Sugar Ray Robinson

Yeah, he can't be anything less than even money against anybody in history from 147-160, and should probably even be favored in a lot of cases. Kid Gavilan is probably his best win by some distance, although Henry was still formidable and the #2 Welter in the world at the time. Keed was just such a beaming, obvious talent -- He presented so much of a match in speed, use of angles, work rate and stamina while having the obscene punch resistance to handle anything Ray could dish out. It was a pair of wins over a fellow Top 5 WW who was about to hit his prime and would become Ray's successor, losing his title later on only by a dubious fix. Deep as his record is, I couldn't imagine it without Gavilan.

 

Great point.

 

Not really. There's a pretty good amount of clean MW Robinson fights on film, and it's apparent he was one of the best fighters ever based on that alone. Keep in mind that the footage you can draw that off of is a Robinson fighting out of his prime weight class and already over 100 bouts deep into his career. If there was no film at all, he'd still rate amongst the all-time greatest just based on the sheer number of champions and contenders he wiped out. As it is, there wasn't another fighter that possessed the same combination of KO power in both hands (visual evidence, track record of stoppage victims), speed (also visually available) and chin (1 "TKO" loss in 200 fights) - in addition to his combination punching, footwork, balance and coordination, etc. Nobody has the same combination at that high of a level, which in turn also makes him an animal in a H2H sense.

 

His speed is actually overrated,bear with me. Back then fighters tried there hardest to knock out their opponent rather than today where people are content with decisions. As a result of this fighters of old commit to every punch they throw making it more slower. I've seen Robinson fight Lamotta and honestly I wouldn't say it's that fast, Roy jones jr was faster. I would say he relied on his timing. His other attributes are all overrated too BUT he was very well rounded which allowed him to beat most of his opponents.

As with any fighter who made a large impact during his time there will be a lot of exaggeration and myths surrounding the person.

 

BOOM :deal

 

Did I miss a rematch?

Or are you referring to the fight which wasn't competitive after the third round and from that point on was just a one-sided beatdown by a 13-0 Leonard where he forced Mayweather to just shell up and take his beating for fear of being hit even more?

Wouldn't be that one, would it?

 

Your way over exaggerating wasn't one sided until the late rounds because Floyd sr broke his hand.

 

Jones Jr, Ray Leonard, Meldrick Taylor to name a few. I was talking about the three attributes as a cohesive combination of things. You'll see all three mentioned aren't quite as strong as it pertains to the one of the other two. His timing, coordination and balance was obviously quite good as well considering power and speed are really only as effective as you're able to harness them inside a ring. That's where skill comes into play although these days there's a nasty little notion that skill is determined by defense, hit and not being hit, etc. Pugilism is a sport based on punching strikes. Robinson was the best at both giving and being able to take them. He will either outland you or knock your ****ing head off. He didn't need to be slick.

 

Wish you'd seen SRR fight in person, x, to judge if his creds were exaggerated.

 

Spot on, NWS

 

Ive never heard an explanation like this but its very well thought out. I agree with this.

 

He got the **** beaten out of him, then he was stopped by Ray Leonard with 13 prior fights (fight should've been stopped earlier)

Good chin, great defense, good counters. Yet very feeble resistance once he realised who the man in the ring was. Broken hand or no. No, he did not 'nearly' beat Ray Leonard, far from it.

 

I agree with you. SRR is GREAT!. No question about it. I was just thinking that it is different living the time, than watching videos. You have a better grasp on how things were and the competition. I'm not taking credit away from SRR. I have no problem, when people say he is the GOAT.

 

It's perfectly understandable if you don't like him, LAC. Ringside observers actually lost count of how many times Robinson utterly stunk the joint out. He didn't engage his opponent enough, or throw meaningful punches. He wasn't a draw. :verysad

 

You threw me off here bro :?.