Could Robinson dominate this welterweight division?

The footage of him at WW and Burley is limited, I haven't seen much of some of the others, but I'd assume the title would be passed around in a talent pool that deep, provided the reigning champ fought the worthy contenders.

 

You push a hard bargain McGrain!!!

If ANY1 can dominate it it would be him, but if any bunch of welters can beat him it would be these, the cream of the crop (im not gunna attempt analysis right now! Might do 1 a day or something), but i do think if this was an era where no clear-cut guy dominates, Robinson would still emerge as the best of the era

 

The tittle would be passed around.

 

Yes he could

 

I'm a Robinson apologist...and I think the title would get passed around. No disputing it. A line -up like that would be too much. That being said, SRR would be the most successful welter in the era.
Burley, Griffith, and Leonard would be the ones to get a win possibly...Napoles? Hearns? Not sure if they win in a fire fight with Robinson.
McGrain, how do you feel about a match-up between Napoles and Walker? Interesting thread!
How good would Loi be at welter? Would he be outsized here?

 

Bingo.

If a clash of such talent and egos occured there would be no domination.

 

Hell of a lineup! Where would you place Kid Lewis, Barbados Joe and Homicide Hank?

I'll start with who I think would have been the "also rans" among the elite ten offered.

Robby holds two decisions over Gavilan, which takes care of the Keed. Walker probably peaked at middleweight, against Milligan. (At a light middleweight catch weight, Robby's boxing would have shaded Mickey's aggression, although SRR would probably have to pick himself off the deck in the process.)

Napoles would have been beaten bloody, while Griff would have been too passive. Hearns would have been knocked out. I don't think Robby would have aimed for a decision with him, although he had the ability to score one. Loi was a little too small, and would have been outmaneuvered. Even SRL might favor Robby in a decision over himself. If the taller and longer armed Hearns could outbox him at 147, then the taller, longer armed, tougher and much more experienced Robinson would have done it. SRL did lose at 147 to a former lightweight, albeit one of the high trinity. (Gans and BL being the others.)

I expect that Robby's active style and combination punching would have trumped Burley's punch at a time and counterpunching approach. Britton would be a very daunting challenge, but Lewis and lightweight Leonard proved he was not absolutely invincible at 147. However, the dearth of footage on Britton makes this a dicey assumption.

That leaves Barney Ross, who we do have peak footage of against Billy Petrolle. Canzi and McLarnin showed that Robby had what it took to win a hectic decision over Barney, and that's what it would have had to be. Some old timers believed that even Robby could not have beaten Ross at his peak.

Of off McGrain's list, the only three who Robinson could stop are Hearns, Napoles on cuts, and Griffith, largely on the strength of how badly Paret stunned Griff with that devastating knockdown punch in that final war, and the way Carter was able to blow Emile out. Everybody else goes 15. Aside from Hearns, Robby's height and reach are significant advantages. With Tommy, Robinson's chin, experience, bodypunching and stamina would be the key factors.

 

I think Hearns could beat him, in addition to SRL on the right day. He beats Gavilan (although the 1st scrap was close), Napoles, and the rest IMO.

 

Robinson isn't unbeatable at welter, although he may be the closest thing to it. I recently watched a 3 minute clip of his fight against Docusen and he takes some punches, including one segment in which Docusen tees off on him with a telegraphed right hand.

 

I think the title would be passed around, too much quality in there for one man to dominate, no matter how good he is.

 

You're right there though acb, in saying he was the closest thing to it. Really, i cant stress enough why the man is the greatest ever.

 

One of the ridiculously sad things about boxing today that more footage doesn't exist of him at 147lbs.

 

We can only dream!! There's what? A few minutes, and then some amateur footage aswell. Still, the MW stuff is great, but his absolute best is left to our imagination. Gavilan-Robinson (either one would do, but the title-fight preferably) makes my short list of unfilmed fights i'd see if i could only pick a few, along with Tunney-Greb1

 

Hey teeto have you ever seen this video on Robinson, its excellent:

http://video.google.com/videosearch...ggestions&resnum=0&ct=property-revision&cd=2#