Sugar Ray Robinson fights Billy Graham

I know they fought as kids and Graham was said to be the winner, and Graham was 16 months younger then Ray.

 

id like to know more about his fights with Williams and Graham. never heard these stories.

 

Ray passed Ike in the street and said "hello ugly",Ike had to be dragged away .Ike later said he knew he would not have beaten Ray in a boxing match and his wife told him not to take such a match.

 

I have seen Billy Graham from his prelim days in 1941,til the end of his long and great boxing career...Ands this is the FIRST TIME, I have ever heard of this "street "incident.
Never a whisper of such a rumor, have I heard or read about, aside from Graham defeating Robinson as kid amateurs...
And I cant recall when Billy Graham and his mentors,Irving Cohen and Whitey Bimstein,
publicly desiring a match with Ray Robinson...Not at all...Billy Graham, great boxer that
he was, stood little or no chance of beating a prime Sugar Ray...Wise decision on Graham's part....

 

Lesser fighters than Graham held their own with Robinson. I think Graham was a very formidable style for him.

 

According to SRR's biography he beat Graham (whom he claimed gave him his toughest amatuer bout) on Billy's home territory.

Who knows 'eh?

* Edit. It was an amateurs (bootleg) not a street fight

 

Was SRR a bit of a soft touch on the street?

 

When he was really young he always used to get beaten when he first moved to NY. His mother wouldn't let him home sometimes unless he'd beaten the bullies that had started a fight with him.

I think its pretty obvious to say he wasn't a soft touch on the street when he was older, I mean....people either respected him too much of knew too well not to start fights with him.

Plus, who's gonna mess with you when you have a guy like Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson as your bodyguard!

 

Yeah Gainford brought in Johnson as a bit of protection for Robison, Chico the midget that drove Robinson around wasn't seen as good enough protection it seems (although he always carried a gun)

Robinson didn't really have much to do with Johnson himself, he was often seen in SRR's nightclub or at ringside but he was used, primarily, for his reputation on Robinson's behalf.