Did Ray Robinson cherry pick Joey Maxim?

Didn’t he plan on fighting Walcott for the HW title after Maxim? I think he also tried making the Moore fight in ‘59 too.

 

Not really. It was his first fight in the division and was severely handicapped when it comes to size. The results were unfortunate and he did not attempt it again.

 

Maxim had been the LHW champ for years at this point. Was a HW contender for years too.

I'd see a cherry picking situation as more like a fringe contender winning the belt and all of sudden the champion at the division below gets interested in moving up.

 

Joey Maxim was a good boxer with some nice wins he was very formidable and defeated great boxers but he didn’t have a style to impose his 175lbs advantages over “Sugar” who stayed light and didn’t make the mistake of getting heavy. “Let the bull have the strength” - Juan Belmonte.
Against Archie Moore it would’ve been a mistake he’d have imposed himself inside, boxed just as well, was incredibly powerful and could fight hard wherever he wanted.
I read Sugar Ray Robinson priced himself out of fighting Archie Moore I think he’d have taken the fight for a good enough purse but would’ve lost.

 

I think it was more a matter of convenience that Joey Maxim was light heavyweight champ and wasn’t a physically imposing guy nor a powerful puncher.

Ray had probably run out of challenges — at least lucrative ones — at 160 and he had the ‘right’ champ at 175 to step up against in a fight that could create some buzz because he’s a natural welter stepping up two full divisions from his prime weight (big deal in the original eight division days) and expand his legacy by winning a title in a third weight division.

In the days when there was (generally) only one champ in each division, fighting that champ really can’t be considered a cherry pick. But if the light heavy champ at the time had been more threatening (say a Michael Spinks, Archie Moore or Bob Foster) then Robinson may have foregone that attempt out of prudence.

 

Sugar Ray had a reputation among promoters and fight people for being difficult, arrogant and greedy. He would back out of fights, or threaten to, as a negotiating ploy. He said on television that he didn't enjoy boxing, that for him it was just a business. In 1952 he was at or near the height of his appeal and bargaining power. He was fighting in packed baseball stadiums. He should've had enough money to live on for the rest of his life. But he was flashy and vain; he needed to have an entourage. He had a big payroll, and his employees stole plenty of money from him. After the Maxim loss he tried to retire from boxing. He saw himself as an aspiring dancer but his athletic prowess didn't spill over to the nightclub stage. He was awful, an embarrassment. And quickly went broke. So he had to put the gloves on again for another decade. He should never have fought past 1957.

 

I remember back in the day we used to all call him "Joey Maxim-ized-his-potential."

 

Purple burglar alarm.

 

Well if he did it came back on him.
But so close...

 

Is that accurate?

I remember watching some Ray Robinson documentary, which featured an interview with his son - who said that people don't realise that his father was in really bad state after the Maxim fight and it took him a while to recover.
Did that influence his decision to retire - or was it something that was on his mind regardless?

 

Well if he picked him because he looked easy to beat, then obviously it back fired on Ray.

 

My best friend’s dad hung with Louis and Robinson in Detroit back in the day. He said Robinson saw Maxim as an opportunity to get the light heavyweight belt but that there was no way he would have fought Moore or Charles.