Avoided? How do you know this? Avoided, or maybe the money wasn't there for him to be interested enough? I saw Sands fight and he was good, but I don't see him beating SRR either.
Those swarmers you mention were either a lot bigger or a lot younger. As for Burley, how exactly does a WW duck a MW, you reckon?
One possible weakness was that Robinson left himself open when he backed off after throwing a flurry of punches but this was something that was rarely exploited as his opponents were grateful for the respite. I've read that Turpin's camp noticed this before their first fight and exploited it to very good effect. His ego was perhaps a handicap against Joey Maxim. For someone as unbelievably talented as Robinson, it must be very difficult to do just enough to win (especially in a world title fight), he would want to do it in style rather than conserve energy in the oppressive heat against a heavier and stronger opponent. I don't know if his cornermen told him to slow down and Robinson ignored them but if I use the current heatwave in the UK (which still isn't as hot as it was in Yankee Stadium that night) as a gauge then his corner should have told Robinson before he left his dressing room to pace himself carefully. Robinson was regarded as a brilliant negotiator for the purses for his fights. He would want to get as much money as possible and rightly so. But after working hard in the ring and arguing hard outside it to get his money, he then seemed to squander it through bad investments and a lavish style - maybe it was the idea of being cheated out of money that was more unpalatable to him than wasting it later on. His financial difficulties meant that he fought on for far too long (leading to future health problems and a relatively early death) and when he eventually retired in 1965, he couldn't even afford a piece of furniture strong enough to support the farewell trophy awarded to him by the boxing community.
I wouldn't know. I only accept unreal criticisms of Ray Robinson -- most of them leveled by boxing writers who happen to be leprechauns, jackalopes, or aliens.
* The only member of the Murderer's Row he met, Aaron Wade, was completely shot at the time. It wasn't feasible for him to face all the other members of the Row, but I don't think it can be denied that he missed out on facing Burley and Williams when they were still viable contenders at middleweight. * Later on in his career, he allowed Basilio to surge in the championship rounds to earn the decision. * Wasn't impossible to hurt, even in his prime.
Considering the nature of the sport, is it a criticism of a boxer to say that it's possible to hurt him?
Point taken. That said, Robinson arguably should have been counted out against Artie Levine, was on the floor multiple times against LaMotta and was dropped as well by Tommy Bell. According to some reports, he was shaken badly by Jimmy Doyle at one point during his title defense. Not saying he was glass jawed, but it's easier to envision some other fighters in history being a little harder to hurt than Robinson was during their prime.
I'd like to see footage of the Levine knockdown. It might have been a long count, it might be a myth, there may have been a genuine reason for the count being delayed. LaMotta had a significant weight advantage over Robinson in the fights where he was floored (I think it happened twice). There may have been fighters with better chins than Robinson but I've never seen anything to suggest that this was a potential weakness. The more times a fighter steps into the ring, the more times he's likely to get hurt and Robinson fought a hell of a lot.
Yeah, but that offer was for a fight twelve days after an already scheduled fight with LaMotta, if I remember correctly. I can see why Robinson's people wasn't too interested in that.
There were several different offers. But definitely most of them was "low reward". I wrote "none" originally, but I'm not 100% sure that's true.
Last time I saw this discussion someone who claimed that SRR ducked Burley posted an article (might have been more than one) that read that Burley's promotor, I think it was, said he had called Robinson's management and offered the same purse Robinson received for LaMotta for a fight with Burley 12 days after said fight with LaMotta. Robinson's management wasn't quoted.
