was one of the greatest boxing legends of the 20th century. He went from troubled teen to boxer of the decade in the 1980s. Ray charles leonard born may 17, 1956, best known as sugar ray leonard, is an american former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Sugar ray robinson was making his first defence, on this day june 24 in 1947, and was too good for jimmy doyle, knocking him out in the eighth in cleveland. Apparently, losing in your prime makes you overrated, apparently being 17319 makes you overrated because you lost 19 times, apparently inspiring ali, leonard, and countless others still makes robinson overrated, because he lost in.
Sugar ray knocked out, with stunning grace and elegance, 108 professional opponents in 200 professional bouts in a career that ended when ray fought his last fight at the age of 45 years. Sugar ray robinson was one of the greatest boxers to ever poise the ring and is a household name anywhere you go in the world. Floyd said a lot of stuff that wasnt true, and believe me mayweather isnt even in sugar ray robinsons league. Valentines day massacre of jake lamotta in the sixth and final contest between the two menlamotta at this point in history had the distinction of being the only man to defeat sugar ray in fistic combat, which he did to a then 400 robinson in 1943. That punch knocked jimmy rigid with heels resting against the canvas as if hinged, doyles body went down. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, robinsons performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create pound for pound rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. Ray was inducted into the ring boxing hall of fame in 1967, the international boxing hall of fame in 1990 and the georgia sports hall of fame in 2006. Fullmer, the rugged and teak tough champion, had defeated sugar ray 4 months earlier on a points decision.
His fundamentally sound fighting style, combined with blazing hand speed and knockout power in both hands, established sugar ray robinson as what many would consider, poundforpound, the greatest fighter of the century. If ray robinsons shadow fell on floyd it would crush mayweather to death, this one is a total mismatch in favor of robinson. The great sugar ray robinson had retired from boxing, had been singing and tapdancing for three years. Considered one of the greatest boxers of all time, sugar ray robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and by 1958, he had become the first boxer to win a divisional world.
But for african americans, he was more than a great boxer. This is a rare opportunity that may never be offered again. Sugar ray leonard 1976 olympic gold medal match pt. By douglas ward, marketing director at title boxing the legacy of sugar ray robinson. The bright lights and dark shadows of a champion, hbo. We sell some of the most well known boxing brands, including cleto reyes, rival boxing, fighting sports, adidas and many more. Flashback this article originally appeared on on march 2, 20 by david martinez boxing historian i have been asked many times who is the greatest boxer of all time in any weight division at the height of his career and that answer is the easiest for me to come up with sugar ray robinson 6. Boxing legend sugar ray robinson may soon find his incredible career and story on the big screen. Sugar ray robinson archives the fight citythe fight city. He is considered by many authorities to have been the best fighter in. Muhammad ali once called him the king, my master, my idoland indeed, he was the idol of everyone who had anything to do with boxing. Sugar ray robinson, the fivetime world middleweight champion who was considered by many boxing experts to have been the best fighter in history, died yesterday in culver city, calif. Muhammad ali once called him the king, my master, my idoland indeed, he was the. Sugar ray robinson is regarded by many as the greatest boxer that ever lived pound for pound, some say hes the greatest sportsman that ever lived, well one things for sure he will always be in the.
In this particular instance, were putting robinson in the time machine fresh off the st. Doyle never regained consciousness and died hours later. Sugar ray robinson born walker smith jr may 3, 1921 april 12, 1989 was an american. Televised fight calendar syncs with iphone and android calendars. A prodigious child, he took to sports at an early age, dropping out of school to pursue a career in the same when he was in ninth standard. Sugar rays is an online and instore boxing specialist, suppling a widerange of high quality boxing and fitness equipment, nationwide at great prices. Sugar ray robinson complete filmed career on dvds. Before muhammad ali and joe louis, before sugar ray robinson and jack. The only journalist to become an honorary member of the national sporting club. Sugar ray robinson the bright lights and dark shadows of a. He won golden gloves championships in both featherweight and welterweight classifications and retired undefeated as the world welterweight champion in 1952. Sugar ray robinson 19211989 was hailed as the finest boxer to ever enter a ring.
Sponsored links the story is true, although details vary. Buy sugar ray 1st edition by robinson, sugar ray, anderson, dave isbn. Sugar ray robinson was an incredible boxer who fought anyone who would fight him and beat everyone. Sugar ray robinson 19211989 was one of the first african. According to the ring record book and boxing encyclopedia. Sugar ray robinson was miles ahead the boxing tribune. A boxing legend with 200 professional bouts to his name. Two ancient bits of personal history came flooding back to me when i read wil haygoods sweet thunder.
Boxing skills and speed definetly go to sugar ray but zale would let him know that he was in for a battle from bell to bell. Screenwriter danny strong recount and producer rachael horovitz grey gardens, about schmidt have purchased the film rights to author wil haygoods bestselling biography sweet thunder. Free delivery on book orders dispatched by amazon over. In may 1957, sugar ray faced off against gene fullmer for the world middleweight title. Sugar ray robinson 19211989 he boxed as though he were playing the violin, sportswriter barney nagler. Continuing to set himself apart as one of our canniest cultural historians, wil haygood grounds the spectacular story of robinsons. Even depicted in the broadest strokes, sugar ray robinsons life and boxing. He didnt have much success, and came back to the ring in. Sugarrays is a coed facility offering training for professional, amateur and recreational boxers.
Boxing in a harlem gym, he borrowed the amateur athletic union boxing card of a friend named ray robinson. He borrowed the boxing card from a friend named ray robinson. Robinson was not registered, so gainford reached into his pocket to produce an old card of a fighter named ray robinson. According to deadline, haygood will write the films screenplay. Sugar ray robinson, illustration by christian zivojinovic boxing workout boxing workout. Today we look at the claim that sugar ray robinson dreamed that he would kill an opponent in the ring, which came true days later.
Amongst other forms of training, boxing has always incorporated cross training. From the author of the critically acclaimed in black and white. The bright lights and dark shadows of a champion poster dave anderson. Provided photo when jack johnson was already established as the baddest man on the planet within the boxing. Sugar ray is one of those boxers who when you read a book like this realise the term great should be subject to stricter rationing. Sugar ray robinson, the sweet science, and the politics of. Sugar ray robinson biopic in development beats, boxing. He was inducted into the international boxing hall. Robinson knocked out opponent jimmy doyle in a 1947 welterweight championship fight. See more ideas about sugar ray robinson, boxing history and boxing champions. Robinson had the advantage in every round except the sixth, when he was staggered twice and hurt. There is no requirement to spar or compete, you will learn to box and in the process get fit, lose weight and gain selfconfidence. There will never, ever be another sugar ray robinson.
Sugar ray robinson broke records, made boxing history. The bright lights and dark shadows of a champion 1998, a. An early look at the future champ prompted gainford to say he was sweet as sugar. First, when i was growing up in the late 50s and early 60s a big group of kids in my neighborhood used to gather into one tiny apartment to watch the boxing on friday nights. Sugar ray robinson 19211989 was hailed as the finest boxer to ever ent.
This is a book with obvious appeal to those who love boxing and are. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed from 1977 to 1997, winning world titles in five weight divisions. Sugar ray robinson, americas greatest boxer and first. Sugar ray robinson boxing career set was born walker smith jr.
927 413 878 1517 1603 545 1371 908 1676 1165 39 1474 545 71 920 1415 162 573 1642 1421 1246 1091 53 990 1494 1551 1247 206 465 1433 679 207 1235 1466 1130 566 1424 358 343