Guys who would have probably beaten Ray Robinson

I think if we talk about this, we should always start with Ray's prime weight, welter.
It's also hard to see as you have to consider that some boxers had the benefit of taking PED's to help with their game, and that changes a lot.
What was Sugar Ray Robinson's rehydration weight?

Also, consider SRR fought many times every year whereas the main ATG welterweights didn't. SRR will be far more crisp if he had their careers.

Anyway, assuming ceteris paribus (somehow), I see Hearns being able to outbox SRR - I give Hearn's the best chance although I also feel SRR can potentially KO Hearns. I think SRL could potentially squeeze a decision over SRR, it will be very, very difficult and SRL needs to box and move.

 

Robby ducked him.

 

Another good post Gann, but...your dropping fighters into different eras.
What would prime Leonard, Hearns, Duran look like in 1948, especially after fighting 12 times a year for 8 years?
What would ANY 80's-90's-2000 fighter look like after fighting once a month for 10 freaking years?
As to the MW matchups?...that wasn't Ray's balliwick of prime. He was a welter for the first 10+ years of his career, and still had a MW resume after coming back from retirement.
All things (eras) considered, there might have been one or two who might have decisioned him but they would have lost the rematch.
He was THE greatest IMO.
Sidebar: Had Ray been born in the 50's-60's-70's with the usual 2-3-4 defenses a year (or less), do you think anyone could touch him??
THE BEST!

You know, just having a thread like this should show you how great he was. Everyone wants to start a 'what if ' about the greats.

 

You're truly showing your ignorance here.

 

Sugar Ray Robinson at his best would be tough to beat for any fighter under 175 Lbs. and plenty over 175 Lbs. as well. He jumped back and forth from WW to MW for years. He actually had about 50 fights at MW before he lost to Randy Turpin. Prior to his loss to Turpin he was 128-1-2 1NC. Don't just look at his fights vs. Ralph Jones, Gene Fullmer, Carmen Basilio, Paul Pender, and others to see how good Robinson was as a MW. He had flashes of greatness at this point in his career but was past prime. My point is that he was comfortable at MW years before this.

So, who could have beat SRR?

Ali, Holmes, Holyfield, Foreman, Tyson, Lewis, Bowe, V. Klitschko, W. Klitschko, Frazier, Louis, Marciano, Liston, Charles, Walcott, and some others could have done the job.

 

As for Lamotta? Robinson went 5-1 (1) vs. Lamotta and the loss to Lamotta was close. Lamotta outweighed Robinson by about 15 Lbs. that night. Robinson had gone 40-0 prior to the loss to Lamotta and he had already beat Lamotta... damn, he had a slightly off night vs. a tough guy he thought he could beat again... cut him some slack. He went undefeated in his next 91 fights (and many of them were against MWs).

 

:good:smoke

 

If the thread means "who would have probably beaten Ray Robinson in their PRIMES"?.
Then my answer would be in his WELTERWEIGHT prime, the Ray Robinson I saw
ringside a few times at 147,would have beaten most assuredly any welterweight that
ever lived...SRR was a revelation to see at 147, he was tall ,[close to 6 feet], his furious
combinations along with knockout intent , his great chin and a massive ego to be supreme
made him in my eyes the greatest fighter I ever saw...Of the welterweights that followed Robinson I give Tommy Hearns the best chance to upset SRR, because of Hearns size
and great punching power...Many posters don't realize today that Robinson was past his
peak when he entered the MW division in about 1951 with about 125 bouts under his
belt, and was not the same SRR of his WW prime...That being said, when I saw Robinson
in 1951 ko Randy Turpin in the 10th round at the old Polo Grounds, with a badly cut eye
unleashing a furious barrage on the sturdy and brave Turpin, to stop Randy, SRR that
night was one helluva MW in my eyes...Was SRR the greatest MW ? NO. I give that
distinction to a chap named Harry Greb, but an older SRR was still a formidable foe for any middleweight who ever lived ... We must also remember LaMotta, Artie Levine, Georgie Abrams were all legitimate middleweights who outweighed Robinson...

 

Quite a few judges picked Monzon to beat Robinson ,including Tyson and Mickey Duff ,who promoted a couple of his fights in the UK.

 

Great post Mr B.:good

 

Of course!atsch

 

I won't say probably...because while Ray maybe can't be classified as the greatest middle overall, on the given night at his best, he would be capable of beating anyone at 160..I will say the following could have..(but not probably...because it is far, far from a given to beat a Ray Robinson) Charley Burley, Carlos Monzon, Harry Greb, Roy Jones Jr., Sam Langford...and maybe Bernard Hopkins.

 

The Monzon match is one Red that's puzzled me based on how old man Griffith did against him, particularly in their second go. The dif with Emile was he had subtle moves even when slowed at that point and Monzon was stifled by them, Emile came close so how would a much faster harder hitting Robby do if he came in with non stop feinting? Briscoe caught Carlos with one good right hand that hurt him but was too slow to follow up, my guess is Robby would have dropped him and gone on for the win.

 

Wow, that is some complement, when you think Hagler brutalized Hearns in three.

As for the question; Ali, Louis, Holmes, Foreman, Tyson...

The point is, as most have mentioned, no man weighing 160lbs or less 'probably' beats Robinson in his pomp.

The one man who I think might be his Achilles heel, is Monzon. But even Carlos is not 'probably' beating him.