SPORTS RECORDS 4: SUGAR RAY ROBINSON, THE GREATEST BOXER POUND-FOR-POUND
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 02 Jan 2025
Walker Smith Jr., popularly known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded by experts and scribes as the greatest boxer of all time, pound-for-pound.
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From 1943 to 1951 Robinson attained a 91-fight unbeaten streak, the sixth-longest in professional boxing history behind Pedro Carrasco with 93, Jimmy Wilde with 95, Buck Smith with 102, Packey McFarland with 104, and Young Griffo with 107. Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and won the world middleweight title in the latter year. He retired in 1952, only to come back two-and-a-half years later and regain the middleweight title in 1955.
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He then became the first boxer in history to win a divisional world championship five times. It was an exploit he achieved by defeating Carmen Basilio in 1958 to regain the middleweight championship. Robinson was named "fighter of the year" twice, first for his performances in 1942, then nine years and over 90 fights later, for his efforts in 1951.
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Historian Bert Sugar listed Robinson as the greatest fighter of all time and in 2002, Robinson was also rated number one in The Ring magazine's list of "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years". He was listed as the best boxer of all time, pound for pound, by the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) in both of its all-time ratings, in 2006 and 2019.
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Before 1950, the term grandmaster was sometimes informally applied to world class players. The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE, or International Chess Federation) was founded in Paris in 1924, but at that time the organization did not award formal titles to renowned chess players.
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In 1927, the Soviet Union's Chess Federation established the title of Grandmaster of the Soviet Union, in the form of the German loan word "Großmeister". At the time Soviet players were not allowed to compete outside their own country.
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This title was abolished in 1931, after it was awarded to Boris Verlinsky, who won the 1929 Soviet Championship. The title was brought back in 1935, and awarded to Mikhail Botvinnik, who would became the first "official" Grandmaster of the USSR. Verlinsky was not able to get his title back.
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