Ray Robinson

Robinson was the youngest of three children; his eldest sister Marie was born in 1917, and his other sister Evelyn in 1919.

His father was a cotton, peanut, and corn farmer in Georgia, who moved the family to Detroit where he initially found work in construction.

According to Robinson, Smith Sr. later worked two jobs to support his family—cement mixer and sewer worker.

"He had to get up at six in the morning and he'd get home close to midnight. Six days a week. The only day I really saw him was Sunday... I always wanted to be with him more."

His parents separated, and he moved with his mother to the New York City neighborhood of Harlem at the age of 12.

Robinson originally aspired to be a doctor, but after dropping out of DeWitt Clinton High School (in the Bronx) in ninth grade, he switched his goal to boxing.

When he was 14, he attempted to enter his first boxing tournament, but was told he first needed an AAU membership card—which he could not legally procure until he was 16.

He circumvented the AAU's age requirement by using an ID card from a youth named Ray Robinson, who had quit boxing.

So, Walker began his amateur fighting career under that name—and it stuck.

Later, when a lady in the audience at a fight in Watertown, New York, said he was "sweet as sugar," the name "Sugar Ray Robinson" was born.

Robinson idolized Henry Armstrong and Joe Louis as a youth, and actually had lived on the same block as Louis in Detroit when Robinson was 11 and Louis was 17.

Outside the ring, Robinson got into trouble frequently as a youth, and was involved with a street gang.

He married at 16.

The couple had one son, Ronnie, and divorced when Robinson was 19.

He reportedly finished his amateur career with an 85–0 record with 69 knockouts – 40 coming in the first round, though this has been disputed.

Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965.

He won the New York Golden Gloves featherweight championship in 1939 (defeating Louis Valentine on points in 3 rounds), and the New York Golden Gloves lightweight championship in 1940 (defeating Andy Nonella by KO in 2).

However it has been reported he lost to Billy Graham and Patsy Pesca as a teenager under his given name, Walker Smith Jr. He turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 129–1–2 with 85 knockouts.

Robinson made his professional debut on October 4, 1940, winning by a second-round stoppage over Joe Echevarria.

Robinson fought five more times in 1940, winning all, four by knockout.

In 1941, he defeated world champion Sammy Angott, future champion Marty Servo, and former champion Fritzie Zivic.

The Robinson-Angott fight was held above the lightweight limit, since Angott did not want to risk losing his lightweight title.

The Zivic bout, held at the Madison Square Garden, drew a crowd of 20,551—one of the largest in the arena to that date.

Robinson was named "fighter of the year" twice: first for his performances in 1942, then nine years and over 90 fights later, for his efforts in 1951.

From 1943 to 1951 Robinson went on a 91-fight unbeaten streak, the sixth-longest in professional boxing history behind Pedro Carrasco with 93, Jimmy Wilde with 95, Buck Smith with 102, Packey McFarland with 104, and Young Griffo with 107.

Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and won the world middleweight title in the latter year.

He retired in 1952, only to come back two-and-a-half years later and regain the middleweight title in 1955.

He then became the first boxer in history to win a divisional world championship five times (a feat he accomplished by defeating Carmen Basilio in 1958 to regain the middleweight championship).

He struggled financially until his death in 1989.

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.

He is often regarded as the greatest boxer of all time, pound-for-pound.

Robinson was a dominant amateur, but his exact amateur record is not known.

It is usually listed as 85–0 with 69 knockouts, 40 in the first round.

Historian Bert Sugar ranked Robinson as the greatest fighter of all time and in 2002, Robinson was also ranked number one on The Ring magazine's list of "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years".

As of July 2023, BoxRec ranks Robinson as the greatest boxer, pound-for-pound, of all time.

He was named the best boxer of all time, pound for pound, by the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) in both of its all-time ratings, in 2006 and 2019.

Renowned for his classy and flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring, Robinson is credited with being the originator of the modern sports "entourage".

After his boxing career ended, Robinson attempted a career as an entertainer, but it was not successful.

In 2006, he was featured on a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service.

Robinson was born Walker Smith Jr. in Ailey, Georgia, to Walker Smith Sr. and Leila Hurst.