Why Is Robinson Referred To As Sweet As Sugar

As Sweet as Sugar Born Walker Smith Junior on May 3 1921, in Detroit Michigan, he is often referred to as the best boxer of all time by the most accurate boxing analysts. Robinson was bread early on as a natural at the sport. Growing up in the streets of Detroit surrounded by poverty, violence, and racism; He was no stranger battling adversity as Robinson grew up during the depression. He grew up with his single mother and sister. With his mother battling depression the young Robinson felt the need to do all he could to help his family of two. He mother (Aretha Robinson) did not approve of Robinson boxing. So he decided to adopt the alas of Ray Robinson. Although “Sugar” is a part of his legendary name, it was a title he earned early …show more content…
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”. Needless to say that Robinsons power put fans in the seat and sold arenas. But it wasn’t just the power that made Robinson the best boxer the world had ever seen, Robinson had quickness, hand speed, reflexes, and movement that was referred as flamboyant. Another great quality Robinson adopted had been his footwork. It was a thing of beauty. Robinson was also a talented dancer and did so as a Broadway …show more content…
Robinson started as a feather weight and migrated all the way up the middle weight class. This is just another reason he is called the best of all time. Gaining and dropping weight requires an extreme amount of time and hard work. In today’s pro boxing world fighters do not move major weight classes. Boxing is a much softer sport in these modern times. Robinson startded his career with an astonishing 40 consecutive victories and was called the "unnamed champion" by boxing fans on account that the mob, who Robinson refused to play nice with, denied him the chance to fight for the world welterweight title until after the war. (Robinson, Sugar Ray. “Sugar Ray Robinson.” Anderson, Dave. Detroit, 1994) Robinson made light work of up-and-coming competitors from flyweight to welterweight. Accumulating a currently unbeaten peak fighting record of 128-1-1. His first loss came from the middle weight champion Jake Lamotta. “I’ve fought sugar so much I feel like a diabetic”, says the champion when he looks back on the bouts with Robinson. These two fighters were exact opposites in the ring. Lamotta and his come forward power, and amazing ability to never get knocked down was a style that up until their first fight Robinson had never