Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson was bornon 3 May 1921 in Ailey, Georgia, Detroit, Michigan, American, is Former Welterweight and Middleweight Boxing Champion. Sugar Ray Robinson was one of the greatest boxing legends of the 20th century. A prodigious child, he took to sports at an early age, dropping out of school to pursue a career in the same when he was in ninth standard. And rest as they say is history. Match after match, he gave power packed performance within the ring and rose from his amateur status with two titles under his kitty. He stared his professional career in 1940, defeating each of his opponents in a crushing manner. From 1943 to 1951 he went on a 91-fight unbeaten streak, which is till date the third longest in professional boxing history. By 1951, he posed a professional record of 128–1–2 with 84 knockouts. He successfully held the Welterweight Championship title from 1946 to 1951 and thrice held the Middleweight Championship title in 1951, 1955 and 1958. No boxer in his league had an answer to his powerful and lightning fast paced punches. In his overall career, he was twice named ‘fighter of the year’. Interestingly, Robinson did not pursue a career in boxing alone and tried his hand in the entertainment industry as well, but without much success.
| 2018 | $70 Million |
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In 1999, Associated Press named him as the ‘Welterweight of the Century’, ‘Middleweight of the Century’ and ‘Fighter of the Century’In 2006, he was honoured by the United Postal Service which issued a commemorative postal stamp
He breathed his last on April 12, 1989 in Los Angeles and was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California
In 1969, he founded the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation for inner-city Los Angeles area
In November 1965, he finally announced his retirement
Except for a few victories, his performance was affected towards the beginning of the 1960s decade as age played a crucial factor on his playing style
He went on to win several matches against top fighters and finally won against Bobo Olson to bag the Middleweight Championship title for a third timeIn 1957, he failed to defend the title and lost the same to Gene Fullmer
In 1955, he returned to the ring after a self-proclaimed hiatus of two years
In 1952, he faced his only knockout loss in the history of his career as he collapsed due to the immense temperature within the ring at the Maxim bout
In 1951, he successfully defended his middleweight Championship title by winning a knockout fight against LaMotta in the 13th round
Towards the end of the 1950s decade, he failed to defend his title in a match againSt Paul Pender
He defended his title in 1947 in a match against Jimmy Doyle
Eventually, in December, 1946, he was given a chance to win a title of Welterweight Championship in a fight against Tommy Bell and he won the match and the title
In 1942, his winning spree lasted for long as he recorded four back to back knockout triumphs
He made his professional debut in October 1940 against Joe Evchevarria
Furthermore, he won the Golden Gloves featherweight championship in 1939 and followed it up by Golden Gloves lightweight championship in 1940
He first married in 1938 to Marjorie Joseph but the marriage was annulled the same year
His record in the ring stood at 173-19-6, with 108 knockouts in 200 professional bouts
Soon after the fight, he gave up his title and with this his career as well, finishing off with a record that stood at 131-3-1-1
