Ray Robinson NOT top five all-time

Fighters that COULD have a arugement over Robinson.

Armstrong, Fitz, Ross, Canzi, Perhaps Benny Leonard, Sam Langford, Joe Walcott(The first one) over all the list is not a long one.

 

But Floyd is still better.....at ducking.

 

And a plenty few of which he did whom were also top rated fighters at the time such as Wilson, Costner, Bell, Armstrong. It seems there was some slight reluctance to defend the title against the Keed (obviously Cuban in this instance) who was the flat out No. 1 guy in the division under Robby, but it obviously happened and for the better. Others would tell you Robinson didn't go all out in their first, non-title fight in order to build it. Either way, they opted not to film either fight. :verysad

 

Armstrong was a second rater when Robinson defeated him. Bell was a tough fighter but is he in anyones top twenty welter weights ? Thirty ? Doubtful ...

 

Can't argue there B ...

 

Yeah, perhaps in comparison to his peak run in which he was one of the more dominant fighters in history. He could still mix it up and beat some of the best around at the time. He'd dropped decisions only to the likes of Beau Jack and Willie Joyce in the year preceding his fight with Robinson with wins over Zivic, Jenkins, Larkin, Angott... Nobody claiming he was in prime form, but certainly still amongst the elite.

Re: Bell, I'm not sure anybody would. He was just simply one of the black contenders Robinson did manage to fight. I dont excuse him for Burley and Cocoa Kid, if that's what you may be thinking.

 

I do find it slightly ironic that what should be an accomplishment for Robinson is oft times turned into a critique: The fact that he was able to and did tackle good middleweight opposition while hovering around around 147 lbs is turned into: "If he fought fighter X & Y, he should've fought Z". No, not really. It would've been magnificent to see (or at least to hear and read about), but it wasn't a necessity. The Burley fight in 1946 leaves a bit of a sour taste mostly because it was seriously attempted to be made, the money was there and Charley sure as hell deserved it. As a huge Robinson fan, there are two things I don't mind admitting: 1) Charley Burley and 2) The reasoning behind his willingness to fight Joey Maxim for the Light Heavyweight title. But stuff like fighting Archie Moore? Robby was a cut and dried, natural ectomorph. He was perpetually at fighting weight, and that sure as hell wasn't anywhere remotely in the ballpark of 175 lbs.

 

He was the best fighter ever caught on film, for me.

 

HoI. good points...as i have posted i and my dad saw Robinson "play' with the 31 year old fading Armstrong at MSG in Aug,1943...we in the crowd sensed it,as it was obvious...But Armstrong prior to the fight beat Zivic, Lew Jenkins, Tippy Larkin,Sammy Angott, etc...He did lose to speedsters like Beau Jack [prime] and Willie Joyce [a perfect boxer] etc. Which tells us just how good Ray Robinson was in 1943, the year I saw him annihilate a tough Californian Jimmy McDaniels at MSG...

 

With Duran. :yep

 

Thanks for the input, Burt. It's honestly difficult for me to envision any version of Hank beating Robinson although that doesn't mean anything. Henry was on the slide and nobody would deny it; still, a very highly rated fighter and on a very impressive post-prime run. He added numerous names to his resume post-1940. A pretty historic sight and event if you think about it: Have any two higher rating P4P greats ever been in the same ring? :think Depends on your ratings, I guess.

 

Lest we forget that after Henry Armstrong [faded as he was] lost to Ray Robinson in 1943, had about 160 tough bouts leading to Robbie, and about
21 fights AFTER, and still was capable of beating the likes of John Thomas, Aaron Perry, Willie Joyce, kod left-hook artist Al Bummy Davis, and drew with Luther "Slugger" White and Chester Slider in his LAST BOUT...A few of these guys were damn good fighters of that rich laden era...Cheers.

 

Delete

 

atsch

 

What now? :verysad