Who was closest to Sugar Ray Robinson stylistically?

I think alot of First Class boxers share that style & finess, Mosley's a good call, SSL and the Macho Man too though he was a south paw, Carbajal anyone and from the numerous descriptions and the little footage of him, Britain's Ernie Roderick was a beautiful stylish boxers, just not the KO power that Ray had.

First Class boxers in general of the Traditional sense, not the RJJ sense, which was Marshall, Burley, Moore long before him anyway!

 

You'd have to go with the later Sugar Ray

 

I cannot think of a fighter that had Robinsons style but, I can think of fighters that, for one fight, fought in his style of sticking and moving looking for hard counters.


Salvador Sanchez vs. Azumah Nelson
Pernell Whitaker vs. Jose Luis Ramirez
Cotto vs. Margarito (before the KO Cotto was boxing beautifully)
Mayweather vs. Corrales

 

ezzard charles was trash next to robinson, trash.... the young version of ali/clay in 1964 with more hitting power and better body, and better combinations with short blows like hooks and uppers work would be the closest thing to ray robinson at hw

 

Sugar Shane

 

Yeah, you're a serious poster :-(

 

Robinson's stance and style was copied by a lot of fighters within his own era and just after. There were a lot of poor mans versions of Robinson on most cards up until the 1960s just as in the period after the Ali era there were a lot of low handed Ali clones up and down the divisions. You watch fighters like jose napoles, jimmy carter, ezzard charles kid gavilan, just about any tall stylish boxers with good feet and there are elements of Robinson on view.

I dont think Robinson was even the inventor of his own style.

Robinson started out at was very tall for his weight class (fighting a lot of lightweights) and he used a classic stance of the period. He was often punching down and was fast of foot. Joe Louis was a combination puncher and Robinson was a much longer version with faster feet. Ray was flashy but the sweeping swirling arc of his punches probably owed more to the length of his arms and the height of the target. being a showman and self taught dancer he did throw in some leaping moves to propel himself behind a combination but much of his style was not unique.

Young Thomas Hearns was not unlike Robinson but without the flash.

 

Mosley is a good shout. He wasn't on that level but you can tell it's what he was modelled on.
I always thought the main thing Mosley missed was a world class jab. But his power, speed, combinations, swagger it was great to watch in his prime.

 

What Mosley missed most was feet.

 

mosley was not long enough to directly emulate Robinsons style. Ray fought taller.

I prefere a young Thomas Hearns.

 

I always felt his feet were quick but his ring IQ was not of the calibre that his status demanded.

Anyone with his power/speed/chin can afford to stand their ground anyways so most of the time he got away with it.

 

Can't really see the comparisons to Robinson for MOsley.

Shane was a much stiffer fighter.Really fast, but not smooth in his movements.

In mobile boxing or fencing mode, Lionel Rose was very similar, though he was featherfisted and so didn't often open up with combinations like Ray.

I think it's true as well that Ray was not a unique sort of style.He had his own body rhythm of course, but by and large the textbook approach was already well defined by then.

 

Not so much a comparison as a theory that Mosley modelled himself on Robinson.

 

Linares according to Emanuel Steward.

 

To be fair Linares was an offensive beauty to watch. He just couldn't take any punishment.