Walker Smith Jr. May 3, β April 12, , better known as Sugar Ray Robinson , was an American professional boxer who competed from to He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Robinson was a dominant amateur, but his exact amateur record is not known. It is usually listed as 85β0 with 69 knockouts, 40 in the first round. He turned professional in at the age of 19 and by had a professional record of β1β2 with 85 knockouts.
From to Robinson went on a fight unbeaten streak , the sixth-longest in professional boxing history [ 8 ] behind Pedro Carrasco with 93, [ 9 ] Jimmy Wilde with 95, [ 10 ] Buck Smith with , [ 11 ] Packey McFarland with , [ 12 ] and Young Griffo with He retired in , only to come back two-and-a-half years later and regain the middleweight title in 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 to regain the middleweight championship.
Robinson was named "fighter of the year" twice: first for his performances in , then nine years and over 90 fights later, for his efforts in Historian Bert Sugar ranked Robinson as the greatest fighter of all time and in , Robinson was also ranked number one on The Ring magazine's list of "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years". Renowned for his classy and flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring, [ 17 ] 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.
He struggled financially until his death in In , he was featured on a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service. Robinson was born Walker Smith Jr. His father was a cotton, peanut, and corn farmer in Georgia, who moved the family to Detroit where he initially found work in construction. 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 Harlem at the age of 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 cardβwhich he could not legally procure until he was So, Walker began his amateur fighting career under that nameβand it stuck.
