Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), born Walker Smith Jr., was a professional boxer. Generally regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, Robinson's performances at the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1967.

Sourced

• Rhythm is everything in boxing. Every move you make starts with your heart, and that's in rhythm or you're in trouble.
  • Ray Robinson 'Sugar Ray Robinson with Dave Anderson' page 75

About Sugar Ray

• He boxed as though he were playing the violin.
  • Bert Randolph Sugar a well known boxing writer[[1]]

• Robinson could deliver a knockout blow going backward.
  • Bert Randolph Sugar[[2]]

• Robinson's repertoire, thrown with equal speed and power by either hand, includes every standard punch from a bolo to a hook—and a few he makes up on the spur of the moment.
  • Time mag article 'Businessman Boxer'[[3]]

• Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest.
  • Sugar Ray Leonard shows great respect for Robinson[[4]]

• The king, the master, my idol.
  • Muhammad Ali holds Sugar in high regard[[5]]

• He come at me with two punches, a left and a right. I didn't know which hit me first. The punches didn't hurt me, but when I started to move, my legs wouldn't go with me, and I fell over on my head.
  • Tommy Bell speaks about getting knocked out by Sugar[[6]]

• That man was beautiful. Timing, speed, reflexes, rhythm, his body, everything was beautiful. And to me, still, I would say pound for pound...I'd say I'm the greatest heavyweight of all time, but pound for pound, I still say Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest of all time.
  • Muhammad Ali on Sugar Ray Robinson [[7]]

• He was a tremendous puncher, with either hand. Knock you dead puncher. Knock you dead. And a terrific finisher.
  • Teddy Atlas on Robinson's punching power [[8]]

• Ray Robinson was the perfect fighter because he had no weakness. He had one greatest chins of all time. He was never really knocked out in a 25 year career. Another special thing about Robinson was how many times he was able to get off the floor to win. He always rose to the occasion.
  • Jack Newfield [[9]]

• Don't give him a rematch. Because once you beat him that way, you'd be sure that the next time he'd adjust, and he'd know what to do.
  • Teddy Atlas [[10]]

• Nobody beat Ray twice until he was 40 years old. His intelligence, his versatility, and his will to win were the reasons he won all those rematches. He created a new place for the imagination of a fighter.
  • Jack Newfield [[11]]

• He could knock you out going backwards. He could knock you out going forward. And that's why people remember him now as the greatest fighter we've ever had, pound for pound.
  • Dave Anderson [[12]]

• His use of rhythm, his timing, his footwork. Ray Robinson was the greatest combination of speed and power that ever came together in one fighter.
  • Mike Silver on Sugar Ray Robinson's abilities [[13]]

• This man was the ultimate warrior in the ring. He was the ultimate dispatcher of a foe. He was a distance fighter, an in-fighter, very scientific, beautiful to see, and he made this brutal, uncivilized, barbaric sport ballet.
  • Ralph Wiley [[14]]