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Sugar Ray Robinson
1921–1989 · 68 years Tier II
He borrowed another boy's name to get into the ring
Walker Smith Jr. was born in Ailey, Georgia, to a farmer of cotton, peanuts and corn who moved the family to Detroit for construction work. After that it was two jobs, six days a week, home near midnight. The only day I really saw him was Sunday, his son said later. When Robinson was 11 he lived on the same Detroit block as Joe Louis. His parents separated and his mother took him to Harlem at 12. He wanted to be a doctor, quit DeWitt Clinton High School in ninth grade, and at 14 got into a boxing tournament on the amateur card of a boy named Ray Robinson who had given the sport up. A woman at a fight in Watertown, New York said he was sweet as sugar.
He turned professional on October 4, 1940 and stopped his man in the second round. From 1943 to 1951 he went 91 fights without losing. He held the world welterweight title from December 1946, and on Valentine's Day 1951 in Chicago he took the middleweight championship off Jake LaMotta in the 13th round, the first time anybody had stopped LaMotta in 95 professional bouts. In June 1952 he went up to light heavyweight against Joey Maxim at Yankee Stadium in 103-degree heat that drove the referee out of the ring, led on every scorecard, and collapsed after the 13th — the only knockout loss of his career. He was the first fighter to win a divisional world title five times. He finished with 174 wins, 19 losses and six draws.
On June 24, 1947 he tried to pull out of a fight with Jimmy Doyle because he had dreamed he was going to kill him. A priest and a minister talked him back into the ring. He knocked Doyle out in the eighth round and Doyle died that night. Cleveland talked about charges and never brought any. When Robinson learned that Doyle had meant to buy his mother a house with the purse, he sent her the money from his next four fights. The rest of the cost took longer to arrive. He made about 4 million dollars in and out of the ring, and by 1965 it was gone. At the tribute night the Garden gave him that December, the trophy was too heavy for any table in his apartment.
His last fight was in Pittsburgh on November 10, 1965. Joey Archer knocked him down and outworked him for ten rounds, and the crowd of 9,023 stood and cheered him anyway. He retired the next day, took television and film parts, and in 1969 started a youth foundation in Los Angeles that pointedly runs no boxing program. Alzheimer's disease and diabetes came in his last years, and he died of heart disease in Los Angeles on April 12, 1989. The argument about the best fighter who ever lived has since settled on him: The Ring put him first among 80 years of fighters, and Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Roberto Durán and Sugar Ray Leonard all said the same.
Lifespan
Sugar Ray Robinson's life against the full span of the corpus.
Notable works
-
New York Golden Gloves titles
other
Featherweight in 1939 and lightweight in 1940, fought under a borrowed name 1940 -
World welterweight championship
other
Won from Tommy Bell over 15 rounds on December 20, 1946 1946 -
A 91-fight unbeaten run
other
From 1943 to 1951, the sixth-longest streak in professional boxing 1951 -
The 13th-round stoppage of Jake LaMotta
other
February 14, 1951 at Chicago Stadium — LaMotta's first knockout loss in 95 fights 1951 -
Sugar Ray's
company
His Harlem restaurant, where Sinatra, Lena Horne and Joe Louis turned up 1950 -
Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation
company
Founded for inner-city Los Angeles, and deliberately not a boxing program 1969
Life in brief
with age at each point- May 3, 1921 aged 0 Born Walker Smith Jr. in Ailey, Georgia
- 1933 aged ~12 Moves to Harlem with his mother at 12 He had wanted to be a doctor and left school in the ninth grade.
- 1939 aged ~18 Wins the New York Golden Gloves featherweight title He was fighting under the amateur card of a boy named Ray Robinson.
- October 4, 1940 aged 19 Turns professional and wins in the second round
- December 20, 1946 aged 25 Takes the world welterweight title from Tommy Bell
- June 24, 1947 aged 26 Jimmy Doyle dies after their fight in Cleveland Robinson had dreamed he would kill him and had tried to withdraw.
- February 14, 1951 aged 29 Stops Jake LaMotta in the 13th for the middleweight title
- June 25, 1952 aged 31 Collapses in 103-degree heat against Joey Maxim at Yankee Stadium He was ahead on every card. It was the only knockout loss of his career.
- December 9, 1955 aged 34 Comes out of retirement and knocks out Bobo Olson for the title He had spent three years trying to make a living as a tap dancer.
- November 10, 1965 aged 44 Loses his last fight, to Joey Archer in Pittsburgh
- April 12, 1989 aged 67 Dies of heart disease in Los Angeles
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