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“Sugar” Ray Robinson
Record: 173-19-6 (KO 108, 54%)
Top Five Wins: Carmen Basilio Dec 15 (90), Fritzie Zivic TKO 10 (88), Gene Fullmer KO 5 (94), Kid Gavilan Dec 15 (95), Jake LaMotta Dec 10 (92); Points: 92
Dominance: 14 of Robinson’s 19 losses came in the 1960’s, when he was long past his best. This is very relevant because he spent 18 years at the top of the sport, running rampant through the upper echelons of boxing almost unscathed. Before his loss to Randy Turpin, he was 122-1! A top-five litany of wins almost does him no justice, so I’ll show the rest of the champions he beat here. Hope you have some free time. Sammy Angott (HOF, Lightweight Champion*), Mary Servo (Undefeated, Welterweight Champion*, HOF), Fritzie Zivic x2 (HOF, Welterweight Champion*), Jake LaMotta x4 (1 KO) (Middleweight Champion*, HOF), Kid Gavilan (Welterweight Champion*, HOF), Bobo Olsen x4 (3 KO’s) (Middleweight Champion, HOF), Randy Turpin (Middleweight Champion), Rocky Graziano (Middleweight Champion*, HOF). That is quite a resume and it is not even counting all the elite fighters he faced who were never champion. Even with losses scattered here and there, it is hard to point to another fighter who so thoroughly controlled two divisions for so long. Points: 98
*Denotes that he was not the champion at the time of the fight
Style: Even ignorant of his resume, you can just look at Sugar Ray and see something special. He not only did everything well, he excelled at everything. His handspeed and boxing ability are remembered by all–his moves were “sweet as sugar,” after all–but there was a brutal streetbrawler in Robinson as well. He had incredible power, especially in his left hand, and a chin like a boulder. He was dropped several times, but was only stopped once; that was late in his career due to heat exhaustion while controlling the fight despite being outweighed by 16 pounds by Joey Maxim, who was a legend in his own right. If one were really to break out the fine-tooth comb, they might say that his defense was a little open and that he got wild when he was trying to finish, but those are tiny blips on the radar. Points: 99
Consistency: The thing with Ray Robinson was that you might be able to beat him once, but you would never win a rematch. He found ways to adjust to styles and won every major rematch after a loss of his career (the exception being the second Jake LaMotta fight). To shred such a stacked division with so few losses and to avenge them properly is very impressive. Points: 93
Longevity: Ray Robinson won his first belt in 1946, the vacant Welterweight title, over number one contender Tommy Bell and had been fighting elite competition for four years even before that. He lost his last crown to Paul Pender in 1960. For 18 years, Robinson terrorized fighters from lightweight up to middleweight. Points: 95
Overall Grade: 94.9
Record: 173-19-6 (KO 108, 54%)
Top Five Wins: Carmen Basilio Dec 15 (90), Fritzie Zivic TKO 10 (88), Gene Fullmer KO 5 (94), Kid Gavilan Dec 15 (95), Jake LaMotta Dec 10 (92); Points: 92
Dominance: 14 of Robinson’s 19 losses came in the 1960’s, when he was long past his best. This is very relevant because he spent 18 years at the top of the sport, running rampant through the upper echelons of boxing almost unscathed. Before his loss to Randy Turpin, he was 122-1! A top-five litany of wins almost does him no justice, so I’ll show the rest of the champions he beat here. Hope you have some free time. Sammy Angott (HOF, Lightweight Champion*), Mary Servo (Undefeated, Welterweight Champion*, HOF), Fritzie Zivic x2 (HOF, Welterweight Champion*), Jake LaMotta x4 (1 KO) (Middleweight Champion*, HOF), Kid Gavilan (Welterweight Champion*, HOF), Bobo Olsen x4 (3 KO’s) (Middleweight Champion, HOF), Randy Turpin (Middleweight Champion), Rocky Graziano (Middleweight Champion*, HOF). That is quite a resume and it is not even counting all the elite fighters he faced who were never champion. Even with losses scattered here and there, it is hard to point to another fighter who so thoroughly controlled two divisions for so long. Points: 98
*Denotes that he was not the champion at the time of the fight
Style: Even ignorant of his resume, you can just look at Sugar Ray and see something special. He not only did everything well, he excelled at everything. His handspeed and boxing ability are remembered by all–his moves were “sweet as sugar,” after all–but there was a brutal streetbrawler in Robinson as well. He had incredible power, especially in his left hand, and a chin like a boulder. He was dropped several times, but was only stopped once; that was late in his career due to heat exhaustion while controlling the fight despite being outweighed by 16 pounds by Joey Maxim, who was a legend in his own right. If one were really to break out the fine-tooth comb, they might say that his defense was a little open and that he got wild when he was trying to finish, but those are tiny blips on the radar. Points: 99
Consistency: The thing with Ray Robinson was that you might be able to beat him once, but you would never win a rematch. He found ways to adjust to styles and won every major rematch after a loss of his career (the exception being the second Jake LaMotta fight). To shred such a stacked division with so few losses and to avenge them properly is very impressive. Points: 93
Longevity: Ray Robinson won his first belt in 1946, the vacant Welterweight title, over number one contender Tommy Bell and had been fighting elite competition for four years even before that. He lost his last crown to Paul Pender in 1960. For 18 years, Robinson terrorized fighters from lightweight up to middleweight. Points: 95
Overall Grade: 94.9
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