I just read this in an article, it's really about how SRR was so well aquainted with the fundmentals of boxing he could really do whatver he wanted in his prime in the boxing ring, but just thought I'd share: "Sugar Ray Robinson had fully developed his iconic style [by 1942], which was based on a supreme mastery of two fundamental concepts in boxing: how to put all of the human body in motion behind punches and how to use space and angles to maximize both offense and defense. No fighter before or sense has had a better understanding of these two elements of the sweet science as Sugar Ray Robinson, which made him the quintessential boxer-puncher. Robinson remains to this day the only boxer in history capable of knocking out first-rate opponents while moving backwards."
Robinson was the best fighter that ever lived, period ! Maybe some fighters could do certain things a little better but nobody put it all together like he did & he did everything above average, he had no definitive weaknesses & for my money had the best offensive arsenal in the history of the sport... you put that together with a good defense, great jab, excellent footwork, brilliant chin, phenomenal heart & you have one bad mutha****a.
bman, Well said. He was all that and more ! I was as a youngster fortunate to see Ray Robinson ringside at his zenith best, against Henry Armstrong, Jimmy McDaniels [he took out breath away],Randy Turpin 2,and a few other times. Those days,when he "opened" up , he was like lightning in a bottle, truly electrifying to behold... P.S. My dad and others said the same thing about a prime Benny Leonard when he ruled the roost as lightweight champion for 7 years.:hi:
I'm just watching a series of SRR fights right now, and people forget just how competative this period was (see Steele, Apostili, Apostili Georgie Abrams), from the mid-30s to the late 50s, the absolute Best of Boxing!!! BHop DOES NOT COMPARE!
I was thinking of Benny Leonard as an example of someone who "could do it all" just before I read your post ! Maybe Sugar Ray Robinson was the best all-rounder, maybe Benny Leonard was as good or better. Or maybe someone else was the greatest ever (Fitz ? Langford ? Greb ? Armstrong ?), I don't know. It's hard to argue against any of those guys, and easy to argue for them !
To do more things "better" than anyone else ever did, don't necessarily translate to whipping every other fighter in your division. For example I must cite Harry Greb ,who because of his utterly unique "style ",was considered a better middleweight by Nat Fleischer and other great writers and boxers ,who SAW these two in their primes. Boxing is a funny sport that allows a great talent to lose to another talent , less classical who would exploit a weakness in their [Robinson's ]armor. Harry Greb would have done just that by his unorthodox buzzsaw ,and frenetic style. Robinson in close, would have been roughed up and battered about by Greb's onslaught. Harry never gave anyone the ball so busy were they defending themselves. Robinson would never be allowed to be "Robinson so busy would he be defending himself. Ray Robinson was at his greatest, as a Welterweight fighter [unparalleled], but Harry Greb was superior at middleweight division. Much more rugged and durable...Cheers...
Theres only 2 things we know about Harry Greb. 1) He was the best of his era 2) Everyone from his era we have film of looks like ****
I agree with everything. The best to ever do it. There are fighters that are just as skilled as Robinson though.