A version of this article appears in print on, Sugar Ray Robinson, Boxing's 'Best,' Is Dead, https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/13/obituaries/sugar-ray-robinson-boxing-s-best-is-dead.html. Dec. 20 1946defeats Tommy Bell to win vacant welterweight title. He gave his scorecard to a replacement who later said the markings for the eighth, ninth and 10th rounds had become so blurred on the sweat-soaked card they were illegible. It was inscribed: The Worlds Greatest Boxer.. Sports: Biographies Sugar Ray Robinson Robinson, Sugar Ray 1921-1989 views 1,465,570 updated Jun 27 2018 Sugar Ray Robinson 1921 - 1989 Professional boxer " As Sweet As Sugar " Wins First World Title A Change of Weight Class A Fighter in His Prime Retirement Stopped by Money Problems Sources Robinson won his first forty fights (twenty-six knockouts) until Jake LaMotta beat him on a decision in 1943. He lost a 10-round decision to Jake LaMotta in 1943, then extended his record to 128-1-2, with 84 knockouts, while ruling the welterweight division and later the middleweight division. The world shall never forget the excellent American boxer for his incredible legacy. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. What is open for debate, however, is the misconception that when it comes to how he actually operated in the ring as a fighter, Sugar Ray Robinson's genius is often attributed to his God-given talent, which, clearly wasn't the . It was not only fighters who found Robinson a formidable opponent in money disputes. Sugar Ray Robinson, the five-time world middleweight champion who was considered by many boxing experts to have been the best fighter in history, died yesterday in Culver City, Calif. Although the two stayed together for many years, Robinson by his own admission was not the most faithful of husbands. It sponsors cultural, craft and sports programs throughout the Los Angeles area. Marvelous Marvin Hagler was a hard-hitting lefty who could switch his stance and also box right-handed. I didn't gamble away my money. Larry Holmes, the Easton Assassin, is known as much for his retirements and comebacks as his skill in the bo, 1954- . Robinson returned to the United States prepared to challenge then middleweight champion LaMotta for the belt. ''I told him, 'No, go ahead.' He traveled regularly to meets and tournaments with other amateur boxers from the area, but according to his mother's wishes, never fought a match. American boxer navcontributeover.src = "/i/sportscentury/nav_contribute_over.gif"; He had bought for himself over the years a bar, three Harlem apartment buildings, a cleaning and dyeing shop, and a lingerie shop (the latter for his wifethe former Edna Mae Holly, to whom he was married from 1943-60; he had been married briefly to another woman as a teenager, but details are sketchy). When Sugar Ray Robinson ruled the ring as a champion welterweight and middleweight in the 1940s and 50s, the most important member of his team of corner men was neither his trainer nor his cut man. Born Henry Jackson, on December 12, 1912, in Mississippi, and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Armstrong was the only boxer ever to hold simultaneous world championship titles in three classifications: featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. A reporter described his technique as "sweet as sugar." The occasion on Tuesday was a book reading at the Hue-Man Bookstore, at Frederick Douglass Boulevard, near 124th Street, a block from the old nightclub, long closed now. Tales of Sugar Ray Robinson Recall Harlem in the '40s and '50s - The It came slowly at first. Robinson turned from boxing to show business, and recouped his financial losses, through acting and singing. Aint no man ever going to bust this face. Encyclopedia.com. He fought 13 times in 1949, gaining 12 wins and a drawthe draw coming in a non-title bout with Henry Brimmand won his only title defense that year against Kid Gaviln in Philadelphia. 2023