Robinson's win over Armstrong

Certainly, a win over Armstrong past his prime is still about as good as a win over most other top notch fighters in theirs. He was still racking up decent wins until the end of his career, although some of the bigger name guys he was beating were admittedly past their pomp, too (Spoldi, Belloise, etc.).

 

It was a good win. Armstrong was recognized as the number 1 contender at welterweight. Robinson had to get past him in order to be recognized as the best at the weight.

 

Steve, I saw the fight between Henry Armstrong and Ray Robinson,Aug.27, 1943 at MSG...It seemed to me and the crowd there, that Robinson was carrying Armstrong..Ray never opened up with his flurries, content to win the decision...Armstrong was 31 years old, but was through the wars, and was no threat to the prime,much taller Robinson...Even a dynamo runs down, and old Henry was at the end of his career then...At their peaks i would pick Robinson,still the best fighter I ever saw...
Incidentaly,fans who pick Ali as the best P4P fighter over Ray Robinson, make me cringe...Robinson could do everything as good and BETTER than ALi, without the showboating, and most importanly hit TWICE as hard...No contest..Best fighter I ever saw, by far...

 

:good You don't know how lucky you are.

 

No Steve,that was the only Henry Armstrong fight I saw live...The Armstrong of that time, would still beat most anyone else, but Ray Robinsonn who I saw four times at his peak , was not ANYONE else...
Sidenote--To show how far Armstrong regressed when he fought Robinsonin 1943...A few months before Armstrong lost two decisions, to Willie Joyce and to Beau Jack...These two lightweights who I saw several times, both great boxers by the way, would have been whipped by the Armstrong in his prime...I think that the two fights with Fritzie Zivic in 1940 and 1941,one of which Armstrong was stopped ,took a lot out of Henry, and by 1943 Armstrong was but a shell of himself against Robinson.
Hope I shed some light...b.b.

 

I am feeling pure jealousy. Its amazing to me that there is anyone on this board that has actually seen Robinson fight...let alone in his prime. I hang out in the general forum way too much.

 

Congratulations man I wish I saw a prime SRR lol. I hope you savoured every minute of watching that fight and being there....I can't imagine how that must've been.

Lol. I go on General alot too but occassionally stop by on Classic to see discussions on fighters and watch great uploads. I like being apart of Classic. No hate on here just people expressing facts and there opinions on fighters I actually learn something every time I drop by in a Classic Forum's thread. I like it here alot.

 

I would have to agree...SRR could KO a guy going backwards...he had it all +

 

In all that I've read it seems Robinson was definitely carrying Hank.

Burt, I envy you mate.

 

I dont think i agree with this.

Ray wasnt as fast as Ali, particularly pound for pound. Also his chin wasnt as good as Ali's (good as it was) particularly pound for pound. As good as Ali was, people forget, that if he didnt have that unbelievable chin/heart/ recuperative powers, he would not have even been the best fighter of his era.

I am not saying that Ali was better than Ray on a pound for pound basis, and there were definitely things that Ray did better than Ali, but it is not as silly as what you are indicating to consider them both in the same class.

At least I dont think it is.

 

As Al Smith said, " Lets look at the record "!
1 Chin....Ray Robinson had 202 fights in his career .Was stopped from heat prostration once[Joey Maxim]1952.
Ali....had 61 fights in his career, stopped once...Do you honestly think that if Ali had THREE times more fights he would have not been stopped again? On their records,why do you think that Ali had a better chin and more HEART than Sugar Ray ?The record says otherwise....
2 Speed--Do you define speed as skipping around the ring,avoiding punches, from your slower opponents,quite often not throwing punches yourself,until your opponent gets tired from the chase,as Ali often did..
Or boxing the clasic style stabbing your opponent without uneeded skipping and moving, as Robinson did, without the glitz and showboating of Ali...The prime Robinson who I saw moved with speed and grace....He was fluid and beautiful to watch, and had EFFECTIVE speed...
3 Power,Ali had to develop the rope a dope method because he did not hit hard enough, to hold opponents off after awhile...He was never a hard puncher for a heavyweight, and the rope-a-dope, gave him time to rest...
Ray Robinson,at his best hit withsuch speed and force KO'd 109 opponents
in his career...Robinson kod men while he was backing up, as per Fullmer fight...Aside from Joe Louis, the best combination puncher I ever saw...
So the question is , what did Ali do that was superior to Ray Robinson ,based on their record and skill alone ,and not on hype ? None I believe.....

 

To be fair Ali always said that while he was the greatest Heavyweight of all times Sugar Ray was the greatest fighter p4p of all times.