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Walker Smith Jr., also known as Sugar Ray Robinson, is regarded as one of the greatest boxers in the history of the sport. The Detroit-born American competed as a professional in 1940 and retired in 1965 after boxing for 25 years.
The American started his career as an amateur, where he won the Golden Gloves as a featherweight and as a lightweight contender. He changed his name using the amateur certificate of another boxer so that he could qualify for a contest.
Ray Robinson was primarily a middleweight but also competed as a lightweight, welterweight and light-heavyweight. He was also a highly active fighter who ammassed 202 professional fights to his name. He holds a professional record of 175-19-6, with two no contests.
The American boxer was also known for his heavy-hitting punch power as he racked up 109 knockouts, giving him a 54.23% knockout rate.
In 1946, the athlete won the welterweight world title against Tommy Bell via split decision after a 15-round bout. During this time, Robinson secured an impressive win streak of 91 victories. It ran from 1943 to 1951 and is the third-longest in the history of professional boxing.
The champion then went on to win the middleweight world title in February 1951 by defeating Jake La Motta via a knockout in the 13th round. The two rivals fought each other six times in nine years.
La Motta was the first man to hand Robinson a professional defeat after forty consecutive wins. 'Raging Bull' was, however, defeated by Robinson in all the other encounters. La Motta later revealed that his rival was the greatest of all time.
In 1952, the champion announced his retirement, which only lasted two-and-a-half years after which he reclaimed his middleweight title by knocking out Carl Olsen in 1955.
In 1957, Ray Robinson lost, regained, and again lost his title by facing Gene Fullmer and Carmen Basilio. He then entered an all-out war against Basilio in a rematch a year later to regain his middleweight title for the final time.
The American attempted to defend his championship against Paul Pender in 1960 but lost to a split decision.
Ray Robinson continued to fight until 1965 and then passed away in 1989 at the age of 67 from Alzheimer's Disease.
Watch Mike Tyson talk about Sugar Ray Robinson here:
Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Jake La Motta 6
Sugar Ray Robinson was involved in many huge bouts as a professional, but his most iconic contest was against Jake La Motta in 1951. They straplined the fight 'St. Valentine's Day Massacre' and they weren't far wrong.
'Raging Bull' was the middleweight champion and defended it against Robinson at the Chicago Stadium. La Motta was known as one of the toughest fighters of all time and earned a lot of his respect after Robert De Niro played him in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull in 1980.
After absorbing an abundance of heavy shots during the first six rounds, La Motta still stood strong but in the 13th round the referee was forced to stop the fight.
La Motta struggled from cutting 16 lbs too quickly to make 160 lbs before the matchup, which resulted in Robinson delivering a savage beating to his rival.
Watch Jake La Motta vs. Sugar Ray Robinson 6 here:
