Rocky Graziano
File:Rocky Graziano.jpg
Statistics
Real name	Thomas Rocco Barbella
Nickname(s)	The Rock / Rocky / Rocky Bob / Thomas Rocky Graziano / Roco / Painter Rock
Rated at	Middleweight & Welterweight
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Nationality	Italian-American
Born	(1919-01-01)January 1, 1919 Brooklyn, New York
Died	May 22, 1990(1990-05-22) (aged 71) New York City
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Wins	67
Wins by KO	52
Losses	10
Draws	6
No contests	0

Rocky Graziano, born Thomas Rocco Barbella in New York City (1 January 1919^[1] – May 22, 1990), was an Italian American boxer. Graziano was considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch. He was ranked 23rd on Ring Magazine's list of the greatest punchers of all time.

Graziano's life story was the basis of the 1956 Oscar-winning drama film Somebody Up There Likes Me, based on his 1955 autobiography of the same title. The film starred Paul Newman and was directed by Robert Wise.

Early life[link]

Rocky Graziano was the son of a boxer known as 'Fighting Nick Bob', and was born in Brooklyn. He later moved to Little Italy in New York's Lower East Side. Rocky grew up as a street fighter and learned to look after himself before he could read or write. He spent years in reform school, jail, and Catholic protectories.^[2]

When Rocky was as young as 3 years of age, his father would make him and his brother Joe (who was three years older) fight almost every night in boxing gloves. All the washed-up boxers from around the neighborhood would go to the Barbellas' house to drink and watch the two brothers fight. The fights usually ended badly for Rocco. As he would get hit more and more, he would become angrier and angrier. Usually he would fall asleep from getting punched or sheer tiredness. The only person in Rocco's life to feel any sort of sympathy for him was his mother. She believed Rocco was her lucky child, as he was born on the first day of the New Year. However, Rocky was in trouble for much of his childhood.

Rocky at six was recognized officially as the toughest six year old in the park district, at ten he picked Tony Canzoneri for his special idol, at 15 (having run away from a halfdozen schools) he was beating up the other boys in his yard in reform school, and at 18 he won the Metropolitan A.A.U. welterweight championship. Despite the fame and money that professional fighting seemed to offer, Rocky didn’t especially want to become a serious prize fighter. He didn’t like the discipline of training any more than he liked the discipline of school or, later, the Army. He didn’t want his face messed up, either. His father had been a boxer known as “Fighting Nick Bob” and hadn’t been famous or rich. His uncle enjoyed the same situation. Rocky had memories of them and their friends sitting around the gloomy tenement, swapping boisterous stories about the boxing business over buckets of beer. His father, who got occasional work as a longshoreman, kept boxing gloves around the house and encouraged Rocky and his brothers to fight one another something they didn’t see much profit in, since they felt most of their energies ought to be devoted to bringing in money or raiding pushcarts for groceries.^[3]

At the age of 8, Rocco went to live with his grandparents on Second Avenue near Houston Street. There, he met his first friend, Sam Villa, nicknamed "Houdini" for his ability to "disappear when there's work or trouble around." Houdini introduced Rocky to the pool hall and other games popular on the East Side, including stick-ball, football, and handball. Around this time, Rocky saw kids on the street riding scooters. He went up to a kid and told him to give him the scooter, but the other kid wouldn't. Enraged, Rocky went a couple blocks up, found another kid, punched him in the face, and came back to where the other kids were. He sped down the street and attempted to do a spinning stop. However, he was hit by a car, the impact of which broke his leg and required a two-month stay in the hospital.

When Rocky was discharged from the hospital, he met up with his old crony and continued his mischievous ways. One of Rocky's biggest money-makers was robbing gum machines in the subways. The two boys would visit different stations to avoid suspicion and being caught. One day, Rocky forgot to check a utility closet and was caught when a detective burst out of the door. Rocky was sentenced to probation by Children's Court. Houdini, however, was able to cry his way out of Children's Court.

One morning, he woke up early and stole 50 cents from his grandfather. His grandfather confronted him, advancing on Rocky with a shaving block. Rocky jumped out the window and ran down the fire escape, then continued to run to Brooklyn to his old house. He told his father what had happened and was beaten anyway, since he didn't let his grandfather do it.

He spent the next couple of days at his old house. He saw his brother playing in the street one day and stole a bicycle to give to his brother. His brother unknowingly rode the bicycle toward where Rocco had stolen it. His brother was arrested and confessed to police that Rocky had stolen it.

Rocky attended a court meeting and his old school truancy and probation records caught up with him. He was sent to a Catholic protectory, one of three terms he spent there.

Amateur career[link]

Eddie Cocco is the main reason Rocky started amateur boxing. Rocky heard from a couple of his friends about a tournament going on with a gold medal for the winner. Rocky entered under the name of "Joe Giuliani". He fought four matches and ended up winning the New York Metropolitan Amateur Athletic Union Boxing competition (1939). He sold the gold medal for $15 and decided that boxing was a good way to make cash.^[4]

But he also thought that stealing and ripping apart houses was a better idea, although trainers who saw him fight thought he could make a real mark on boxing. A couple of weeks into amateur fighting, he was picked up for stealing from a school. He went to Coxsackie Correctional Facility, where he spent three weeks, with boyhood friend Jake LaMotta, and then he went on to the New York City Reformatory where he spent five months.

After Rocky got out of the Reformatory, he headed back to the gym to make money. There he met Eddie Cocco, who started his professional career. He entered the ring under the name of Robert Barber. A couple of weeks later, when he was making good money, he lent out a car to friends who robbed a couple of bookies and shot them in the chest. Rocky was charged with a probation violation and sent back to reform school. There, he was charged for starting a minor riot between the "East Side Gang" and the "Blacks". He was sent to Rikers Island.

When Rocky got out of jail, he was approached by the military and told that he had to join. Rocky went AWOL in the military after punching a captain.^[4] He escaped from Fort Dix in New Jersey and started his real boxing career under the name of "Rocky Graziano". He won his first couple of bouts. After gaining popularity under the name of Graziano, he was found by the military. After Graziano's fourth bout, he was called in to manager's office to speak with a couple of military personnel. Expecting to be prosecuted and sent back to the military or jail, Graziano fled. He then returned to the military a week later. He turned himself in, but instead of being punished he was pardoned and given the opportunity to fight under the army's aegis.

Professional career[link]

As he grew older, Rocky forsook the street games of ring o levio and stickball for gang fights in parks. He spent more time on street corners and less time in school. He felt his poverty more. Since it was more profitable to fight for gold watches than for free in an alley, he joined clubs and won watches, which he sold at the going rate. He was scouted, naturally enough, by sharpeyed managers, and finally, getting sick of the diet of doughnuts and seeing no other way to raise his standard of living, he listened to the blandishments of some of them and signed a few contracts. But the rigmarole of training disgusted him and he and his early managers went their separate ways, the latter hoping he would get stiffened when he stepped into the ring with a competent fighter. Rocky finally wound up with Irving Cohen, who had the sense to give him a long leash. Cohen changed Rocky’s name from Barbells to Graziano (his grandfather’s name) and lined up a fight. Refusing to train much, Graziano nevertheless showed a gang war, killer instinct and won by a knockout. Other fights were lined up with Cohen trying, in his subtle way, to overmatch Rocky, get him defeated, and thereby show Rocky the value of getting into condition. It was impossible to overmatch him. Rocky kept knocking them over. He even demanded a fight with Sugar Ray Robinson which, fortunately, he didn’t get for a good many years. He had money in his pockets and he set them up for his friends, their numbers growing by the hundreds in every bar on the East Side. He wallowed in noisy celebrity. He was moving up in the world, at least in the only world he had ever known.^[5]

In March 1945, at Madison Square Garden, Graziano scored one of the major upsets in boxing over the phenom Billy Arnold. Arnold's style was similar to that of Sugar Ray Robinson; he was a slick boxer with lightning-fast combinations and a knockout punch. The Ring Magazine and various newspapers across the United States touted Arnold as the next Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Robinson. Arnold was a heavy favorite to defeat Graziano, and then to go on to fight for the world title. However, in a brutal battle, Graziano absorbed a beating in the early going, before going on to batter and knockout Arnold in the third round of the scheduled eight round bout.^[6] Following his defeat to Graziano, Billy Arnold was never the same.

Graziano went on to become the world boxing champion, and he fought Tony Zale in one of boxing's most storied rivalries. He also fought Sugar Ray Robinson, losing by early knockout in three rounds.

He is most famous for his three title bouts with Tony Zale, all for the middleweight title. In their first match (September 27, 1946), after flooring Graziano in the first round, Zale took a savage beating from Graziano, and was on the verge of losing the fight by TKO. However, he rallied and knocked out Graziano in the sixth round to retain his title. The rematch, a year later in Chicago (July 16, 1947), was a mirror image of their first fight. The referee almost stopped the second fight in the third round because of a severe cut over Graziano's left eye, which would have awarded the victory to Zale, but Graziano's cutman, Morris ("Whitey") Bimstein, was able to stop the bleeding to let the fight continue. Graziano was battered around the ring, suffered a closed eye and appeared ready to lose by a knockout, then rallied and knocked Zale out in the sixth round, becoming middleweight champion of the world.^[4] Their last fight was held in New Jersey the following year (June 10, 1948). Zale regained his crown, winning the match by a knockout in the third round. The knockout blows consisted of a perfect combination of a right to Graziano's body, then a left hook to Graziano's jaw. Graziano was knocked unconscious.

His last attempt at the middleweight title came in April 1952, when Sugar Ray Robinson knocked him out in three rounds. He retired after losing his very next fight, a 10-round decision to Chuck Davey.^[4]

Career trouble[link]

In 1946, Graziano was suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) for failure to report an alleged bribe attempt.

In 1948, Abe Green, the National Boxing Association President, announced that they were indefinitely suspending Graziano in all parts of the world under NBA supervision, following similar action by the California State Athletic Commission. This was due to Graziano's "running out" on a scheduled Dec. 1 bout with Fred Apostoli. The suspension covered all of the American States, Great Britain, the European Boxing Federation, Cuba, Mexico, and Canada. Boxing promoter Ralph Tribuani got Graziano a license in Delaware, where the allegations were perceived as ridiculous. This led to the reinstatement of Graziano by both the NBA and NYSAC and Rocky's return to prosperity.

Post-boxing career[link]

After his retirement from boxing, he became a well-known television comedian, co-hosting a short-lived series titled The Henny and Rocky Show with famous comedian Henny Youngman. He was also a semi-regular on NBC's The Martha Raye Show, portraying host Martha Raye's "boyfriend."^[7]

Graziano also appeared as a regular on the United Artists TV series Miami Undercover for its entire run, and appeared in several series and shows, including The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom on ABC and an episode of NBC's Car 54, Where Are You?. He portrayed Packy, an ex-boxer, in the 1967 Frank Sinatra film Tony Rome.

In the 1960s, Graziano opened a pizza restaurant called Rocky Graziano's Pizza Ring on Second Avenue in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, eventually creating a modest franchise for the restaurant in the New York City area. He also became the celebrity spokesman for Lee Myles Transmissions in the New York City area, appearing on dozens of television commercials from the mid-1970s to the mid 1980s.

In his retirement, Graziano dabbled in painting and developed an admiration for the work of Pablo Picasso.

Personal life[link]

• Graziano was the son of Fighting Nick Bob, who had a brief boxing career.
• Bert Sugar wrote in his book "The 100 Greatest Boxers of All Time": "Graziano was raised on the Lower East Side where both sides of the tracks were wrong." He overcame coming from a disadvantaged background, to rise to the top of the ring and entertainment world.
• He died from cardiopulmonary failure on May 22, 1990 in New York.

Accolades[link]

• Graziano is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
• Graziano was named to Ring Magazine's 100 Greatest Punchers of all time.
• In 2007, Graziano was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Rocky Graziano at Find a Grave Rocky Graziano's Grave

• Professional boxing record for Rocky Graziano from BoxRec
• [1]
• TV credits
• Gravesite
• International Boxing Hall of Fame bio
• Rocky Graziano
• SPORTS OF THE TIMES; Leave Your Worry on The Doorstep, 1990, New York Times
• ESPN Bio:[2]

Sugar Ray Robinson
Statistics
Real name	Walker Smith Jr.
Nickname(s)	Sugar
Rated at	Lightweight Welterweight Middleweight Light Heavyweight
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Reach	72+1⁄2 in (184 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	(1921-05-03)May 3, 1921 Ailey, Georgia
Died	April 12, 1989(1989-04-12) (aged 67) Culver City, California
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	200[1]
Wins	173[1]
Wins by KO	108[1]
Losses	19[1]
Draws	6[1]
No contests	2[1]

Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr., May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989) was an American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.

Robinson was 85–0 as an amateur with 69 of those victories coming by way of knockout, 40 in the first round. He turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 128–1–2 with 84 knockouts. 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. 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 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. He defeated other Hall of Fame fighters such as Jake LaMotta, Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer, Randy Turpin, Carl 'Bobo' Olson, Henry Armstrong, Rocky Graziano and Kid Gavilan. Robinson engaged in 200 pro bouts, and his professional career lasted nearly 26 years.

Robinson was a fluid boxer who possessed power in both hands and a fast jab. In 1951 TIME said "Robinson's repertoire, thrown with equal speed and power by either hand, includes every standard punch from a bolo to a hook—and a few he makes up on the spur of the moment."^[2] Robinson stated that once a fighter gained a certain amount of skill, his boxing technique became reflexive.

Robinson was named the greatest fighter of the 20th century by the Associated Press, and the greatest boxer in history by ESPN.com in 2007. The Ring magazine rated him the best "pound for pound" boxer of all-time in 1997, and its "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1950s. Muhammad Ali, who repeatedly called himself "The Greatest" throughout his career, ranked Robinson as the greatest boxer of all time. Other Hall of Fame boxers such as Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Leonard said the same.

Renowned for his flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring, 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 struggled, and lived in poverty until his death in 1989. In 2006, he was featured on a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service.

Early life[link]

Robinson was born Walker Smith Jr. in either Ailey, Georgia (according to his birth certificate) or Detroit, Michigan (according to his autobiography),^[3] to Walker Smith Sr. and Leila Hurst.^[4] Robinson was the youngest of three children; his older sister Marie was born in 1917 and his older sister Evelyn was born in 1919. His father was a cotton, peanut, and corn farmer in Georgia, who moved the family to Detroit where he initially found work as a construction worker.^[4] According to Robinson, Smith Sr. later worked two jobs to support his family—cement mixer and sewer worker. "He had to get up at six in the morning and he'd get home close to midnight. Six days a week. The only day I really saw him was Sunday...I always wanted to be with him more."^[5]

His parents separated and he moved with his mother to the New York City neighborhood of Harlem at the age of twelve. Robinson originally aspired to be a doctor, but after dropping out of De Witt Clinton High school in ninth grade he switched his goal to boxing.^[6] When he was 14, he attempted to enter his first boxing tournament but was told he needed to first obtain an AAU membership card. However, he could not procure one until he was sixteen years old. He received his name when he circumvented the AAU's age restriction by borrowing a card from his friend Ray Robinson.^[3] Subsequently told that his style was "sweet as sugar" by future manager George Gainford, Smith Jr. became known as "Sugar" Ray Robinson.^[2][7]

Robinson idolized Henry Armstrong and Joe Louis as a youth, and actually lived on the same block as Louis in Detroit when Robinson was 11 and Louis was 17.^[2] Outside of the ring, Robinson got into trouble frequently as a youth, and was involved with a violent street gang.^[2] He married at 16. The couple, who had one son, Ronnie, divorced when Robinson was 19.^[2] He finished his amateur career with an 85–0 record with 69 knockouts—40 coming in the first round. He won the Golden Gloves featherweight championship in 1939, and the organization's lightweight championship in 1940.^[3]

Boxing career[link]

Early career[link]

Robinson made his professional debut on October 4, 1940, winning via second-round knockout over Joe Echevarria.^[1] Robinson fought five more times in 1940, winning each time, with four wins coming by way of knockout.^[1] In 1941, he defeated world champion Sammy Angott, future champion Marty Servo and former champion Fritzie Zivic. The Robinson-Angott fight was held above the lightweight limit, since Angott did not want to risk losing his lightweight title. Robinson defeated Zivic in front of 20,551 at Madison Square Garden—one of the largest crowds in the arena to that date.^[8] Robinson won the first five rounds according to The New York Times Joseph C. Nichols, before Zivic came back to land several punches to Robinson's head in the sixth and seventh rounds.^[8] Robinson controlled the next two rounds, and had Zivic wobbly in the ninth. After a close tenth round, Robinson was announced as the winner on all three scorecards.^[8]

In 1942, Robinson knocked out Zivic in the tenth round in a January rematch.^[1] The knockout loss was only the second of Zivic's career in more than 150 fights.^[9] Robinson knocked him down in the ninth and tenth rounds before the referee stopped the fight. Zivic and his corner protested the stoppage; James P. Dawson of The New York Times stated, however, that "[t]hey were criticizing a humane act. The battle had been a slaughter, for want of a more delicate word."^[9] Robinson then won four consecutive bouts by knockout, before defeating Servo in a controversial split decision in their May rematch.^[1] After winning three more fights, Robinson faced Jake LaMotta, who would become one of his more prominent rivals, for the first time in October.^[1] He defeated LaMotta via unanimous decision. Robinson weighed 145 lb (66 kg) compared to 157.5 for LaMotta, but he was able to control the fight from the outside for the entire bout, and actually landed the harder punches during the fight.^[10] Robinson then won four more fights, including two against Izzy Jannazzo, from October 19 to December 14.^[1] For his performances, Robinson was named "Fighter of the Year". He finished 1942 with a total of 14 wins and no losses.^[1]

Robinson built a record of 40–0 before losing for the first time to LaMotta in a 10 round re-match.^[1][11] LaMotta, who had a 16 lb (7.3 kg) weight advantage over Robinson, knocked Robinson out of the ring in the eighth round, and won the fight by decision.^[1] The fight took place in Robinson's former home town of Detroit, and attracted a record crowd.^[11] After being controlled by Robinson in the early portions of the fight, LaMotta came back to take control in the later rounds.^[11] After winning the third LaMotta fight less than three weeks later,^[1] Robinson then defeated his childhood idol former champion Henry Armstrong. Robinson only fought Armstrong because Armstrong was in need of finances. By now Armstrong was an old fighter, and Robinson later stated that he carried Armstrong.

On February 27, 1943, Robinson was inducted into the United States Army, where he was again referred to as Walker Smith.^[12] Robinson had a short 15 month military career. Robinson served with Joe Louis, and the pair went on tours where they performed exhibition bouts in front of US troops. Robinson got into trouble several times while in the military. He argued with superiors who he felt were discriminatory against him, and refused to fight exhibitions when he was told African American soldiers were not allowed to watch them.^[2][13] In late March, 1944, Robinson was stationed at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, waiting to ship out to Europe, where he was scheduled to perform more exhibition matches. But on March 29, Robinson disappeared from his barracks. When he woke up on April 5 in Fort Jay Hospital on Governor's Island, he had missed his sailing for Europe and was under suspicion of deserting. He himself reported falling down the stairs in his barracks on the 29th, but said that he had complete amnesia, and he could not remember any events from that moment until the 5th. According to his file, a stranger had found him in the street on 1 April and helped him to a hospital. In his examination report, a doctor at Fort Jay concluded that Robinson's version of events was sincere.^[14] He was examined by military authorities, who claimed he suffered from a mental deficiency.^[15] Robinson was granted an honorable discharge on June 3, 1944. He later wrote that unfair press coverage of the incident had "branded" him as a "deserter." ^[16] Robinson maintained his close friendship with Louis from their time in military service, and the two went into business together after the war. They planned to start a liquor distribution business in New York City, but were denied a license due to their race.^[17]

Besides the loss in the LaMotta rematch, the only other mark on Robinson's record during this period was a 10 round draw against Jose Basora in 1945.^[1]

Welterweight Champion[link]

By 1946, Robinson had fought 75 fights to a 73–1–1 record,^[1] and beaten every top contender in the welterweight division. However, he refused to cooperate with the Mafia, which controlled much of boxing at the time, and was denied a chance to fight for the welterweight championship.^[18] Robinson was finally given a chance to win a title against Tommy Bell on December 20, 1946.^[1] Robinson had already beaten Bell once via decision in 1945. The two fought for the title vacated by Servo, who had himself lost twice to Robinson in non-title bouts. In the fight, Robinson, who only a month before had been involved in a 10 round brawl with Artie Levine, was knocked down by Bell.^[1] The fight was called a "war," but Robinson was able to pull out a close 15 round decision, winning the vacant welterweight title.

In June 1947, after four non-title bouts, Robinson was scheduled to defend his title for the first time in a bout against Jimmy Doyle.^[1] Before that fight, Robinson had a dream that he was going to accidentally kill Doyle in the ring.^[19] As a result, he decided to pull out of the fight. However, a priest and a minister convinced him to go ahead with the bout. His foe, however, died from the injuries he sustained.^[19] Robinson said that the impact of Doyle's death was "very trying."

On the night of June 25, Robinson dominated Doyle and scored a decisive knockout in the eighth round that knocked Doyle unconscious and resulted in Doyle's death that night.^[19]

In 1948, Robinson fought five times, but only one bout was a title defense. Among the fighters he defeated in those non-title bouts was future world champion Kid Gavilan in a close, controversial 10 round fight. Gavilan hurt Robinson several times in the fight, but Robinson controlled the final rounds with a series of jabs and left hooks.^[20] In 1949, he boxed 16 times, but again only defended his title once. In that title fight, a rematch with Gavilan, Robinson again won via decision. The first half of the bout was very close, but Robinson took control in the second half. Gavilan would have to wait two more years to begin his own historic reign as welterweight champion. The only boxer to match Robinson that year was Henry Brimm, who fought him to a 10-round draw in Buffalo.

Robinson fought 19 times in 1950.^[1] He successfully defended his welterweight title for the last time against Charley Fusari. Robinson won a lopsided 15 round decision, knocking Fusari down once.^[1] Robinson donated all but $1 of his purse for the Fusari fight to cancer research.^[21] In 1950, Robinson fought George Costner, who had also taken to calling himself "Sugar" and stated in the weeks leading up to the fight that he was the rightful deserver of the name. "We better touch gloves, because this is the only round," Robinson said as the fighters were introduced at the center of the ring. "Your name ain't Sugar, mine is."^[22] Robinson then knocked Costner out in 2 minutes and 49 seconds.^[1]

Middleweight Champion[link]

Robinson stated in his autobiography that one of the main considerations for his move up to middleweight was the increasing difficulty he was having in making the 147 lb (67 kg) welterweight weight limit.^[23] However, the move up would also prove beneficial financially, as the division then contained some of the biggest names in boxing. Vying for the Pennsylvania state middleweight title in 1950, Robinson defeated Robert Villemain.^[1] Later that year, in defense of that crown, he defeated Jose Basora, with whom he had previously drawn. Robinson's 50-second first round knockout of Basora set a record that would stand for 38 years. In October 1950, Robinson knocked out Bobo Olson a future middleweight title holder.^[1]

On February 14, 1951, Robinson and LaMotta met for the sixth time. The fight would become known as The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Robinson won the undisputed world middleweight title with a 13th round technical knockout.^[1] Robinson outboxed LaMotta for the first 10 rounds, then unleashed a series of savage combinations on LaMotta for three rounds,^[2] finally stopping the champion for the first time in their legendary six-bout series—and dealing LaMotta his first legitimate knockout loss in 95 professional bouts.^[24] LaMotta had lost by knockout to Billy Fox earlier in his career. However, that fight was later ruled to have been fixed and LaMotta was sanctioned for letting Fox win. That bout, and some of the other bouts in the six-fight Robinson-LaMotta rivalry, was depicted in the Martin Scorsese film Raging Bull. "I fought Sugar Ray so often, I almost got diabetes," LaMotta later said.^[7] Robinson won five of his six bouts with LaMotta.^[1]

After winning his second world title, he embarked on a European tour which took him all over the Continent. Robinson traveled with his flamingo-pink Cadillac, which caused quite a stir in Paris,^[25] and an entourage of 13 people, some included "just for laughs".^[26] He was a hero in France due to his recent defeat of LaMotta—the French hated LaMotta for defeating Marcel Cerdan in 1949 and taking his championship belt (Cerdan died in a plane crash en route to a rematch with LaMotta).^[2] Robinson met President of France Vincent Auriol at a ceremony attended by France's social upper crust; following the ceremony he kissed the President's blushing wife once on each cheek, then repeated the two kisses at the request of press photographers.^[27] During his fight in Berlin against Gerhard Hecht, Robinson was disqualified when he knocked his opponent with a punch to the kidney: a punch legal in the US, but not Europe.^[19] The fight was later declared a no-contest.^[1] In London, Robinson lost the world middleweight title to Englishman Randy Turpin in a sensational bout.^[28] Three months later in a rematch in front of 60,000 fans at the Polo Grounds,^[19] he knocked Turpin out in ten rounds to recover the title. In that bout Robinson was leading on the cards but was cut by Turpin. With the fight in jeopardy, Robinson let loose on Turpin, knocking him down, then getting him to the ropes and unleashing a series of punches that caused the referee to stop the bout.^[29] Following Robinson's victory, residents of Harlem danced in the streets.^[30] In 1951, Robinson was named Ring Magazine's "Fighter of the Year" for the second time.^[31]

In 1952, he fought a rematch with Olson, winning by a decision.^[1] He next defeated former champion Rocky Graziano by a third-round knockout, then challenged world light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim. In the Yankee Stadium bout with Maxim, Robinson built a lead on all three judges' scorecards, but the 103 °F (39 °C) temperature in the ring took its toll.^[7] The referee, Ruby Goldstein, was the first victim of the heat, and had to be replaced by referee Ray Miller. The fast-moving Robinson was the heat's next victim – at the end of round 13, he collapsed and failed to answer the bell for the next round,^[7] suffering the only knockout of his career.^[1]

After the Maxim bout, Robinson gave up his title and retired with a record of 131-3-1-1. He began a career in show business, singing and tap dancing. After about three years, the decline of his businesses and the lack of success in his performing career made him decide to return to boxing. He resumed training in 1954.

Comeback[link]

In 1955, Robinson returned to the ring. Although he had been inactive for two and a half years, his work as a dancer kept him in peak physical condition: in his autobiography, Robinson states that in the weeks leading up to his debut for a dancing engagement in France, he ran five miles every morning, and then danced for five hours each night. Robinson even stated that the training he did in his attempts to establish a career as a dancer were harder that any he undertook during his boxing career.^[32] He won five fights in 1955, before losing a decision to Ralph 'Tiger' Jones. He bounced back, however, and defeated Rocky Castellani by a split decision, then challenged Bobo Olson for the world middleweight title. He won the middleweight championship for the third time via a second round knockout—his third victory over Olson. After his comeback performance in 1955, Robinson expected to be named fighter of the year. However, the title went to welterweight Carmen Basilio. Basilio's handlers had lobbied heavily for it on the basis that he had never won the award, and Robinson later described this as the biggest disappointment of his professional career. "I haven't forgotten it to this day, and I never will" Robinson wrote in his autobiography.^[33] They fought for the last time in 1956, and Robinson closed the four fight series with a fourth round knockout.^[1]

In 1957, Robinson lost his title to Gene Fullmer.^[1] Fullmer used his aggressive, forward moving style to control Robinson, and knocked him down in the fight.^[34] Robinson, however, noticed that Fullmer was vulnerable to the left hook. Fullmer headed into their May rematch as a 3–1 favorite.^[35] In the first two rounds Robinson followed Fullmer around the ring, however in the third round he changed tactics and made Fullmer come to him.^[35] At the start of the fourth round Robinson came out on the attack and stunned Fullmer, and when Fullmer returned with his own punches, Robinson traded with him, as opposed to clinching as he had done in their earlier fight. The fight was fairly even after four rounds.^[35] But in the fifth, Robinson was able to win the title back for a fourth time by knocking out Fullmer with a lightning fast, powerful left hook.^[35] Boxing critics have referred to the left-hook which knocked out Fullmer as "the perfect punch".^[36] It marked the first time in 44 career fights that Fullmer had been knocked out, and when someone asked Robinson after the fight how far the left hook had travelled, Robinson replied: "I can't say. But he got the message."^[35]

Later that year, he lost his title to Basilio in a rugged 15 round fight in front of 38,000 at Yankee Stadium,^[37] but regained it for a record fifth time when he beat Basilio in the rematch. Robinson struggled to make weight, and had to go without food for nearly 20 hours leading up to the bout. He badly damaged Basilio's eye early the fight, and by the seventh round it was swollen shut.^[38] The two judges gave the fight to Robinson by wide margins: 72–64 and 71–64. The referee scored the fight for Basilio 69–64, and was booed loudly by the crowd of 19,000 when his decision was announced.^[38] The first fight won the "Fight of the Year" award from The Ring magazine for 1957 and the second fight won the "Fight of the Year" award for 1958.^[1]

Decline[link]

Robinson in Madison Square Garden in 1966.

Robinson knocked out Bob Young in the second round in Boston in his only fight in 1959.^[1] A year later, he defended his title against Paul Pender. Robinson entered the fight as a 5–1 favorite, but lost a split decision in front of 10,608 at Boston Garden.^[39] The day before the fight Pender commented that he planned to start slowly, before coming on late. He did just that and outlasted the aging Robinson, who, despite opening a cut over Pender's eye in the eighth round, was largely ineffective in the later rounds.^[39] An attempt to regain the crown for an unheard of sixth time proved beyond Robinson. Despite Robinson's efforts, Pender won by decision in that rematch. On December 3 of that year, Robinson and Fullmer fought a 15-round draw for the WBA middleweight title, which Fullmer retained.^[1] In 1961, Robinson and Fullmer fought for a fourth time, with Fullmer retaining the NBA middleweight title by a unanimous decision.^[1] The fight would be Robinson's last title bout.

Robinson spent the rest of the 1960s fighting 10-round contests. In October 1961, Robinson defeated future world champion Denny Moyer via unanimous decision. A 12–5 favorite, the 41 year old Robinson defeated the 22 year old Moyer by staying on the outside, rather than engaging him.^[40] In their rematch four months later, Moyer defeated Robinson on points, as he pressed the action and made Robinson back up throughout the fight. Moyer won 7–3 on all three judges scorecards.^[41] Robinson lost twice more in 1962, before winning six consecutive fights against mostly lesser opposition.^[1] In February 1963, Robinson lost via unanimous decision to former world champion and fellow Hall of Famer Joey Giardello. Giardello knocked Robinson down in the fourth round, and the 43 year old took until the count of nine to rise to his feet.^[42] Robinson was also nearly knocked down in the sixth round, but was saved by the bell. He rallied in the seventh and eight rounds, before struggling in the final two.^[42] Robinson then embarked on an 18-month boxing tour of Europe.

Robinson's second no-contest bout came in September, 1965 in Norfolk, Virginia in a match with an opponent who turned out to be an impostor. Boxer Neil Morrison, at the time a fugitive and accused robber, signed up for the fight as Bill Henderson, a capable club fighter. The fight was a fiasco, with Morrison being knocked down twice in the first round and once in the second before the disgusted referee, who said "Henderson put up no fight", walked out of the ring. Robinson was initially given a TKO in 1:20 of the second round after the "obviously frightened" Morrison laid himself down on the canvas. Robinson fought for the final time in 1965. He lost via unanimous decision to Joey Archer.^[43] Famed sports author Pete Hamill mentioned that one of the saddest experiences of his life was watching Robinson lose to Archer. He was even knocked down and Hamill pointed out that Archer had no knockout punch at all; Archer admitted afterward that it was only the second time he had knocked an opponent down in his career.^[1] The crowd of 9,023 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh gave Robinson several standing ovations, even while he was being thoroughly outperformed by Archer.^[43]

On November 11, 1965, Robinson announced his retirement from boxing, saying: "I hate to go too long campaigning for another chance."^[44] Robinson retired from boxing with a record of 173-19-6 (2 no contests) with 108 knockouts in 200 professional bouts,^[1] ranking him among the all-time leaders in knockouts.

After retiring as a boxer[link]

In his autobiography, Robinson states that by 1965 he was broke, having spent all of the $4 million in earnings he made inside and out of the ring in his career.^[45] A month after his last fight, Robinson was honored with a Sugar Ray Robinson Night on December 10, 1965 in New York's Madison Square Garden. During the ceremony, he was honored with a massive trophy. However, there was not a piece of furniture in his small Manhattan apartment with legs strong enough to support it. Robinson was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1967, two years after he retired. In the late 60s he acted in some television shows. An episode of Land of the Giants called "Giants and All That Jazz" had Sugar as a washed up boxer opening a nightclub.^[46] In 1969 he founded the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation for inner-city Los Angeles area. The foundation does not sponsor a boxing program.^[47] He was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus that was treated with insulin.^[48] In Robinson's last years, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.^[48] He died in Los Angeles at the age of 67 and was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.

Personal life[link]

Robinson married Marjorie Joseph in 1938; the marriage was annulled the same year. Their son, Ronnie Smith, was born in 1939. Robinson met his second wife Edna Mae Holly, a noted dancer who performed at the Cotton Club and toured Europe with Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, in 1940.^[49] According to Robinson, he met her at a local pool he frequented after his boxing workouts. In an attempt to get her attention he pushed her into the pool one day, and claimed it was an accident.^[50] After this attempt was met with disdain, he appeared at the nightclub she danced at and introduced himself. Soon the couple were dating and they married in 1943. They had one son, Ray Robinson Jr. (born 1949) and divorced in 1960.^[49] She appeared on the first cover of Jet magazine in 1951.^[51] In April 1959, Robinson's eldest sister Marie died of cancer at the age of 41.^[52]

In 1965, Robinson married Millie Wiggins Bruce and the couple settled in Los Angeles.^[19] When Robinson was sick with his various ailments, his son accused Robinson's wife of keeping him under the influence of medication to manipulate him. According to Ray Robinson Jr., when Sugar Ray's mother died, Sugar Ray could not attend his mother's funeral because Millie was drugging and controlling him.^[53] However, Robinson had been hospitalized the day before his mother's death due to agitation which caused his blood pressure to rise. Robinson Jr. and Edna Mae also claimed that they were kept away from Robinson by Millie during the last years of his life.^[53]

Boxing style[link]

Rhythm is everything in boxing. Every move you make starts with your heart, and that's in rhythm or you're in trouble.

—Ray Robinson^[54]

Robinson was a fluid boxer who possessed a quick jab and knockout power.^[55] He possessed tremendous versatility—according to boxing analyst Bert Sugar, "Robinson could deliver a knockout blow going backward."^[56] Robinson was efficient with both hands, and he displayed a variety of effective punches—according to a TIME magazine article in 1951, "Robinson's repertoire, thrown with equal speed and power by either hand, includes every standard punch from a bolo to a hook—and a few he makes up on the spur of the moment."^[2] Robinson commented that once a fighter has trained to a certain level, their techniques and responses become almost reflexive. "You don't think. It's all instinct. If you stop to think, you're gone."^[57]

Legacy[link]

Robinson being held aloft by Gene Fullmer and Carmen Basilio in 1965.

Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest.

—Sugar Ray Leonard^[56]

The king, the master, my idol.

—Muhammad Ali ^[58]

He was the greatest. Pound for pound, the greatest fighter who ever lived. There's no question about it.

—Jake La Motta

Robinson has been ranked as the greatest boxer of all time by sportswriters, fellow boxers, and trainers.^[3][59][58] The phrase "pound for pound", was created by sportswriters for him during his career as a way to compare boxers irrespective of weight,^[7][22] and Hall of Fame fighters such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Leonard have ranked Robinson as the greatest pound for pound boxer in history.^[56][60][61] In 1997, The Ring ranked him as the best pound for pound fighter in history,^[7] and in 1999, he was named "welterweight of the century," "middleweight of the century," and overall "fighter of the century" by the Associated Press.^[62] In 2007, ESPN.com featured the piece "50 Greatest Boxers of All Time", in which it named Robinson the top boxer in history.^[59] In 2003, The Ring magazine ranked him number 11 in the list of all-time greatest punchers.^[63] Robinson was also ranked as the #1 welterweight and the #1 pound for pound boxer of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization.^[64]

Robinson was one of the first African Americans to establish himself as a star outside of sports. He was an integral part of the New York social scene in the 1940s and 1950s.^[7] His glamorous restaurant, Sugar Ray's, hosted stars such as Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, Nat "King" Cole, Joe Louis, and Lena Horne among others.^[65] Robinson was known as a flamboyant personality outside the ring. He combined striking good looks,^[66] with charisma, and a flair for the dramatic: He drove a flamingo-pink Cadillac, and was an accomplished singer and dancer, who once pursued a career in the entertainment industry.^[67] According to ESPN.com's Ron Flatter: "He was the pioneer of boxing's bigger-than-life entourages, including a secretary, barber, masseur, voice coach, a coterie of trainers, beautiful women, a dwarf mascot and lifelong manager George Gainford."^[7] When Robinson first traveled to Paris, a steward referred to his companions as his "entourage". Although Robinson said he did not like the word's literal definition of "attendants", since he felt they were his friends, he liked the word itself and began to use it in regular conversation when referring to them.^[68] In 1962, when Robinson returned to Paris—where he was still a national hero—in order to persuade him to make the trip, the French promised to bring over his masseur, his hairdresser, a guy who whistled while he trained, and his trademark Cadillac.^[69] This larger than life persona made him the idol of millions of African American youths in the 1950s. Robinson inspired several other fighters who took the nickname "Sugar" in homage to him such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Shane Mosley, and MMA fighter "Sugar" Rashad Evans.^[70][71][72]

Professional boxing record[link]

173 Wins (108 knockouts), 19 Losses (1 knockout), 6 Draws, 2 No Contests[1]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	173-19-6	Joey Archer	UD	10	1965-11-10	Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	173-18-6	Rudolph Bent	KO	3 (10), 2:20	1965-10-20	Community Arena, Steubenville, Ohio
Win	172-18-6	Peter Schmidt	UD	10	1965-10-01	Cambria County War Memorial Arena, Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Win	171-18-6	Harvey McCullough	UD	10	1965-09-23	Philadelphia A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NC	170-18-6	Neil Morrison	NC	2 (10), 1:20	1965-09-15	The Arena, Norfolk, Virginia
Loss	170-18-6	Stan Harrington	UD	10	1965-08-10	Hawaii International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
Win	170-17-6	Harvey McCullough	UD	10	1965-07-27	Richmond Arena, Richmond, Virginia
Loss	169-17-6	Ferd Hernandez	SD	10	1965-07-12	Hacienda Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	169-16-6	Harvey McCullough	UD	10	1965-06-24	Washington Coliseum, Washington, District of Columbia
Loss	168-16-6	Stan Harrington	UD	10	1965-06-01	Hawaii International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
Loss	168-15-6	Memo Ayon	SD	10	1965-05-24	Memorial Auditorium, Tijuana, Baja California
Win	168-14-6	Rocky Randell	KO	3 (10)	1965-04-28	Norfolk Municipal Auditorium, Norfolk, Virginia
Win	167-14-6	Earl Bastings	KO	1 (10), 2:34	1965-04-03	Sports Center, Savannah, Georgia
Win	166-14-6	Jimmy Beecham	KO	2 (10), 1:48	1965-03-06	National Stadium, Kingston
Draw	165-14-6	Fabio Bettini	PTS	10	1964-11-27	Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome, Lazio
Win	165-14-5	Jean Beltritti	PTS	10	1964-11-14	Palais des Sports, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône
Win	164-14-5	Jean Baptiste Rolland	PTS	10	1964-11-07	Helitas Stadium, Caen, Calvados
Win	163-14-5	Jackie Cailleau	PTS	10	1964-10-24	Palais des Sports, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes
Win	162-14-5	Johnny Angel	TKO	6 (8)	1964-10-12	Hilton Hotel (Anglo American SC), Mayfair, London
Win	161-14-5	Yoland Leveque	PTS	10	1964-09-28	Palais des Sports, Paris, Île-de-France
Loss	160-14-5	Mick Leahy	PTS	10	1964-09-03	Paisley Ice Rink, Glasgow
Draw	160-13-5	Art Hernandez	PTS	10	1964-07-27	Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska
Win	160-13-4	Clarence Riley	TKO	6 (10)	1964-07-08	Wahconah Park, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Win	159-13-4	Gaylord Barnes	UD	10	1964-05-19	Portland Exposition Building, Portland, Maine
Win	158-13-4	Armand Vanucci	PTS	10	1963-12-09	Palais des Sports, Paris, Île-de-France
Win	157-13-4	Andre Davier	PTS	10	1963-11-29	Palais des Sports, Grenoble, Isère
Win	156-13-4	Emiel Sarens	KO	8 (10)	1963-11-16	Palais des Sports, Brussels, Bruxelles-Capitale
Draw	155-13-4	Fabio Bettini	PTS	10	1963-11-09	Palais des Sports, Lyon, Rhône
Win	155-13-3	Armand Vanucci	PTS	10	1963-10-14	Palais des Sports, Paris, Île-de-France
Loss	154-13-3	Joey Giardello	UD	10	1963-06-24	Philadelphia Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	154-12-3	Maurice Rolbnet	KO	3 (10)	1963-05-05	Palais des Sports, Sherbrooke, Quebec
Win	153-12-3	Billy Thornton	KO	3 (10)	1963-03-11	Lewiston Armory, Lewiston, Maine
Win	152-12-3	Bernie Reynolds	KO	4 (10)	1963-02-25	Estadio Quisqueya, Santo Domingo
Win	151-12-3	Ralph Dupas	SD	10	1963-01-30	Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida
Win	150-12-3	Georges Estatoff	TKO	6 (10)	1962-11-10	Palais des Sports, Lyon, Rhône
Win	149-12-3	Diego Infantes	TKO	2 (10), 1:15	1962-10-17	Stadthalle, Vienna
Loss	148-12-3	Terry Downes	PTS	10	1962-09-25	Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Loss	148-11-3	Phil Moyer	SD	10	1962-07-09	Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California
Win	148-10-3	Bobby Lee	KO	2 (10), 2:38	1962-04-27	National Stadium, Port-of-Spain
Loss	147-10-3	Denny Moyer	UD	10	1962-02-17	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	147-9-3	Wilf Greaves	KO	8 (10), 0:43	1961-12-08	Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	146-9-3	Al Hauser	TKO	6 (10), 1:59	1961-11-20	Providence Auditorium, Providence, Rhode Island
Win	145-9-3	Denny Moyer	UD	10	1961-10-21	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	144-9-3	Wilf Greaves	SD	10	1961-09-25	Convention Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Loss	143-9-3	Gene Fullmer	UD	15	1961-03-04	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Draw	143-8-3	Gene Fullmer	PTS	15	1960-12-03	Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California
Loss	143-8-2	Paul Pender	SD	15	1960-06-10	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts	For World Middleweight title.
Win	143-7-2	Tony Baldoni	KO	1 (10), 1:40	1960-04-02	Baltimore Coliseum, Baltimore, Maryland
Loss	142-7-2	Paul Pender	SD	15	1960-01-22	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts	Lost World Middleweight title.
Win	142-6-2	Bob Young	KO	2 (10), 1:18	1959-12-14	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	141-6-2	Carmen Basilio	SD	15	1958-03-25	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois	Won World Middleweight title. The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" (1958)
Loss	140-6-2	Carmen Basilio	SD	15	1957-09-23	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York	Lost World Middleweight title. The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" (1957)
Win	140-5-2	Gene Fullmer	KO	5 (15), 1:27	1957-05-01	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois	Won World Middleweight title.
Loss	139-5-2	Gene Fullmer	UD	15	1957-01-02	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Lost World Middleweight title.
Win	139-4-2	Bob Provizzi	UD	10	1956-11-10	New Haven Arena, New Haven, Connecticut
Win	138-4-2	Bobo Olson	KO	4 (15), 2:51	1956-05-18	Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, California	Retained World Middleweight title.
Win	137-4-2	Bobo Olson	KO	2 (15), 2:51	1955-12-09	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois	Won World Middleweight title.
Win	136-4-2	Rocky Castellani	SD	10	1955-07-22	Cow Palace, San Francisco, California
Win	135-4-2	Garth Panter	UD	10	1955-05-04	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	134-4-2	Ted Olla	TKO	3 (10), 2:15	1955-04-14	Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Win	133-4-2	Johnny Lombardo	SD	10	1955-03-29	Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio
Loss	132-4-2	Ralph Jones	UD	10	1955-01-19	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Win	132-3-2	Joe Rindone	KO	6 (10), 1:37	1955-01-05	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Loss	131-3-2	Joey Maxim	TKO	14 (15)	1952-06-25	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York	For World Light Heavyweight title.
Win	131-2-2	Rocky Graziano	KO	3 (15), 1:53	1952-04-16	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois	Retained World Middleweight title.
Win	130-2-2	Bobo Olson	UD	15	1952-03-13	San Francisco Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California	Retained World Middleweight title.
Win	129-2-2	Randy Turpin	TKO	10 (15)	1951-09-12	Polo Grounds, New York, New York	Won World Middleweight title.
Loss	128-2-2	Randy Turpin	PTS	15	1951-07-10	Earls Court Arena, Kensington, London	Lost World Middleweight title.
Win	128-1-2	Cyrille Delannoit	RTD	3 (10)	1951-07-01	Palazzetto dello Sport, Torino, Piemonte
NC	127-1-2	Gerhard Hecht	NC	2 (10)	1951-06-24	Waldbühne, Westend, Berlin
Win	127-1-2	Jean Walzack	TKO	6 (10)	1951-06-16	Palais des Sports, Liège, Liège
Win	126-1-2	Jan de Bruin	TKO	8 (10)	1951-06-10	Sportpaleis, Antwerpen, Antwerpen
Win	125-1-2	Jean Wanes	UD	10	1951-05-26	Sports Center, Zurich
Win	124-1-2	Kid Marcel	TKO	5 (10)	1951-05-21	Palais des Sports, Paris, Île-de-France
Win	123-1-2	Don Ellis	KO	1 (10), 1:36	1951-04-09	Municipal Auditorium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Win	122-1-2	Holly Mims	UD	10	1951-04-05	Miami Stadium, Miami, Florida
Win	121-1-2	Jake LaMotta	TKO	13 (15), 2:04	1951-02-14	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois	Won World Middleweight title.
Win	120-1-2	Hans Stretz	TKO	5 (10)	1950-12-25	Haus der Technik, Frankfurt, Hessen
Win	119-1-2	Robert Villemain	TKO	9 (10)	1950-12-22	Palais des Sports, Paris, Île-de-France
Win	118-1-2	Jean Walzack	UD	10)	1950-12-16	Pavillion Des Sports, Geneva
Win	117-1-2	Luc van Dam	KO	4 (10)	1950-12-09	Palais des Sports, Brussels, Bruxelles-Capitale
Win	116-1-2	Jean Stock	TKO	2 (10)	1950-11-27	Palais des Sports, Paris, Île-de-France
Win	115-1-2	Bobby Dykes	MD	10	1950-11-08	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Win	114-1-2	Bobo Olson	KO	12 (15), 1:19	1950-10-26	Philadelphia Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	113-1-2	Joe Rindone	TKO	6 (10), 0:55	1950-10-16	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	112-1-2	Billy Brown	UD	10	1950-09-04	Coney Island Velodrome, Brooklyn, New York
Win	111-1-2	José Basora	KO	1 (15), 0:55	1950-08-25	Scranton Stadium, Scranton, Pennsylvania
Win	110-1-2	Charley Fusari	PTS	15	1950-08-09	Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, New Jersey	Retained World Welterweight title.
Win	109-1-2	Robert Villemain	UD	15	1950-06-05	Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	108-1-2	Ray Barnes	UD	10	1950-04-28	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	107-1-2	Cliff Beckett	TKO	3 (10), 1:45	1950-04-21	Memorial Hall, Columbus, Ohio
Win	106-1-2	George Costner	KO	1 (10), 2:49	1950-03-22	Philadelphia Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	105-1-2	Jean Walzack	UD	10	1950-02-27	Saint Louis Arena, Saint Louis, Missouri
Win	104-1-2	Aaron Wade	KO	3 (10)	1950-02-22	Municipal Auditorium, Savannah, Georgia
Win	103-1-2	Al Mobley	TKO	6 (10)	1950-02-13	Coliseum Arena, Miami, Florida
Win	102-1-2	George LaRover	TKO	4 (10)	1950-01-30	New Haven Arena, New Haven, Connecticut
Win	101-1-2	Vern Lester	KO	5 (10), 0:12	1949-11-13	Coliseum Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
Win	100-1-2	Don Lee	UD	10	1949-11-09	Denver Auditorium Arena, Denver, Colorado
Win	99-1-2	Charley Dodson	KO	3 (10), 0:20	1949-09-12	City Auditorium, Houston, Texas
Win	98-1-2	Benny Evans	KO	5 (10), 2:56	1949-09-09	Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska
Win	97-1-2	Steve Belloise	TKO	7 (10)	1949-08-24	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Win	96-1-2	Kid Gavilan	UD	15	1949-07-11	Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Retained World Welterweight title.
Win	95-1-2	Cecil Hudson	KO	5 (10)	1949-06-20	Rhode Island Auditorium, Providence, Rhode Island
Win	94-1-2	Freddie Flores	TKO	3 (10), 2:41	1949-06-07	Page Arena, New Bedford, Massachusetts
Win	93-1-2	Earl Turner	TKO	8 (10), 1:51	1949-04-20	Oakland Auditorium, Oakland, California
Win	92-1-2	Don Lee	UD	10	1949-04-11	Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska
Win	91-1-2	Bobby Lee	UD	10	1949-03-25	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Draw	90-1-2	Henry Brimm	PTS	10	1949-02-15	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York
Win	90-1-1	Young Gene Buffalo	KO	1 (10)	1949-02-10	West Side Armory, Kingston, Pennsylvania
Win	89-1-1	Bobby Lee	UD	10	1948-11-15	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	88-1-1	Kid Gavilan	UD	10	1948-09-23	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Win	87-1-1	Bernard Docusen	UD	15	1948-06-28	Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois	Retained World Welterweight title.
Win	86-1-1	Henry Brimm	UD	10	1948-03-16	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York
Win	85-1-1	Ossie Harris	UD	10	1948-03-04	Toledo Sports Arena, Toledo, Ohio
Win	84-1-1	Chuck Taylor	TKO	6 (15), 2:07	1947-12-19	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan	Retained World Welterweight title.
Win	83-1-1	Billy Nixon	TKO	6 (10), 2:10	1947-12-10	Elizabeth Armory, Elizabeth, New Jersey
Win	82-1-1	California Jackie Wilson	TKO	7 (10), 1:35	1947-10-28	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	81-1-1	Flashy Sebastian	KO	1 (10), 1:02	1947-08-29	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	80-1-1	Sammy Secreet	KO	1 (10), 1:02	1947-08-21	Rubber Bowl, Akron, Ohio
Win	79-1-1	Jimmy Doyle	TKO	8 (15), 1:02	1947-06-24	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio	Retained World Welterweight title.
Win	78-1-1	Georgie Abrams	SD	10	1947-05-16	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	77-1-1	Eddie Finazzo	TKO	4 (10), 2:30	1947-04-08	Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas
Win	76-1-1	Freddie Wilson	KO	3 (10)	1947-04-03	Akron Armory, Akron, Ohio
Win	75-1-1	Bernie Miller	TKO	3 (10), 1:32	1947-03-27	Dorsey Park, Miami, Florida
Win	74-1-1	Tommy Bell	UD	15	1946-12-20	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Won World Welterweight title.
Win	73-1-1	Artie Levine	KO	10 (10), 2:41	1946-11-06	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Win	72-1-1	Cecil Hudson	KO	6 (10), 2:58	1946-11-01	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	71-1-1	Ossie Harris	PTS	10	1946-10-07	Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	70-1-1	Sidney Miller	KO	3 (10), 1:52	1946-09-25	Twin City Bowl, Elizabeth, New Jersey
Win	69-1-1	Vinnie Vines	KO	6 (10), 2:46	1946-08-15	Hawkins Stadium, Albany, New York
Win	68-1-1	Joe Curcio	KO	2 (10), 0:10	1946-07-12	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	67-1-1	Norman Rubio	PTS	10	1946-06-25	Roosevelt Stadium, Union City, New Jersey
Win	66-1-1	Freddie Wilson	KO	2 (10), 2:00	1946-06-12	Worcester Auditorium, Worcester, Massachusetts
Win	65-1-1	Freddie Flores	KO	5 (10), 2:52	1946-03-21	Golden Gate Arena, New York, New York
Win	64-1-1	Izzy Jannazzo	UD	10	1946-03-14	Fifth Regiment Armory, Baltimore, Maryland
Win	63-1-1	Sammy Angott	UD	10	1946-03-04	Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	62-1-1	Cliff Beckett	KO	4 (10)	1946-02-27	Saint Louis Arena, Saint Louis, Missouri
Win	61-1-1	O'Neill Bell	KO	2 (10), 1:01	1946-02-15	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	60-1-1	Tony Riccio	TKO	4 (10), 2:16	1946-02-05	Elizabeth Armory, Elizabeth, New Jersey
Win	59-1-1	Dave Clark	TKO	2 (10), 2:22	1946-01-14	Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	58-1-1	Vic Dellicurti	UD	10	1945-12-04	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	57-1-1	Jake LaMotta	SD	12	1945-09-26	Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois
Win	56-1-1	Jimmy Mandell	TKO	5 (10), 1:31	1945-09-18	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York
Win	55-1-1	Jimmy McDaniels	TKO	2 (10), 1:23	1945-06-15	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Draw	54-1-1	José Basora	PTS	10	1945-05-14	Philadelphia Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	54-1	Jake LaMotta	UD	10	1945-02-23	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	53-1	George Costner	KO	1 (10), 2:55	1945-02-14	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Win	52-1	Tommy Bell	UD	10	1945-01-16	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Win	51-1	Billy Furrone	TKO	2 (10), 2:28	1945-01-10	Uline Arena, Washington, District of Columbia
Win	50-1	George Martin	TKO	8 (10)	1944-12-22	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	49-1	Sheik Rangel	TKO	2 (10), 2:50	1944-12-12	Philadelphia Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	48-1	Vic Dellicurti	UD	10	1944-11-24	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	47-1	Lou Woods	TKO	9 (10)	1944-10-27	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Win	46-1	Izzy Jannazzo	TKO	2 (10), 1:10	1944-10-13	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	45-1	Henry Armstrong	UD	10	1943-08-27	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	44-1	Ralph Zannelli	UD	10	1943-07-01	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	43-1	Freddie Cabral	KO	1 (10), 2:20	1943-04-30	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	42-1	Jake LaMotta	UD	10	1943-02-26	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	41-1	California Jackie Wilson	MD	10	1943-02-19	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Loss	40-1	Jake LaMotta	UD	10	1943-02-05	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	40-0	Al Nettlow	TKO	3 (10)	1942-12-14	Philadelphia Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	39-0	Izzy Jannazzo	TKO	8 (10), 2:43	1942-12-01	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Win	38-0	Vic Dellicurti	UD	10	1942-11-06	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	37-0	Izzy Jannazzo	UD	10	1942-10-19	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	36-0	Jake LaMotta	UD	10	1942-10-02	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	35-0	Tony Motisi	KO	1 (10), 2:41	1942-08-27	Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois
Win	34-0	Reuben Shank	KO	2 (10), 2:26	1942-08-21	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	33-0	Sammy Angott	UD	10	1942-07-31	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	32-0	Marty Servo	SD	10	1942-05-28	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	31-0	Dick Banner	KO	2 (10)	1942-04-30	Minneapolis Armory, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Win	30-0	Harvey Dubs	TKO	6 (10)	1942-04-17	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	29-0	Norman Rubio	TKO	8 (12)	1942-03-20	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	28-0	Maxie Berger	TKO	2 (12), 1:43	1942-02-20	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	27-0	Fritzie Zivic	TKO	10 (12), 0:31	1942-01-16	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	26-0	Fritzie Zivic	UD	10	1941-10-31	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	25-0	Marty Servo	UD	10	1941-09-25	Philadelphia Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	24-0	Maxie Shapiro	TKO	3 (10), 2:04	1941-09-19	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	23-0	Maurice Arnault	TKO	1 (8), 1:29	1941-08-29	Atlantic City Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win	22-0	Carl Guggino	TKO	3 (8), 2:47	1941-08-27	Queensboro Arena, Queens, New York
Win	21-0	Sammy Angott	UD	10	1941-07-21	Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Angott's World Lightweight title not on the line.
Win	20-0	Pete Lello	TKO	4 (8), 1:48	1941-07-02	Polo Grounds, New York, New York
Win	19-0	Mike Evans	KO	2 (8), 0:52	1941-06-16	Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	18-0	Nick Castiglione	KO	1 (10), 1:21	1941-05-19	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	17-0	Victor Troise	TKO	1 (8), 2:39	1941-05-10	Ridgewood Grove, Brooklyn, New York
Win	16-0	Joe Ghnouly	TKO	3 (8), 2:07	1941-04-30	Uline Arena, Washington, District of Columbia
Win	15-0	Charley Burns	KO	1 (10)	1941-04-24	Waltz Dream Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win	14-0	Jimmy Tygh	TKO	1 (10), 1:51	1941-04-14	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	13-0	Jimmy Tygh	KO	8 (10), 1:13	1941-03-03	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	12-0	Gene Spencer	TKO	5 (6)	1941-02-27	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	11-0	Bobby McIntire	UD	6	1941-02-21	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	10-0	Benny Cartagena	KO	1 (6), 1:33	1941-02-08	Ridgewood Grove, Brooklyn, New York
Win	9-0	George Zengaras	PTS	6	1941-01-31	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	8-0	Frankie Wallace	TKO	1 (6), 2:10	1941-01-13	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	7-0	Harry LaBarba	KO	1 (6), 0:40	1941-01-04	Ridgewood Grove, Brooklyn, New York
Win	6-0	Oliver White	TKO	3 (4)	1940-12-13	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	5-0	Norment Quarles	TKO	4 (8), 0:56	1940-12-09	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	4-0	Bobby Woods	KO	1 (6), 1:31	1940-11-11	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	3-0	Mitsos Grispos	UD	6	1940-10-22	New York Coliseum, Bronx, New York
Win	2-0	Silent Stafford	TKO	2 (4)	1940-10-08	Municipal Auditorium, Savannah, Georgia
Win	1-0	Joe Echevarria	TKO	2 (4), 0:51	1940-10-04	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Professional Debut