Was the low action/low output performance of Maxim on that hot night in '52 merely the result of being outclassed by Robinson, or was it partly a deliberate strategy of allowing Ray to do the exerting and the lion's share of fighting and moving to cause the heat to get to him? Granted, it may have been a fairly improvised strategy by Maxim, as I doubt seriously if he and his trainer planned it very far in advance, neither in training camp, or even in the dressing room prior to the opening bell. I pose this question, because I feel that Maxim was, despite being a lightheavy, was a bit more agile and faster than most of Robinson's opponents, and because he has been written so much of, and described so much by boxing writers as a "plodder", and so slow in that ring with Sugar Ray. I feel that some of that "plodding slowness" had something to do with a deliberate and somewhat devious gameplan of Maxim's. It was written somewhere I've read, that if it was a deliberate strategy, that it was "diabolically successful". Opinions?
To add to what I've written already, I'm not suggesting a "conspiracy theory" that suggests that Maxim's fight plan alone did the trick in causing his tko win: it was quite obvious that the heat did Robinson in. I'm just suggesting that Maxim was more than a passive bystander in all of this, and that it was partly the cause of a "negative strategy".
i think that" the heat beat srr "is a bunch of baloney, it was just as hot for maxim. the better man won .srr was too small. lamotta would of whipped maxim.could srr of beat bob murphy? i dont think so .too much of a puncher at that weight for srr.
I honestly don't know if Maxim was that clever for a scheme like that or not...But Jack Kearns? Yeah, maybe so...I have to disagree on Maxim being faster or more agile than Robinson's previous opponents.
Maxim's long suits were stamina, a solid jab, and a very good chin. I don't think Maxim was slow, but he was a bit rigid in his movement, and mostly a 1-2 type of fighter who did not have a good hook or uppercut. Maxim was not a big puncher either. But he was game, and combined with the elements at play hard for a smaller man to beat in a 15 round fight. I think the story of the fight is the heat got to Sugar Ray Robinson before he knew he was in danger of being de-hydrated and fatigued. Sugar Ray retired from the match, or as some modern writers might say, he quit. Maxim outlasted and won the day. What gets lost in the discussion of this fight is had Sugar Ray won, he would have been a linear Triple Crown champion at welter, middle, and light heavy.
