Educate me on Ray Robinson

I apologize if this thread was made before but i could not find it.
I am new to boxing and i don't know much about him. I did some work with boxrec but thats just "on paper material".
What made him so great ? (please don't talk abut athleticism).
What were those great wins that put him down in history as the greatest ?

 

:good

 

Well as a brief summary I'll go with the following.

in 41 he beat Lello, Angott and Shapiro to be regarded as pretty much the best LW in the world (maybe an uncrowned champion)

At WW, he holds victories over Angott, Servo, Zivic, Wilson, Armstrong, Bell, Gavilan. In my humble opinion, he was the best WW in the world from 1943 to 1950.

At Mw, he holds victories over Basora, La Motta, Levine, Abrams, Villemain, Belloise, Olson, Turpin, Graziano, Fullmer, Basilio, Moyer.

At Lhw he came within a few minutes of championship glory and was way up ojn points before retiring in his corner due to exhaustion. I'd fault his gameplan here for expending so much energy.

His winning performance against La Motta where he stops him for the Mw Championship is the best filmed performance I've ever seen by a fighter. Such a great arsenal is demonstrated.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w328DbEX33g[/ame]

I think this man is the most skilled boxer in recorded history. Some achieved more, Some beat better guys, but this man was the best of them all imo.

 

The guy is already a sure hall of famer in his welterweight stint alone.

But his tenure at 160 solidified him as the greatest fighter of all time.

 

I have been among those to have downgraded him more than most at 160, but I still think he's at ery least a top two or three P4P all time.

He had the athleticism and skill of the finest boxers coupled with numbing, true KO power in either fist and the daring and grit to take chances. He wasn't afraid to risk things, and to be truly great you need to do that.

 

The greatest ALL around fighter who ever lived. He had it ALL, and I was priviliged to see him at his best...He was Fred Astaire with boxing gloves....

 

Now that you've mentioned that, allow me to humbly ask your opinion.

John Garfield is very much welcome to give his thoughts as well. :good

I know Robinson lost to Maxim in a fight he was winning.

Barring the heatsroke he suffered, what would your opinion be had Ray moved up to 175 and faced Archie Moore instead? Could he have done it?

 

I see what you mean but surely with Robinson being the considerably smaller man in the fight he's going to have to expend alot more energy anyway? That's why I cut Robinson some slack for the Maxim fight.

You lose a lot of energy against a naturally bigger man like that because you tend to need to use a lot of movement and you're more likely to be getting pushed around on the inside which saps alot of energy.

What's everyone elses thoughts on this?

 

You're correct. You either get shoved around and banged to the body in clinches, or you keep moving the way Robinson had. He fought a good fight, and if it were 70 degrees out he would've won. Can't fault the game-plan too much. Just ended unfortunately for Robinson.

 

If Ray Robinson had to face a Light Heavyweight, the ideal opponent would have been Joey Maxim, who did not hit as hard as some MWs. Therefore
Robinson who could have challenged an Archie Moore, Harold Johnson, Lloyd Marshall, all terrific punchers, chose the less dangerous Joey Maxim..
Yes Robinson collapsed due to the heat and exertion fighting a bigger man
as Maxim, but as Maxim proclaimed after the fight, "it was just as hot in my corner too". I can't see Ray Robinson climbing a ladder and beating Moore, Charles, Marshall,or Harold Johnson,at any time..They were too big and hit too hard...P4P, it's Robinson hands down !!!

 

He chose the less dangerous Maxim? WTF? There was only one title and Maxim held it.

 

IMO the best fighter ever, not necessarily the greatest though. Underachiever you might say

 

d, of course he chose Joey Maxim because ot the reason that Maxin held the LH title of THAT time...But rest assured if it was Archie Moore,or Ezzard Charles,or Harold Johnson who held that crown, Robinson would NOT have challenged these guys. Ray knew his limitations...