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Although this charismatic boxer was
born Walker Smith Jr., he is best remembered as "Sugar" Ray Robinson.
Born on May 3, 1921 in Ailey, Georgia, his parents moved the family
to New York when Sugar Ray was a teenager to escape the prevalent
prejudice in the South. It was there, in a Harlem gym, that he was
first introduced to boxing. Sugar Ray visited the gym frequently,
using a borrowed Amateur Athletic Union boxing card of a friend.
The friend's name, incidentally, was Ray Robinson.
His natural talent in the ring began to draw attention, and soon
crowds gathered to watch Sugar Ray perform. When future coach George
Gainford watched him box for the first time, Gainford commented
that the young boxer's style and fluid motions were "sweet as sugar."
Others agreed, and the nickname stuck. After winning the New York
Golden Gloves championship in 1940, 19-year-old Sugar Ray turned
pro and never looked back. By 1946, Sugar Ray was the world welterweight
champion. His reign included a 91 fight winning-streak. He held
the title for five years, and then moved onto acquiring the world
middleweight title, which he held five times between 1951-1960.
A dominant force in the boxing ring for two decades, Sugar Ray was
38 when he won his last middleweight title.
In the mid-1960s, Sugar Ray exited the ring gracefully. "No beefs,
George," he told his coach. "Sometimes we got the best of it in
the past."
Sugar Ray's record was 128-1-2 with 84 knockouts at the pinnacle
of his career. Amazingly, in over 200 fights, Sugar Ray was never
physically knocked out (though he did receive one technical KO).
Altogether, he amassed 109 KOs, and finished with a record of 175-19-6
with two no-decisions. World champion Muhammad Ali called him "the
king, the master, my idol." In 1997, The Ring magazine named Sugar
Ray "pound for pound, the best boxer of all time." More recently,
in 1999, the Associated Press named him both the greatest welterweight
and middleweight boxer of the century.
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