Sugar Ray Robinson

They say my boxing is sweet, so they started calling me SugarRay..

I know it's almost a cliche now, the newest "pound for pound" best fighter that ever fought, changes every year. But for a long time, and still for many, there is only one candidate who can wear that crown, and his name became Sugar Ray Robinson.

It didn't start out that way; he was born Walker Smith, Jr., in May of 1920, in Detroit, Michigan. I don't know everybody's record but if Sugar Ray didn't fight the most fights in a, at times, brilliant career, he sure must have been close. And his winning percentage, well, he fought 202 bouts and won 175. And he really only started losing, late in his ring days.

He turned pro in 1940 and won forty fights before losing to "the bull", Jake LaMotta. He fought the worst and he fought the best, including LaMotta, Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan, Carmen Basilio, Rocky Graziano, and Gene Fulmer. He was, at different times, the welterweight champ, the middleweight champ, and the light heavyweight champion. His last fight was November 10, 1965, when he lost to Joey Archer and retired. It's said that after that fight, the great Miles Davis visited Sugar Ray in his locker room, and simply told him, "hang it up", or words to that effect, and he did.

Unfortunately, like a lot of pugilist, the fights eventually took their toll, and his mind rapidly deteriorated, and he died mentally and financially broke on April 12, 1989.