Childhood and youth
Ray Robinson ( at birth Walker Smith Jr.) was born on May 3, 1921 in Georgia. The father of the future boxer, Smith Sr., moved the family to Detroit. Walker, his two older sisters - Marie and Evelyn and mother - Leila rarely saw the head of the family. Smith worked from 6 am until sunset. He worked on plantations of corn, peanuts and cotton. They paid little. The family was poor. Little Walker and his two sisters' diet consisted of corn porridge, a handful of peanuts, water cakes and tea without sugar.
Lack of funds led to a split in the family. Mom - Leila took three children and moved to the northern area of New York - Harlem. Leila managed to get the children to the DeWitt Clinton School. Young Walker studied to be a general practitioner. Due to his good academic performance, he was allocated food stamps. For the first time in his life, the boy tasted balanced food 3 times a day.
At the age of 12, Smith Jr. began working part-time at a local bar. The young man knew how to dance masterfully. This occupation brought him his first money. The gangster districts of New York attracted young people with easily accessible ways of earning money. Walker did not escape the temptation. Several times the young man found himself at the police station. Leila was seriously worried about her son. One of her acquaintances was an aspiring boxing coach - George Gainford. George, at the insistence of Smith's mother, bailed the teenager. This is how the long journey of the best boxer of the 20th century began.
Gainford was amazed at the young criminal's progress. In the 12-14 age group, no one in New York could beat Walker. However, Smith was too young for senior fighter tournaments. Boxers of 18 years of age were allowed to participate in the competition. Smith was 15 years old. The coach and the student decided to take a desperate step: forging documents. Walker's friend, 19-year-old boxer - Ray Robinson lent him his birth certificate. Under this pseudonym, which later became his name, Smith began his career in adult boxing.
In 1939, Ray won the tournament " Golden Gloves"in featherweight, and in 1940 a similar tournament in lightweight. Gainford, after consulting with the mother of a young talent, decided to lead Robinson along the path of a professional boxer. amateur ring Ray has not lost a single fight. Out of 86 victories, 69 were won ahead of schedule. Moreover, 40 in the first round. Excellent protection combined with " stinging"The jab, the strongest right straight and left hook made Robinson an invincible fighter.
Nickname " Sugar"Ray got it from his coach and manager, George Gainford. In 1940, at an amateur tournament in Watertown, an unknown lady, admiring the skill of young Ray, exclaimed that he was." Sweet as sugar". IN next fight George announced his fighter under the pseudonym - " Sugar Ray Robinson"By this name, the whole world recognized the young Walker Smith Jr.
Ray's success earned him money and fame. He became popular with young women and did not resist too much of life's many temptations. Robinson married at the age of 16. From this marriage, his only son, Ronnie, was born. The couple broke up after 3 years. Ray's wife could not come to terms with her husband's numerous betrayals.
At the age of 18, Robinson's thoughts were on boxing, dancing, women, and the flamboyant Savor... He watched with admiration his idol, the great boxer - Henry Armstrong. Ray could not have imagined that in 5 years, fate would bring them into " square ring"and he will defeat what little is left of Henry.
Professional boxing
In late 1940, Sugar Ray made his professional debut. 40 victories in a row and title " uncrowned"world welterweight champion. However, getting a fight for a full-fledged belt was not easy. In the 40s, only a connection with mafia structures that tightly enveloped boxing could lead a fighter to the coveted title. Robinson's manager, George Gainford, flatly refused to cooperate with the mafia, which significantly complicated Sugar's path to the champion belt.
Ray suffered his first defeat from middleweight Jake Lamotte, with whom he had 6 unforgettable fights. Within three weeks, he took revenge on his principled opponent. In 1942, Sugar was recognized as " best boxer of the year"and repeated this achievement in 1951. From 1943 to 1951, Ray won 91 fights and did not suffer a single defeat. In 1943 he was drafted into the US Army. He served alongside the great Joe Louis. Ray had problems with his superiors. Young boxing genius was not used to submission, which led to desertion and imprisonment for 3 months. In 1944, he renewed professional career.
Sugar won the coveted title in 1946, defeating Tommy Bell in a 15-round fight. The first defense of the champion belt against Jimmy Doyle was tragic. Robinson beat Jimmy for 7 rounds. At 8 the battle was stopped. Doyle passed away the next day. This fight greatly influenced Ray's attitude towards professional boxing.
In the 40s, Ray crushed all the best. It remains only to list their names: Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan, Marty Servo, Fritz Civic, Sammy Engott, Chuck Taylor, Jake Lamotte, Bernard Doxen, Bobo Olsen, Charlie Fusari, Jose Basora. With many, Ray carried out revenge and remained invincible.
In 1951, Robinson decides to conquer middleweight. At that time, his longtime opponent, Jake Lamotte, was the undisputed champion. The epic, sixth battle of the two bitter rivals ended in a 13th round victory for Ray. Ray unexpectedly lost the title to Randy Turpin, but after two months, in a rematch, he was able to take his gold belt. Two consecutive defenses against Bobo Olsen and Rocky Graziano made Robinson a living boxing legend. He decided to conquer the third division - light heavyweight. However, the intense heat that prevailed at the stadium in the Bronx prevented Sugar from reaching round 14 against Joey Maxim. This was the first and only early defeat of the great champion.
After the failure, Ray took a break for 2.5 years. Over the years of his professional career, he has earned more than $ 4 million. However, Ray was not a businessman. He did not invest in defensive assets. He spent and spent until his bank balance was zero. The bankruptcy forced Robinson to return to the ring. He regained the middleweight belt against Bobo Olsen and defended the title in a rematch. But he lost in the second defense to Gene Fullmer. In the rematch, Sugar issued one of the most beautiful knockouts in boxing history: the oncoming left side sent Fullmer to the canvas.
Robinson didn't get better. The long downtime affected the great champion. He lost the title to Carmen Basilio. He was able to return the belt in a rematch, but again lost to Paul Pender. By 1958, Sugar became the first boxer in history to win the world title five times. Financial difficulties forced Ray to rise again and again into the ring. He performed until 1965, but was only a pale shadow of his former self. At the age of 45, he ended his boxing career with a fantastic record: 174 wins, of which 109 by knockout, 19 losses and 6 draws.
After boxing
Ray used his popularity. He starred in films and television programs. Conducted master classes. However, working outside the ring did not bring him pleasure. The inability to spend money played a cruel joke with him several times. Left without funds, he returned to work on TV and filming in commercials.
In 1967, Robinson married a second time. In the same year, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Millie, moved to Southern California. The couple bought a small house. Ray helped his wife raise her two daughters from her first marriage. They were often visited by the great champion's only son, Ronnie Robinson.
IN last years Sugar Ray's life suffered from Alzheimer's disease and diabetes. The damage that the great champion had to take on himself at the end of his career negatively affected his health. He passed away on April 12, 1989 at Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, California. He was 67 years old.
In 1984 the magazine " BOXING RING"put Sugar Ray Robinson at the top of the list" 100 Greatest Boxers of All Time"The world of boxing will never forget the great magician of the ring who made crude boxing science as sweet as sugar.
Despite the fact that the charismatic boxer was born under the name Walker Smith Jr., he is now known as "Sugar" Ray Robinson. Born May 3, 1921 in Ailea, America. His family moved to NY when Sugar Ray was still a teenager, in order to escape life in the South of the country. At the Haarlem training hall, Ray took up boxing for the first time. Sugar Ray used to frequent the hall using his friend's pass. And the friend's name turned out to be Ray Robinson. Not to be confused with. =)
His natural talent in the ring began to attract attention, and soon
crowds gathered to watch Sugar Ray's performances. When future coach George Gainford saw his boxing for the first time, Gainford said that the boxer's style and movement were "sweet as sugar." All the people agreed, and that nickname stuck to him. After Sugar Ray Robinson defeated the New York Golden Gloves Tournament in 1940, he moved into a professional career at age 19 and never looked back at his past life. In 1946, Sugar Ray became the world welterweight champion. His reign in the ring lasted for 91 victories. Great boxer at 38 last time received the middleweight title.
In the early 1960s, Sugar Ray hung up his gloves and told the coach, "Don't be upset, sometimes the best things in our lives are in the past."
Sugar Ray's stats were truly impressive: 200 fights and 173 wins.
Surprisingly, in more than 200 fights, Sugar Ray has never been knocked out (he once received a technical knockout). The world champion called him "king, my teacher, my idol." In 1997, Ring magazine named Sugar Ray Robinson the best boxer of all time. And in 1999 he was named the best boxer in the middle and welterweight division.
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Oct 28, 2013 at 17:07
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My personal opinion: if you want to see how people fall - please go to the heavyweights, and if you want to watch real boxing - average weight. Lightweights are too nimble, just two crazy calibers.
Legendary American professional boxer who has been called "the greatest boxer of all time" in welterweight and middleweight division. In addition, the Associated Press called him "the greatest fighter of the 20th century," and in 2007 he received the title " greatest boxer in the history of ESPN.com ".
He was born under the name Walker Smith Jr. (Walker Smith Jr.) in 1921, in Ailey, Georgia. However, there are disagreements about the boxer's place of birth - so, in his autobiography, he himself calls the place of his birth in Detroit, Michigan, while his birth certificate indicates the state of Georgia. He was the youngest of three children, Walker Smith Sr. and Leila Hurst. His father worked as a farmer in Georgia, and then was a construction worker in Detroit. Robinson later recalled how hard his father had to work to support his family: “He got up at six in the morning, and came home closer to midnight. Six days a week. The only day I really saw him was Sunday ... I always wanted to be with him more. "
Later, his parents divorced, and with his mother Walker ended up in New York City neighborhood of Harlem, he was then 12 years old. It is known that at first the boy dreamed of becoming a doctor, but after he was kicked out of school, he decided to concentrate on boxing.
Having started to train, purposeful in
Drosto strove to get into the prestigious championships, but he still had to wait for the 16th birthday. By the way, it was then that he got his nickname. There is a story, when the manager of his team, discussing his young fighters, called Walker "sweet", immediately adding: "sweet as sugar." The coaches then laughed, and the nickname "Sugar" remained with Walker. The rest of the name - Ray Robinson - came from Smith, too, by accident. So, in order to get into one of the underground fights, he borrowed an amateur card from his friend named Ray Robinson. And soon the young boxer was already known by the name of Sugar Ray Robinson.
In the 1940s, the name Sugar simply did not leave the lips of boxing fans - he literally shook the world with his appearance. professional boxing... By the way, Sugar won every amateur fight he had fought before. So, making his debut as a professional in 1940, in 1946, Sugar Ray Robinson earned the world welterweight title. He then defeated Tommy Bell.
Robinson won his first middleweight title in 1951 when he knocked out Jake LaMotta.
In 1952, Robinson retired from boxing
- at that time he was the holder of the title of middleweight champion. He returned in 1955, and this return was a real big event in the history of professional boxing. So, Sugar Ray Robinson became the first boxer to regain the championship title after officially retiring from the sport.
The middleweight title returned to him in 1958 after defeating Carmen Basilio. By the way, this fight received the status of "Fight of the Year" according to the magazine "Ring"
In 1960, Ray gave the championship title to Paul Pender.
This is the dry statistics of the history of the victories of the great athlete. However, those who happened to see and know Sugar in the ring understood that there was something special about him that made him stand out from other athletes. So, he was all as if without defects - pomaded hair, a flawless face without seams and scars, no brutal grin. At the same time, Robinson was an extremely dangerous opponent - he could unexpectedly, in defense, suddenly knock out an opponent, and sometimes the speed and accuracy of his blows literally brought confusion.
After the end of his boxing career, Robinson tried to become an entertainer, he tried himself in
business. Unfortunately, neither one nor the other did not bring profits - he very badly failed and lived in poverty of his death in 1989.
From the athlete's personal life, it is known that in 1938 he married Marjorie Joseph, but in the same year the marriage was annulled. In 1939, his son Ronnie Smith was born. Sugar's second wife, Edna Mae Holly, was a dancer and they married in 1943. They had one son, Ray Robinson Jr., who was born in 1949; in 1960, the couple divorced.
It is known that in the last years of his life, Robinson suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Sugar Ray Robinson died on April 12, 1989, in Los Angeles, at the age of 67. He was buried in the Inglewood Park Cemetery.
The Associated Press called Robinson "the greatest boxer of the 20th century"; ESPN.com is "the greatest fighter in history" and was called the "pound for pound" fighter of all time by The Ring, as well as the "1950 fighter of the decade."
Robinson is known to be truly admired by Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Leonard and many other legendary boxers.
Biography
Sugar Ray Robinson is an American professional boxer who competed in the lightweight, first welterweight, welterweight, first middle, middle, second middle and light heavyweight divisions. World champion in welterweight (1946-1950) and middle (1951, 1951-1952, 1955-1957, 1957 and 1958-1960) weight categories. The best boxer of all time, regardless of weight category according to the magazine "Ring" (2002), site www.greatestever.com (2009).
Amateur boxer
Own practical lessons Walker Smith began boxing around the fall of 1934 at Salem Crescent Gym on the corner of 7th Avenue and 129th Street, owned by the Salem Methodist Church. This hall was a fairly well-known place for training young (not necessarily black) Harlem boxers and, by the way, played his own team in various amateur tournaments in the United States, including the all-American Golden Gloves tournament. One of the coaches and part-time managers of this gym was George Gainford - a man who would later become Robinson's professional manager, his friend, but for now will take on the role of a mentor and partly a father.
A significant role in choosing a profession for the young Walker Smith was played by the meeting with the Cuban champion Kid Chocolate (Eligio Montalvo), which took place in his youth. Sugar Ray Robinson was a big fan of Kid Chocolate. He noted that he had never seen anyone fight like Kid did. But not only this pushed Robinson to boxing feats, but also the news that Chocolate earned $ 75,000 in one and a half hours of work in the ring. Robinson studied Chocolate's fighting style and took on a lot of his style. Sugar Ry Robinson's style is, in many ways, a combination of the styles of his idols, Joe Louis and Kid Chocolate. Robinson very organically linked Luis's masterful combinations and percussion series, with great footwork and excellent balance of Chocolate.
“Once, a waiter approached Kid Chocolate who was sitting in a restaurant and handed him an envelope. The envelope contained an invitation to a boxing match. The waiter did not specify who the envelope was from, but said that the person who handed it over would come up now. Kid in bewilderment turned the paper in his hand when a black guy sat down at his table. He said if Mister remembered the black boy who danced the Charleston so well. Kid said he didn't remember much. Then the guy continued and asked if Mr. remembered the guy he gave 5 bucks to clean his shoes when the service cost 5 cents. I must say that in the 20-30s. In the 20th century, an economic crisis was raging in the United States, and boys and adults, dark and light, everywhere earned their bread with whatever they could, including dancing and cleaning shoes on the street. Kid looked the guy in the eyes and said he remembered him. Then the young man said that he is also a boxer, and this is an invitation to his fight for the title of world boxing champion. It was 1949, and the guy's name was Sugar Ray Robinson. "
Walker spent his first performances in the ring in the spring of 1935 (there is no exact date in any source). In New York, for guys under 16 years old, there is a large number of diverse sports tournaments was held under the patronage of the New York City Police Athletic League. It was at one of these small-town boxing competitions that Robinson began as a boxer. At these youth tournaments, Walker (then) confidently smashed his opponents and lost only twice: once to the well-known welterweight in the future, Billy Graham, a boxer who has never been knocked down in his career; the other, to the very little-known and unremarkable Patsy Sand. Despite good teachers and successful fights, Walker came close to giving up boxing twice. The first time this happened in the summer of 1936, when, after Joe Louis was defeated by a knockout to Max Schmeling, Walker was so shocked that he even put his ammunition in the pawnshop, assuming that he would not continue. However, he later changed his mind: his love of business and a conversation with Gainford forced him to return to training. And somewhere at the same time, but a little later, his mother, who came to gym Salem Crescent and had a long conversation with Gainford there, which resulted in Gainford and Walker's promise not to participate in underground battles... The promise was not kept for long - until the fall of 1936. Love for boxing again overcame.
In the fall of 1936, Walker Smith competed for the first time in an official amateur tournament in Kingston, New York, and at the same time he first received his new name - Ray Robinson. The Salem Crescent Gym needed someone in the flyweight for the tournament, and Walker persuaded Gainford to take him. The problem of age and the related problem of Walker's lack of an AAU (American Amateur Union) membership card was solved simply - Walker performed under someone else's license. And this foreign license was in the name of boxer Ray Robinson. So Walker Smith forever became Ray Robinson, and for his first amateur three-round fight, won by a unanimous decision, he received $ 15 - the smallest change of the several million dollars that he will earn by boxing under that name in the future.
The detailed statistics of Robinson's amateur fights of that time are already known to few people today. Of the most significant moments was the fight with future long-term undisputed featherweight champion Willie Pep, won by Robinson by split decision. Somewhere at the same time, he received the nickname "Sugar" - "sugar". This nickname, which later became a commonly used and completely unambiguous association with Robinson, was born quite by accident from a meaningless dialogue between his manager, some sports commentator and a spectator at one of his battles in 1937. However, it came into widespread use sooner after the war, when Robinson had already become a significant figure in the New York social scene and one of the most famous black Americans in the world. So far, he was still just Ray Robinson.
In 1938, Robinson won his first more or less significant tournament - the American New York Metropolitan AAU Open. This was a significant achievement, but no more: yes, he lit up in front of specialists, but even in their eyes he was just a good lightweight so far - no better than a dozen others. The general public was hardly familiar with Robinson. Fame and fame came to Robinson in 1939. This year he took part in his weight class in all the most significant tournaments from the "Golden Gloves" series. There were 4 of them in the United States at that time, and Robinson won 3 of them, and did not participate in the fourth, simply because it was not his zone. At that time, the Golden Gloves were a kind of analogue of the amateur world championship - it was more than just an intra-American competition. The best boxers from Europe came here and Latin America... And there was no one better than Robinson in featherweight that year. Although the greatest interest of Americans in 1939 was chained to the new, as it seemed then, a star heavyweight Buddy Moore, Robinson has rightfully become the No. 2 in audience choice. In the spring, he won the New York Daily News Golden Gloves 39. Then, in the summer, one of two qualifying tournaments Golden Gloves - New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. And at the end of the year, he won the main interzonal tournament, the Intercity Golden Gloves. Winning in one year in all three tournaments was an infrequent phenomenon in American amateur boxing (as a kind of appropriate analogy, one can cite such as if a tennis player won all 4 tournaments Grand Slam for a year, or a Formula 1 racer would have won almost all Grand Prix of the season). And these three victories of Robinson in one year have become, in fact, his serious claim for All-American fame.
In 1940, Robinson, one-on-one, repeated last year's achievement, but now in lightweight. For his early victories this year, he received the nicknames Dinamite Ray and Death Ray among journalists. After winning by knockout in eight of nine championship fights, the Daily News named Robinson America's greatest amateur boxer. The bottom line was impressive indeed: when Robinson made the decision to go pro in the fall, his amateur record was 85-0, including 69 knockout wins and 40 of them in the first round.
Professional career
1940-1943
Robinson's first professional fight took place on October 4, 1940 in New York's Madison Square Garden, as part of a boxing evening, the main event of which was the fifteen-round battle for the undisputed world welterweight title between Henry Armstrong and Fritzi Civic. His own four-round fight, opening the evening, Robinson won ahead of schedule in the second round. The fact that Robinson had his first fight in the real "Mecca" american boxing, of course, remarkable - here, probably, his extraordinary amateur career played a role. But even more remarkable is the fact that Robinson will win both heroes of the main event of the evening very soon.
In July 1941 (21st battle), just nine months after starting his career, Robinson fights the last champion NBA World Lightweight Champion by Sammy Engott and wins the fight by unanimous decision. In September 1941 (24th fight), in a fight against the winner of five world lightweight champions Maxi Shapiro, for the first time, Robinson himself became a participant in the "main event" of the evening in Madison Square Garden - 4 knockdowns and a victory in the third round. In the next fight, just six days later, Robinson in Philadelphia defeated the unbeaten Marty Servo, an unbeaten boxer and future undisputed welterweight champion, by a decision. And already in October 1941 (26th fight), Robinson, in the main event of the evening in Madison Square Garden, meets in the ring with the one in the fight undercard whom he began his professional career a little over a year ago - with Fritzi Civic. For Tsivich, this fight was 143rd. By that time, he had already lost his title of undisputed lightweight champion, won against Armstrong, but he was a famous, entertaining and technical boxer. Robinson wins this 10-round fight by a referee decision, and the second fight with Civic three months later - and in general by technical knockout, inflicting only the second early defeat in 147 fights.
In May 1942 (32nd fight) Robinson faced Marty Servo for the second time and won the fight by split decision. Perhaps this fight would have been Robinson's first defeat: the referee gave the victory to Servo, but two side judges decided that Robinson won; total - 2: 1 in favor of Robinson, but most of the spectators in the hall, the decision seemed completely unfair. In July 1942 (33rd fight) Robinson meets again with Sammy Engott, who at that time was already the reigning undisputed lightweight champion of the world and had a successful title defense. However, this 10-round fight was not a champion fight - formally it took place in the Junior Welter category and the lightweight belt was not at stake. So Robinson defeated the reigning champion, but did not become the champion himself. The fight was notable for a mutual knockdown at the end of the eighth round, but in the end Robinson still won this meeting relatively smoothly.
In October 1942 (36th fight), Robinson fights for the first time with a real middleweight - Jake LaMotta. It was their first fight of six, and Robinson won it quite confidently, which cannot be said about the next four. It was LaMotte, in their second meeting in February 1943 (41st fight), Robinson for the first time in his career clearly loses both by the decisions of the judges and by the course of the fight. In the eighth round of the fight, Robinson was even thrown over the ropes, and the final victory of LaMotta by a decision of the referee and two judges as 3: 0 looked logical. By the way, the next lost fight will be only 133rd for Robinson in eight years of a dense career. In the meantime, just three weeks later, in the same February 1943 (43rd fight), Robinson did not very confidently defeat LaMotta in their third meeting, again being knocked down. However, at the weigh-in before the fight, LaMotta turned out to be as much as 7 kg heavier, so, taking into account the weight adjustment, everything looked for Robinson, it may not be so bad.
In August 1943 (46th fight), Robinson in Madison Square Garden defeats the former undisputed world champion in three weight divisions Henry Armstrong - the second participant in that very main event of the evening, on whose undercard Robinson began his career. For the only time in the history of pro boxing, two boxers met in the ring, each of whom is currently in the top ten All time according to most experts. In 1943, this was not yet known, but the fight was positioned as an extraordinary event: Armstrong had about 30 championship fights, and Robinson was already considered the best in this weight category. In fact, two lightweights with strong blows without carnage or knockdowns, they played a neat chess game, which Robinson won by a small but unanimous advantage. It is also believed that Robinson specially arranged this fight for Armstrong, since he needed money, and no knockout was expected there. In any case, it was this fight that became, in a sense, the last in the initial period of Robinson's career - for a period of more than one year he stops performing in the professional ring and at the call of the Military Department in a group of black boxers (including Joe Louis) goes on a demonstration tour to the active forces.
World Welterweight Champion
Robinson's return to the pro ring took place in October 1944 for the third meeting with the technical but relatively unstressed welterweight Izzy Gianazzo. In May 1945 (56th battle), Robinson had a tough fight with Puerto Rican Jose Basora. Basor's physically strong counterpunch proved to be a difficult opponent for Robinson. The fight went without knockdowns, but after the fight, Robinson said that Basora hits only slightly weaker than LaMotta. Basora's corner was dissatisfied with the draw and insisted on a second fight. And such took place, but only five years later, already for the middleweight title and with a completely unexpected result. In September 1945 (59th fight), Robinson met for the fifth time with LaMotta, who had just knocked out Basora in August and was generally in great shape. And their fifth fight may have become best confrontation each other: In a very close twelve-round bout, Robinson won by split decision, although LaMotta took the fight's ending. After the fight, Robinson admitted that it was the toughest fight of his career. The next (and last) time they will meet in the ring is already in 1951.
In February 1946, the first post-war welterweight championship took place in Madison Square Garden. Despite winning 16 battles in a row since the fall of 1944, strong opposition and the title of uncrowned king of welterweight, Robinson does not take part in it. The fight is between champion Freddie Kotchrane, who won the title back in 1941 by beating Fritzi Civic, and challenger Marty Servo, who was defeated twice in 1941-42 by Robinson himself. Both the champion and challenger were white, both had a reputation for spectacular fighters, and both served in the army during the war - Cotchrane in the navy and Servo in the Coast Guard. So this particular fight was more a tribute to both than an outright denial of Robinson's strength due to his skin color. Robinson himself in 1946 continued to fight in rating battles and did it as often as possible - he spent an average of 1 fight in three weeks. In March, he fought for the third and last time with Sammy Engott (65th fight) and the fourth, and also last, with Izzy Gianazzo (66th fight). In the summer, he conducts five battles, in which he wins all of them ahead of schedule. And in the fall, five years after starting his career, Robinson finally gets the right to fight for the world welterweight title.
The champion fight was scheduled for December 1946, and the opponent was Tommy Bell, with whom, by the way, Robinson had already met in January 1945. For the first and last time in history, a championship fight has been sanctioned by two of America's leading boxing organizations, NYSAC and the NBA. Both boxers, Robinson and Bell, were contenders, since the title belonged to Marty Servo, but in March, in a fight against middleweight Rocky Graziano, he suffered a severe defeat by knockout, and in September, due to injuries after the fight and uncertainty about the continuation of his career, he refused from title defense. NYSAC has offered the first two numbers of its rating - Robinson and Bell; The NBA agreed. However, due to the fact that both boxers were black, the rest of the influential forces - promoters, journalists and the mafia - were not so unanimous. Since the introduction of this weight class in the early 20s, she has only had one black champion - Henry Armstrong. Not everyone wanted to see the new black champion, but this time it would have happened anyway. Nevertheless, the point of view of the organizations prevailed, and the battle took place. In a difficult to referee and fairly equal duel of styles, Robinson wins and absolutely rightly becomes the undisputed world welterweight champion.
Over the next three and a half years, Robinson fights 35 fights, including 4 title defenses: in June 1947 with Jimmy Doyle (81st fight), in December 1947 with Chuck Taylor (86th fight), in June 1948 with Bernard Doxen (89th fight), and in July 1949 with Kid Gavilan (99th fight). Among other things, he won a split decision against former contender for the world title in middleweight champion Georgie Abrams (80th fight), wins a non-champion fight against Kid Gavilan (90th fight), draws a tough fight with Henry Brimm (96- th fight). At this time, Robinson's natural weight was approximately 70-71 kg, and for the welterweight limit he had to drive off. In battles with the same middleweights, Robinson looks confident, but nothing more: for example, in nine fights from March 1948 to April 1949, Robinson has only one early victory. However, even in the middle weight class, Robinson's class was not questioned by anyone, the problem was different - Robinson was “colored”. The fact that after Henry Armstrong was somehow bearable in the welterweight division, very few people so far suited the middleweight category - the category of exclusively "white" champions. In any significant middleweight fights, the Colored Fighters had no place - here they fought in their own league. Nevertheless, one way or another, but after another title defense with Gavilan, it suddenly turns out that Robinson may have only one step to the absolute middleweight title.
World Middleweight Champion
Robinson's 100th fight in August 1949 was suddenly declared an "eliminator" - a middleweight qualifying fight, the winner of which went to the champion, which, incidentally, was Jake LaMotta, who won the title from Marcel Cerdan in June. Robinson's opponent was Steve Beluass - a fairly strong middleweight with a record at the time of the fight 90-10-3. Robinson had no fights with him before, but there was a general opposition, and Beluass often beat this opposition no less confidently than Robinson himself: for example, he confidently defeated Tommy Bell on points, knocked out Georgie Abrams and Izi Gianazzo. While still in the status of the undisputed world champion in welterweight, Robinson won this anniversary fight and did it ahead of schedule. However, as it turned out, victory did not guarantee him anything: a new eliminator was organized for the loser Beluass by interested parties, which Beluas lost again, and Robinson had no choice but to continue to carry out rating fights in the middle weight without any specifics. The French Laurent Dotuil, who won the very new eliminator in May 1950, gets the right to the championship fight with LaMotta. Robinson in the same May 1950 (112th fight) is offered a consolation prize - a fight for the world title according to the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission. Neither formally nor in fact, it was not a full-fledged belt of the undisputed world champion in middleweight, but, given the completely incomprehensible prospects, it was at least something. The enemy was appointed former champion European welterweight champion, Frenchman Robert Villemin. The fight lasted all 15 rounds, although the result was in favor of Robinson. For his next fight, in August 1950, Robinson will last three and a half kilograms in weight and defend the undisputed welterweight title against Charlie Fusari. And two weeks later, in his 114th fight, he already defends the Pennsylvania middleweight title won 80 days ago. By the way, the opponent in this battle was Jose Basora, with whom Robinson had a tough fight and a draw five years ago, but this time it was all over in the first round.
In the end, after having spent 9 (nine) victorious rating battles in the middleweight division in September-December 1950, Robinson in February 1951 finally gets the right to a champion fight for the title of the absolute world champion in middleweight, which then still remained Jake LaMotta. For Robinson, this fight was 124th, for LaMotta - 95th, and for both of them - the sixth against each other. And although for five fights the statistics of victories were in favor of Robinson as 4-1, however, Robinson did not have a decisive advantage in the fights themselves, and LaMotta won the second meeting almost crushingly. However, in betting on the fight, Robinson was the 3-1 favorite. And in principle, he confirmed this in the ring, having defeated LaMotta quite unilaterally for the only time out of six, ending the fight ahead of schedule (although he never knocked Jake down to LaMotta) and thus becoming the first color undisputed world champion in middleweight. For the drama in the ring, the fight was later dubbed "The Valentine's Day Massacre."
After winning the title, Robinson has 2 non-championship ten-round bouts in the United States in April, and in May, both reigning champion world, goes on a tour of Europe to meet with boxers in the top ten EBU rankings. There, moving from country to country (France-Switzerland-Belgium-Germany-Italy), Robinson spends 6 fights in 6 weeks, which one-sidedly wins, and in the seventh, last European fight, in London, he meets with the then European champion, who at that time there was a Briton Randy Turpin. Despite Robinson's heyday as a boxer in the early 1950s, he lost his first middleweight title defense in July 1951 (133rd fight) by decision. It could be the accumulated fatigue of the previous 6 weeks, or something else, although Robinson himself admitted that Turpin was simply better. In a rematch in September 1951, already in New York, Robinson beats Turpin ahead of schedule, although by the middle of the fight everything turned to the fact that Robinson would lose for the second time in a row. After re-winning the title, Robinson did not exchange for intermediate fights and made two successful title defenses - with Karl Bobo Olson in March 1952 (135th fight) and Rocky Graziano in April 1952 (136th fight). And in June 1952, just two months after the fight with Graziano, he made an attempt to win the title of the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world, which then belonged to Joey Maxim. The attempt was unsuccessful: winning a fight on points with an opponent 7 kg heavier than him, Robinson could not bring the matter to victory and, in general, lost early in his career for the only time in his career. But in fact, there was no knockout: Robinson's more energy-consuming manner of fighting in the heat of 41 degrees in the shade led to the fact that he simply could not physically go out to the 14th round. In December 1952, while still in the status of world middleweight champion, but never having fought again, Robinson suddenly decided to end his career. At that time, he fought 137 fights of which 131 won, 3 lost (to Jake LaMotte, Randy Turpin and Joey Maxim), 2 drew and 1 was declared invalid.
Last 11 years
The second part of Robinson's career began in January 1955 with a ten-round fight with a boxer from the top ten American ratings. Having spent 6 rating battles in 1955 (including one losing and winning the last of six with great difficulty) by the end of the year, Robinson still got the right to fight for the title - in this case in December 1955 with Bobo Olson. Olson, by the way, became the world middleweight champion after Robinson left, had by that time three successful title defenses, also made a sortie into light heavyweight, where he won against Joey Maxim, and for Olson it was the 78th fight and 5- th champion fight in the middleweight division. And for Robinson it was the 144th fight, the 6th middleweight championship fight and the third attempt to win the title of the best middleweight. For both of them, the fight was the third mutual meeting, and Roinson won it again, this time by a knockout in the second round. In the next fight for both of them - in a rematch - Robinson won again and thus defended the title. In January 1957, Robinson failed to defend the title against Gene Fullmer. In a rematch, in May 1957, he won the fight by knockout and became a four-time world middleweight champion. In the next fight, in September 1957, which became the fight of 1957 according to Ring magazine, Robinson loses the title to Carmen Basilio. In a rematch, which has become just as tough and spectacular, he wins the title again, thus becoming the five-time world middleweight champion. In January 1960, Robinson loses to Paul Pender. And in a rematch, in June 1960, he loses again. And this fight, which became the 154th for Robinson in a row, became for him the last 13th fight for the title of the absolute world middleweight champion. Immediately after him, Robinson had two fights in a row with Gene Fullmer for the NBA World title, but, firstly, these two fights were not recognized as fights for the absolute title, and secondly, Robinson brought the first fight to a draw, and the second and generally lost. Thus, the 156th fight (March 1961) became the last significant fight of Robinson - there were no more champion fights in his career.
The last 4 years and 44 fights of his career, Robinson has spent mainly with various relatively little-known boxers from the United States and Europe. With one exception, these were all 10 round fights; Robinson won 30 of them, 10 lost, 3 drew and 1 fight was declared invalid. Among the relatively famous opponents were: future undisputed WBA / WBC 1st middleweight champions Danny Moyer (158th and 161st fights) and Ralph Dupa (167th fight), the last undisputed middleweight champion Terry Downs (164th fight), future undisputed WBA / WBC middleweight champion Joey Giardello (171st fight). In November 1965, after losing his 200th fight against what then seemed to be a rising middleweight star Joey Archer, Robinson ended his career for the second time and already finally. At the time of the last fight, Robinson was 44 years and 6 months old.
Between the first and last battles Robinson has been in the professional ring for 25 years and 1 month. During this period, he participated in 200 fights and, if we exclude the period from December 1952 to January 1955, during which Robinson was deliberately out of boxing, the average frequency of fights is 1 fight in 41 days. Even being in the status of the absolute world champion, Robinson spent other fights with an interval of several days. In the ring, Robinson spent 1401 rounds or just over 175 hours. Won 173 fights, 108 of them ahead of schedule (the formal percentage of knockouts is 62.4%). Lost 19 fights, 6 draws and 2 fights were declared invalid. Participated in 25 world title fights and in various versions. According to most experts, he is considered the most outstanding boxer in the entire history of professional boxing.
Robinson started his career with own weight in the region of 61 kg, and at the end of his career in other fights weighed up to 76 kg. This mistakenly suggests that Robinson was a boxer in five or even six weight categories according to the modern classification. In fact, Robinson spent all of his rating fights in only two weight categories of his time - Welterweight and Middleweight. In the Junior Welter category, Robinson did not have any rating fights. On his attempt to win the title of undisputed light heavyweight champion (Light Heavyweight), Robinson came out underweight. And the fights of the end of his career, in which Robinson's weight could be up to 76.5 kg, were also not rated. The optimal combat weight of Robinson can be considered a weight of about 70 kg. That is, for the limit of the welterweight category, he had to "chase" the weight, and in the middle weight category he performed with his own natural weight (this conclusion is based on two Robinson fights in August 1950, in which he defended with a difference of two weeks almost simultaneously titles of absolute world champion in welterweight and world champion in middleweight).
Robinson took part in 6 bouts for the title of undisputed world champion in welterweight (weight up to 147 lbs) with a final result of 6-0, in 13 bouts for the title of undisputed world champion in middleweight (weight up to 160 lbs) with a final result of 9-4 , in 5 bouts for the title of world champion in middleweight, who did not receive the status of "absolute" with a final result of 3-1-1 and in one fight for the title of absolute world champion in the light heavyweight category (weight up to 175 pounds) with a final result of 0- one. The total score for champion fights is 18-6-1. After winning the undisputed world welterweight title, Robinson made five successful defenses in a row, and thus was the irreplaceable world champion from December 1946 to September 1950, when he left the belt vacant due to the transition to middleweight. In the middleweight division, Robinson lost the absolute title four times in the next championship fight after winning it, regained it three times after the defeat and once left the belt vacant, which ultimately allows Robinson to be considered a five-time absolute world middleweight champion. Robinson lost the "absolute" middleweight championship fights to Turpin, Fullmer, Basilio and Pender and took revenge on everyone except Pender in the next fight.
Robinson faced Jake LaMotta (5-1) six times in his career, four times each with Bobo Olson (4-0) and Gene Fullmer (1-2-1) and Izzy Gianazzo (4-0). Of the 65 scheduled rounds with LaMotta, Robinson fought 63 and only one championship fight. Out of 60 with Olson - 33 and three championship fights. Out of 60 with Fullmer - 50 and four championship fights. Out of 40 with Gianazzo - 30 and not a single champion fight.
The first knockdown to Robinson was counted in the third fight, 18 days after the start of his career. During his career, Robinson will have a lot of knockdowns in battles different levels(and in the second fight with LaMotta, Robinson even flew over the ropes), but Robinson will always get up and will never lose by knockout or TKO. His only early defeat to light heavyweight Joey Maxim was caused not by the difference in weight, dimensions or performance skills, but exclusively by his greater activity in the ring under extreme temperature conditions at the time of the fight - plus 41 degrees in the shade. Winning that fight by unanimous points, Robinson was unable to advance to round 14 due to heatstroke.
Before the fight with Jimmy Doyle (defense of the undisputed world welterweight title), Robinson dreamed that his opponent in the ring was dying. And so it really happened: Doyle could not go to the ninth round of the fight, he felt bad and the next day he died in the hospital. Most likely, this was due to a complication after a knockout a year ago, and not due to the brutal beating by Robinson.
There is a well-established, albeit unconfirmed, opinion that Robinson never participated in treaty battles and did not receive such offers from the mafia. Allegedly, the fame of Robinson in the United States was so great and the reputation is so high that the mafia did not deal with him.
Robinson suffered from Alzheimer's disease in old age, however, it is not very clear how much this is directly related to boxing.
As a guest star, he starred in the TV series Mission: Impossible (Season 3, Episode 2).