Moore, possibly by ko .Ray had Archie over to dinner to discuss a projected fight but according to Archie," Ray wanted all the money", so it never got off the ground.
According to Teddy Brenner, Robinson tried to convince Moore to accept a $750k-$250k purse split. Moore, understandably, told him what to do with that offer. I fancy Moore by KO. Robinson came up short against the only light-heavy he ever faced, and Moore was more talented and a much greater offensive threat than Maxim.
Bad a nalogy. The heat did for Robinson, as it did for the ref, not Joey Maxim. SRR was ahead on all cards at the time of retiring.
But as Maxim put it, it's not as if he had air conditioning in his corner. Robinson got burned enough that he never pursued a rematch or dipped his toe in the division again.
I think Archie was more powerful than Maxim and no matter how you look at it or what excuses you bring Maxim stopped SRR, IMO Moore would have done it earlier he was too strong of a light heavyweight
Of all the top lightheavyweights of that period, Ray Robinson a great fighter and a shrewd business man CHOSE Joey Maxim as his opponent because Maxim DID NOT hit as hard as some middleweights of that period...There were at that time, Archie Moore, Ezzard Charles, Harold Johnson, Gus Lesnevich, Lloyd Marshall, Freddie Mills, etc, who hit much harder than Maxim so SRR chose the least dangerous LH...About that period, someone offered the young Floyd Patterson as a money opponent for Robinson. Robinson was quoted as saying " do you want me to be killed" ? A bridge too far...
Robinson got burned out because he was doing far more moving in the fight than a comparatively stationary Maxim was doing. Look at John Ruiz vs Roy Jones Jr for a modern day comparison. Sugar Ray lost 16lb in the fight and simply couldnt continue due to the heat. Robinson would have won the fight on a cooler day. Weather he would beat Moore nobody knows - Robinson could certainly take a punch and the only time he was ever stopped in a fight was at Light-Heavyweight in that fight against Maxim. Remember that Sugar Ray was at his best at Welterweight so for him to even be competitive never mind nearly win the LHW championship is only something that a truly exceptional boxer could achieve.
Archie Moore would break down Sugar ray. He is just to big, and has a tremendous right hand counter. Robinson would be to slow at this weight and Archie at his peak had great speed. Sugar Ray, will have enough in him to make around 6-7 rounds but I don't see him getting past that. To much for the Great SRR.
This is backed up by Jack 'Doc' Kearns, manager of Joey Maxim and snake oil salesman par excellence. In his autobiography "The Million Dollar Gate" Kearns says that he told Robinson "You don't have this thing in the right perspective. You know, as well as I do, that while I've tried to build Maxim up as a new Dempsey for several years now he can't hardly knock your hat off with a baseball bat." (Con, sure. But I wanted the match.) "This is probably the greatest chance you'll ever have to win the light heavyweight championship of the world. No matter what happens, you can't get hurt. Maxim doesn't punch that hard. Now if we have to fight Moore for the title, he'll probably beat us. And, while I think you're a helluva fighter, Ray, I don't think you could whip Archie if they let you carry a meat cleaver. But Maxim, now, well that's a different story." Robinson said "You're a foxy fellow, Doc, but I've got to admit maybe you're right at that. And I'd sure like to have another title before I step down." Kearns here tries to take credit for selling the fight to SRR, but Robinson surely knew the situation.
But in building up that lead Robinson used up twice as much energy as his opponent. Do you think if he was fighting, say, Bobo Olson that night he would have collapsed with exhaustion? Even the greatest of fighters know their limitations and I think after Maxim Robinson realised the light-heavy division wasn't for him. He never challenged Maxim again or any other 175lber. Robinson took a great punch against welters and middles. He was never punched by a light-heavy KO artist who routinely beat heavyweights. IMO Moore would just be a bridge too far for a welter/middle who never beat a light-heavy of any description.
