Sugar Ray Robinson

One wonders if he really dreamt about killing Doyle in the Ring. People accentuate and exaggerate these things, but the story goes they needed a priest to talk to Ray and convince him to fight.

 

The only time most of those fights would've been viable were in the early 1940s when Robinson was still growing out of Lightweight and weighing around 140 with the majority of them either nearing the end or in higher divisions (Lytell). Kid Gavilan is a Top 5 all-time Welterweight and the cut and dried #1 contender in the division when Robinson beat him twice; Henry Armstrong is a Top 5 ATG period who was the #2 WW in the world under Robinson and for good reason: He'd gone 21-2 in the preceding 12 months to their fight, losing only to Beau Jack and Willie Joyce with wins over Joyce, Sammy Angott, Tippy Larkin, Lew Jenkins, Fritzie Zivic, Juan Zurita. Past-peak for sure, but by all means an elite fighter at the time no matter how much people like to pretend he wasn't. Other wins over top contenders such as Tommy Bell, Jackie Wilson, George Costner... None of these men resembling anything close to white. Turpin could be included as well.

 

[yt]ijZqroT1Kr4[/yt]



:nod

 

:deal

 

New YT upload

[yt]RJ3_Y0KcJMQ[/yt]

 

Anyone seen the Pound For Pound Doco? They got some homemade footage of Walker Smith in his Welterweight days.

 

The one produced by Tyson's original managers Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton? Those guys were amazing contributors to the sport, particularly Jacobs.

 

Clearly the GOAT.

Only way he could be seen as more of a legend, to me, is if he had retired earlier.

If he could have stayed on his feet for another couple rounds against Maxim then retired after that victory... my God...

 

Yeah, he schooled Maxim something terrible. It was an amazing performance. He hurt himself by the pace he decided to set, the tremendous weight disadvantage bearing down on him in clinches and of course, the heat. No excuses though, it was his only 'stoppage' loss in 200 FIGHTS. Fists of Dynamite, Chin of Iron, Heart of Gold.

 

Hahaha

Hell yeah.

"The best of the modern gladiators!"

But I really think he'd be even more of a legend if he had won that and retired.

Seriously though, why isn't he the icon on tshirts and images that Ali is? Era and media, I know... but Sugar Ray is so iconic in his own right. It's almost like he gets short changed despite everyone knowing he's the best ever (hon. mention Armstrong, naturally).

 

Sick thread. Good stuff.

 

He's in the running for #1 athlete of all-time as far as I'm concerned, much less in boxing circles alone. In some kind of way, I'm sort of glad he doesn't get the overexposure of some other guys I've kind of grown to dislike as a result of rabid fan bases (such as Ali, Michael Jordan). I'll make my own custom t-shirts. Even amongst the mainstream of those who are aware, they seem to have this image of him being strictly an elegant, charismatic pure boxer - which he could be. I tend to embrace his Blood and Guts qualities, his raw power and speed, his instinctive and fluid combinations even if they were not thrown with textbook form ala Joe Louis, and the brutality he was capable of dropping on ring adversaries. This guy was a straight up BAD Mother****er, period. Above Duran, or Tyson or whoever you want to mention.

Check your VMs, Smoak.

 

This content is protected

This content is protected

Nuff Said'. :smoke

 

..

 

He did have some flaws - He could be very lazy with his jab and get out0jabbed by smaller fighers with shorter reach (LaMotta, Basillo) and he was, sometimes, very inactive on the inside - he would just wait for a oppening and then explode in a combination. Basillo gave him so much hell becase he was able do out-jab him to get on the inside and then exploit SRR lack of activity and swarm him at close-range.

Then again, i can't see any WW ever beating him decisively.