Are there any real criticisms of Ray Robinson?

Yeah, I do feel that the ‘ducked the Murderer’s Row’ accusation is a bit overblown.

 

Not a big criticism but not winning the light-heavyweight title is the only significant blemish as it ended in his only stoppage. Under different conditions, he’d have beaten Maxim at a canter and be the first fighter to hold the welter, middle and light-heavy titles.

Even without winning the light-heavy title, most people still don’t rate anyone above him. But had he won that, it’d be even harder.

 

He was a nasty negotiator and had been known to change his purse expectations in the dressing room before the fight or he wouldn't go out there, if I remember correctly.

Also, personally he probably never was with a woman he didn't beat the tar out of or throw down the stairs....

 

You raise a good point regarding the purse splits he demanded ,and while he was champ and still a big draw invariably got, which as you alluded to, drew resentment from in particular Fullmer/Basilio and prob many more of his challengers down the years.
Something else about him I felt was a tad off kilter, that he never liked boxing, was not interested in the sport whatsoever, and furthermore couldn't tell you who his leading contenders were, all he ever cared about was the money, ( why not you say ) apparently broke his heart when in the declining years he had to go cap in hand to Mike Jacobs and accept whatever came his way , a far cry from the glory years when he had Jacobs over a barrel.
stay safe guys.

 

He was a very average light heavyweight above 100 degrees.

That’s about all the criticism I can come up with.

 

Greatness for sure. However he had a lot of trouble with swarmers, LaMotta, Fullmer, Basilio.
He ducked Charlie Burley for sure.
After losing his light heavyweight bid he never tried again.
Not the best defense.
And of course like most he fought too long.

 

Mike did Robinson really not have any interest in the sport at heart? I don't know much of Robinson's character or interests.

 

In fairness, he was still probably the second best light heavyweight in the world at 100+ degrees.

 

Sugar Ray Robinson like Muhammad Ali fought on too long. Fans forgot about their once peak greatness and confused it with their present past peak time in boxing.

 

I’d say Archie Moore, who could win the title six months later, probably deserves that distinction. Although actually Archie is probably No. 1 at that moment in time and Maxim No. 2. I don’t think a 157-pound Robinson beats a 175-pound Moore in any weather conditions at that time.

Harold Johnson and maybe a handful of others, give or take, would be rightfully rated higher than Ray at 175 since he never actually fought at that weight (and gave up more than 15 pounds when he did fight a light heavy).

There’s just not enough evidence to say Ray rates that high. You can say he would have won had he not given in to the heat, but that doesn’t mean he would have won had it been a brisk 72 degrees because Maxim was equally hampered by the heat and may have fought at a better pace and worn down Ray anyway. He was conserving himself in the conditions so it’s hard to know if he had been able to be friskier how it would go. As Joey said after, ‘It’s not like I had an air conditioner in my corner.’ And it’s certainly not fair to say that Ray would have beaten Archie at that time.

 

Hi Buddy.
Only going by what I have read buddy, and I have seen that printed in more than one article about Ray, sad I know to come to terms with, but he was only ever about the MONEY, Carmen never forgave him for screwing every last dollar out of the purses , in particular the 2nd fight.
stay safe my friend.

 

Did he sometimes get into slugfests when he didn’t need to?

 

He also avoided Dave Sands.

 

There were better defensive fighters. Willie Pep had a better defense, (and I don't mean that Robinson's defense was poor, obviously he could slip punches). I think sometimes he liked to slug when it was not necessary. When I watch Hagler-Leonard, I've always thought Hagler would be a more difficult fight for Robinson than it would be for Leonard. He would have boxed Hagler on the outside, but I think he would be trading more toe-to-toe with Marvin and making it a more difficult fight in the process. I'm not ranking Leonard over Robinson, but sometimes I wonder if a prime Leonard had a better tactical brain than SRR. I also thought Robinson would sometimes go a little wild and depend on his punching power, but that was more of what I seen of him as an older middleweight so maybe it's not fair to say.

 

I think Robinson would have beaten them and that that group gets overrated for some reason. I also think he would have beaten Charley Burley. Robinson was never afraid of anyone, I never bought that.