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.
