50 Plus Hub
Engraved portrait of Sugar Ray Robinson
Sports · 1940s

Sugar Ray Robinson

In memoriam 1921–1989
Boxing (welterweight and middleweight)Sport
Independent professional; based in New York CityTeams
World welterweight champion; five-time world middleweight championTitles
174-19-6, 109 KOs; first to win a divisional title five timesRecords
Walker Smith Jr. in Ailey, GeorgiaBorn
The Turning Point

Born Walker Smith Jr., he borrowed an amateur's identity card to fight and kept the name 'Ray Robinson,' a sportswriter adding 'Sugar' for his sweet style. After turning pro in 1940 he tore through the welterweight ranks and was named Fighter of the Year in 1942. He became a national star in 1946 when he finally captured the world welterweight championship.

Sugar Ray Robinson, 1947
Sugar Ray Robinson, 1947

A Borrowed Name

Walker Smith Jr. was born in Ailey, Georgia, in 1921 and moved north as a boy. Unable to fight under his own age, he used a friend's amateur card bearing the name Ray Robinson and the identity stuck. A reporter who called his style 'sweet as sugar' completed the famous ring name.

Sugar Ray Robinson, 1965
Sugar Ray Robinson, 1965

Pound-for-Pound King

Robinson turned pro in 1940 and dominated the welterweight division, winning the world title in 1946. He later moved up to middleweight, capturing that crown five different times against fighters like Jake LaMotta and Carmen Basilio. His blend of speed, power, and grace made 'pound-for-pound' a household phrase.

Legacy and Final Years

He retired in 1965 with a 174-19-6 record and was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1967. Many historians and fighters, including Muhammad Ali, called him the greatest boxer who ever lived. Robinson died in Los Angeles in 1989 at age 67.

Career Timeline

  1. 1921Born Walker Smith Jr. in Ailey, Georgia
  2. 1940Makes professional boxing debut in New York
  3. 1942Named The Ring's Fighter of the Year
  4. 1946Wins world welterweight championship
  5. 1951Beats Jake LaMotta for middleweight title
  6. 1951Loses London bout to Randolph Turpin
  7. 1951Regains middleweight crown from Turpin
  8. 1955Wins middleweight title again from Bobo Olson
  9. 1958Beats Carmen Basilio for fifth middleweight title
  10. 1965Retires from boxing at age 44
  11. 1967Inducted into Boxing Hall of Fame
  12. 1989Dies in Los Angeles at age 67

Biggest Hits

1946
World Welterweight ChampionCaptured first world title, ruling division until 1951
1951
World Middleweight ChampionDefeated rival Jake LaMotta in Chicago bout
1958
Fifth Middleweight TitleBeat Carmen Basilio; record five-time divisional champ
1942
The Ring Fighter of the YearHonored as boxing's top fighter early in career
1965
174 Career WinsFinished 174-19-6 with 109 knockouts overall
1967
Hall of Fame InductionWidely called greatest pound-for-pound boxer ever
Did You Know
  • He got the name 'Ray Robinson' by using another boxer's amateur ID card to compete, then kept it for life.
  • He was the first boxer to win a divisional world championship five separate times, regaining the middleweight crown again and again.

Portrait: ACME · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

← All star bios