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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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