Most of you in the Classic Forum know my feelings about SRR. What qualities in your opinion -- FORGET BOXREC -- made him such a unique, enduring figure?
his chin,power,speed,agility,technique,defence,flashiest can all be put into top 10 lists of who is the fastest /hardest puncher/most grantie chin/ etc. you could put ali in for speed and chin but the rest is hard to convince, you can put pernell in best agility and defence but still his power is lacking. robinson can do anything he wants. even in his 30's (where most of his fights are recorded) he is winning big fights against ATGs. in the days where there was only one belt where you couldnt fight paper champs. also he came around at a time where fighters where not boggedown by the nostalgic, when the mobs grip on boxing was starting to be broken up and was settign achievements thats hard for fighters even today to replicate. you rarely see fighters being effective from 135 to 160+ fighting full blown light heavys and multiweight champions and in all that there is nish footage in his welter prime. he is the closest thing to a boxer completeing the game 100%
That's what I was going to say. Robinson seemed to punch just as hard going away as he did when he was moving forwards. His balance was spooky.
Just about every fighter has deficiencies ,great boxers often lack top end power,great punchers sometimes concentrate so much on delivering that power ,they lack technique and quite often durability. Ray was good enough in all aspects of the game not to be out classed in any of them ,he had durability,power ,movement ,speed of hand and foot ,technique,,a champions will, ego, pride, and conceit,and an abundance of courage. Robinson could knock you out while he was going back from a punch ,he was a terrific finisher ,ruthless,and schooled in every aspect of the sport. Robinson was as near a complete fighter as there has been. Possibly Benny Leonard comes close ,superb boxer ,he could hit ,not in Ray's league but hard enough , but he lacked Robinson's dynamic attack . Machine -like combinations ,from very fast hands ,coupled with the dancing feet that could get him into range and out again.Two handed power, a chin to go with it, a punishing jab,that paved the way for the salvos that would follow,Robinson wrote the book. There have been better boxers than Robinson ,and some harder punchers at the weight ,but no one combined all the qualities needed to make a flawless fighter ,as near perfectly as Ray. He was, to use a title from a Jack Nicholson Film[big fight fan]. "AS GOOD AS IT GETS"
The quick toggle he had to go from boxing master to raw, explosive one punch power and killer instinct. That and his ruggedness and quick recovery powers.
I would say his combination punching. Those weren't flurries of arm punches you'll see mos of the ime but real punches every one of them. And nobody put them better together than him, so fluent, natural looking. Poetry in motion.
His overall in ring ability for me, pink cadilacs etc just added to his charisma but that wouldnt mean **** if he couldnt fight... & he could fight better than anyone, he still hasnt been equaled never mind surpassed by anyone IMO & the mans prime was over half a century ago, amazing. Ray could outfight fighters, outbox boxers & vice versa, KO you with either hand, excellent leg movement even at an old age, phenomenal combination puncher, fast as ****, nice jab, brilliant longevity, the heart of a warrior, just the perfect package of fighter overall. My only regret about his career is we never got to see Robinson-Maxim II but **** happens, Id say he more than made up for that in the MWT division. If God was a boxer..... he`d be Sugar Ray Robinson.
I don't thing there can be one facet of his game that i could single out as being what made him special, i think that in itself shows just what a fighter he was, you find it so difficult to narrow it down and say this is what made ray the fighter he was. A few observation though. I think the most underrated part of ray game is his footwork. Its close to impecable, he always seemed to be in a position where he could punch, but not just do that but to be able to put serious leverage on the shots. That has always impressed me. His chin was also for me very crucial to his game. Ray defence for me was good, when he was concentrating on just that it was more than good with his reflexes. He never really had the skill i would associate most with roberto duran however, the ability to attack and defend yourself in almost the same motion. When Ray went on the offence he would take heavy shots but he had the chin and the recuperative skills to take them. That then gets me on to ray's offensive ability, he has the best offense i have ever viewed. He could throw every punch there is, he could throw them all with speed, with accuracy, with serious power and all in the most lovely combinations you are ever likely to see. For me there are so many aspects to Ray game that stands out to me, he wasn't the perfect fighter, i don't think there ever has been one. But he is the best i've have seen footage of and is my number 1 p4p fighter ever.
His combinations and offence. For me he is the best offensive fighter that ever lived but he combines it with movement and flash like never before he was the perhoas the best example of a Boxer-Puncher that ever lived (excluding Yuri Arbachakov who i think was better fundamentally as a boxer-puncher) but Ray had that 'Boxer' in him he could move and waltz and show his class but then he had that 'Puncher' that turned him into a wrecking ball - an offensive machine so to speak - he could fire off shots easily and every single one of them being a damaging blow he could do it going backwards, forwards, left or right and even while moving. That is for me why he is the best. Aso i think he really captured the imagination of people he came about near the start of TV in boxing and he had great Charisma and was a charmer and people admired him for his boxing but also his personality on screen he was the first Superstar, so to speak, of the TV sport industry.
Versatility, speed, charisma, rhythm, determination and self beleif. Ray was a pioneer in a hard time for fighters.. He was around when you only had one champ in each weight class and he ruled in every class he boxed in.. Ray was a likeable man and a great role model to many suppressed negro young men at the time , it was very important in many respects.. All those Sugars that followed were just wannabees, Good but not as great.