Via Ken Hissner: They talk about Saul “Canelo” Alvarez being No. 1. He ran in the last seven laps of the first Gennadiy Golovkin match and got a prize in the draw. What is a fair draw, and there won’t be a rematch?
Philly’s now-deceased trainer once told me, “the best boxer of all time is Pernell Whitaker!” I replied, “Never heard of “Sugar” Ray Robinson?”
Let’s take a look at Robinson. He lost his first after losing 40-0 with 28 saves to future world champion and IBHOF’s Jake LaMotta, 30-5-2, in February 1943, whom he would beat in four their next match.
LaMotta would comment, “I’ve battled “Sugar” so many times I thought I had diabetes.”
Robinson won their next rematch. When he lost his second match in Great Britain to European champion Randy Turpin, by a score of 40-2-1, he was 129-1-2. In their next match, he thwarted Turpin to win the middleweight belt.
Before that, Robinson was 73-1-1 when he won the welterweight belt from Tommy Bell, 39-10-3, in December 1946. In his match, before meeting Bell, he knocked out Artie Levine, 46-9-5. .
Some of the Robinsons’ wins were over future IBHOF participant Sammy Angott, 60-15-1, Maxie Shapiro, 50-6-2, Marty Servo, 42-0-2, and again by a score of 43 -1-2 and vice versa to return to another IBHOF curator, Fritzie Zivic, 111-26-6.
One of his victories was against one of the greatest boxers of all time, Henry “Homicide Hank” Armstrong, 132-17-8. Others prefer KO1 to “Sugar” George Costner, 70-11-4. On winning the PA middleweight belt, beating Robert Villemain, 42-3-1, followed by Charley Fusari, 63-7-1, followed by a rematch with Jose Basora, 77-14-1, scoring one first knockout match. The same painting of Basora that he drew when he was 54-9-4 years old before that.
Others like Georgie Abrams, 48-6-3, Jimmy Doyle next, 42-6-3, IBHOF freestyle champion and welder Kid Gavilan, 46-5-2, again at 53- 6-2, Steve Belloise, 90-10-3, future world champion and inductive IBHOF Bobo Olson, 41-3, then 71-7 and 71-8. Before the final two games, he beat Rocky Castellani, 6-8-6. Also, Bobby Dykes, 71-8-6.
During the European tour, second stop Jean Stock, 37-11-3, Luc van Dem, 89-12-3, Jean Walzack, 43-17-2, Robert Villemain, 44-4-1, and Hans Stretz, 30-2-5, returns to America to intercept LaMotta, 78-14-3.
In middleweight title fights, Robinson scores a KO3 against IBHOF freestyler Rocky Graziano, 67-8-6, losing to IBHOF fighter Gene Fullmer, 37-3, in a knockout scoring rematch, another IBHOF boxer lost to Carmen Basilio, 51-12 -7, beating him in the next fight with his record of 141-5-2.
By this point in his career, Robinson was past his prime and finished 174-19-6, only to lose in injury time for the lightweight title to champion Joe Maxim. , when he led 132-2-2 after twelve rounds. 10-3, 9-3-1 and 7-3-3, when the heat caused him to take a break from exhaustion.
Even the referee was substituted in the tenth half. In his next bout, he lost to another IBHOF inductee, Archie “Old Mongoose” Moore 133-19-8, six months later to claim another light heavyweight title.
In Robinson’s final game, he lost to Joey Archer, 44-1 by ecstatic decision even though Archer had only eight stops then lost his last three. He is 44 years old.
All of this follows an often listed amateur record of 85-0 with 69 knockouts, 40 in the first round. However, Robinson lost a pair in the name Walker Smith, Jr. There is only one “Sugar” Ray Robinson.
