THE 100 GREATEST BOXERS OF ALL TIME #1: RAY ROBINSON

“SUGAR RAY”

174 WINS (109 BY KO), 19 LOSSES, 6 DRAWS

World Welterweight Champion 1946–1951

World Middleweight Champion 1951, 1951–1952, 1955–1957, 1958–1960

The Ring Fighter of the Year 1942, 1951

BWAA Fighter of the Year 1950

International Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee 1990

I am far from the first to say that a peak Ray Robinson was the perfect all-around fighter. Speed of both hand and foot, skill, one-punch knockout power, aggression, defensive mastery, fighting heart, killer instinct, a varied arsenal of punches, combinations, conditioning, and ring generalship; regardless of your favorite qualities in a fighter, Ray Robinson ranks among the elite in every category. His exciting yet graceful style dominated multiple generations of world-class opponents and thrilled fans for decades. At a time when Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano dominated boxing’s glamor division, Sugar Ray held his own at the box office, despite never fighting as a heavyweight.

As famed sports columnist Jimmy Cannon wrote in 1957:

In my time there has been no one who excelled Robinson at his trade. It is true that Joe Louis punched harder, Willie Pep could do more with his hands and Henry Armstrong was rougher. But Robinson can take a man out with a blow, confuse him with deceit, handle the dirty ones with an amazing toughness. He is a perfectionist, moves with grace and cruelty and in his youth was tireless and nimble.

That youth grew up in Detroit and New York City. Born Walker Smith, he idolized Louis, Armstrong, and Kid Chocolate. But as Ray Robinson (a name given to him by a promoter when the real Robinson failed to show) he would eventually outshine his own heroes. Throughout the 1940s, Robinson was on a tear through the lightweight (135 pounds) and welterweight (147 pounds) divisions. Dubbed “Sugar Ray,” after a female fan commented that his flawless fighting style was “sweet as sugar,” Robinson dominated the welterweights as few fighters have ever dominated their class. He never lost a fight against any lightweight or welterweight opponent, despite facing talents like Armstrong, Fritzie Zivic, Sammy Angott, and Kid Gavilan (all members of my top 100), some of them multiple times. Jimmy Doyle died by his hand in a 1947 match, a traumatic event that was said to have caused the hard-hitting Robinson to pull his punches thereafter.

Sugar Ray’s lone loss between turning pro in 1940 and 1951 came against future middleweight (160 pounds) champion and Hall of Famer Jake LaMotta, who outweighed him by sixteen pounds. Robinson would go undefeated in his next 80 bouts after that loss, in the process lifting the middleweight title in the last of five victories over LaMotta (another member of my top 100).

Robinson’s numbers speak for themselves. By the summer of 1952, his record boasted 129 victories against just one defeat and two draws — astonishing! In his twenty-five-year career, he became a six-time lineal world champion across two weight divisions and was ahead on points when challenging for the championship of a third division (light heavyweight — 175 pounds) when heat stroke forced him to quit. That was the only time he was stopped in 199 professional contests. He is the only five-time middleweight champion of the world, with no other man winning the lineal title more than twice.

Robinson did not lose his last championship until 1960, when he was 38 years old and twenty years into his pro career. Throw in a record 25 victories over lineal world champions and Hall of Fame inductees, along with 41 over fighters ranked in the top ten by The Ring magazine (another record), and you have the most impressive career in the history of boxing compiled by the most well-rounded ring performer of all time. Sweet as sugar, indeed.

Ray Robinson’s record vs. Hall of Famers & lineal world champions:

7/21/1941 — W 10 — Sammy Angott

9/25/1941 — W 10 — Marty Servo

10/31/1941 — W 10 — Fritzie Zivic

1/16/1942 — W (TKO) 10 — Fritzie Zivic

5/28/1942 — W 10 — Marty Servo

7/31/1942 — W 10 — Sammy Angott

10/2/1942 — W 10 — Jake LaMotta

2/5/1943 — L 10 — Jake LaMotta

2/26/1943 — W 10 — Jake LaMotta

8/27/1943 — W 10 — Henry Armstrong

1/24/1945 — W 10 — Jake LaMotta

9/26/1945 — W 12 — Jake LaMotta

3/4/1946 — W 10 — Sammy Angott

9/23/1948 — W 10 — Kid Gavilan

7/11/1949 — W 15 — Kid Gavilan

10/26/1950 — W (KO) 12 — Bobo Olson

2/14/1951 — W (TKO) 13 — Jake LaMotta

7/10/1951 — L 15 — Randy Turpin

9/12/1951 — W (TKO) 10 — Randy Turpin

3/13/1952 — W 15 — Bobo Olson

4/16/1952 — W (KO) 3 — Rocky Graziano

6/25/1952 — L (TKO) 13 — Joey Maxim

12/9/1955 —W (KO) 2 — Bobo Olson

5/18/1956 — W (KO) 4 — Bobo Olson

1/2/1957 — L 15 — Gene Fullmer

5/1/1957 — W (KO) 5 — Gene Fullmer

9/23/1957 — L 15 — Carmen Basilio

3/25/1958 — W 15 — Carmen Basilio

1/22/1960 — L 15 — Paul Pender

6/10/1960 — L 15 — Paul Pender

12/3/1960 — D 15 — Gene Fullmer

3/4/1961 — L 15 — Gene Fullmer

10/21/1961 — W 10 — Denny Moyer

2/17/1962 — L 10 — Denny Moyer

9/25/1962 — L 10 — Terry Downes

1/30/1962 — W 10 — Ralph Dupas

6/24/1963 — L 10 — Joey Giardello