Why did Sugar Ramos go downhill so quickly?

[My2Sense]

This is something that has always puzzled me. Ramos looked like a helluva fighter for about a 2-year stretch or so. He was very big-looking and strong for the weight (probably the "biggest" featherweight I've ever seen), he was a good technician, and he had a tremendous right hand. He knocked over a bunch of contenders, then (tragically, of course) toppled a very good and probably underrated champion in Davey Moore. After that he defended his title a couple of times against legit contenders. Then, he traveled to Africa for a fight with local contender Floyd Robertson, pretty much unknown outside his homeland, and that turned out to be a big turning point in his career. Ramos took a lot of punishment in the late rounds and was floored, but managed to retain his title on a controversial split decision. (The two officials who voted for Ramos were WBA executives. Hmmmmm... ). That fight caused an international incident, as the African commission "changed" the result to a win for Robertson and tried (unsuccessfully) to convince the rest of the world to go along with it. I've never seen footage of that fight so I don't really know what happened, but it seems Ramos was never the same afterward. In his next defense, he was busted up and stopped by Vicente Saldivar, which began Saldivar's championship run. Although Ramos floated around as a contender for some time afterward, and even got two shots at Carlos Ortiz's lightweight title, he never regained anything like the form or standing he had once had. Meanwhile, Robertson got another shot against Saldivar, and was crushed in just two rounds - which would seem to indicate he really wasn't all that spectacular of a fighter.

Does anyone know what caused such a sharp reversal in Ramos' career? What happened in the Robertson fight that caused him so much trouble?

Also, does anyone know if any footage exists of the fight with Robertson?

[Goodnight, Irene]

I was delving into this interesting subject about a year ago, but can only speculate. I didn't find any footage of the very fight you're searching for, unfortunately.

I have my own take on this, but time does not permit. I'll earmark this thread for later, though. Interested to see how others can colour it.

[Counter-puncher]

the west coast boxing thread has the answer in there somewhere, I think, I think there may have been drugs involved..... :??

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

This is something that has always puzzled me. Ramos looked like a helluva fighter for about a 2-year stretch or so. He was very big-looking and strong for the weight (probably the "biggest" featherweight I've ever seen), he was a good technician, and he had a tremendous right hand. He knocked over a bunch of contenders, then (tragically, of course) toppled a very good and probably underrated champion in Davey Moore. After that he defended his title a couple of times against legit contenders. Then, he traveled to Africa for a fight with local contender Floyd Robertson, pretty much unknown outside his homeland, and that turned out to be a big turning point in his career. Ramos took a lot of punishment in the late rounds and was floored, but managed to retain his title on a controversial split decision. (The two officials who voted for Ramos were WBA executives. Hmmmmm... ). That fight caused an international incident, as the African commission "changed" the result to a win for Robertson and tried (unsuccessfully) to convince the rest of the world to go along with it. I've never seen footage of that fight so I don't really know what happened, but it seems Ramos was never the same afterward. In his next defense, he was busted up and stopped by Vicente Saldivar, which began Saldivar's championship run. Although Ramos floated around as a contender for some time afterward, and even got two shots at Carlos Ortiz's lightweight title, he never regained anything like the form or standing he had once had. Meanwhile, Robertson got another shot against Saldivar, and was crushed in just two rounds - which would seem to indicate he really wasn't all that spectacular of a fighter.

Does anyone know what caused such a sharp reversal in Ramos' career? What happened in the Robertson fight that caused him so much trouble?

Also, does anyone know if any footage exists of the fight with Robertson?

- Agree that Ramos was a beautiful boxer, but he'd already accumulated a substantial career by the time of the Moore tragedy. Imagine that took a toll along with finally meeting up with HOF quality Saldivar and Ortiz in tough fights the best fighters usually lose late in their careers.

Maybe with modern management he could've been brought back to milk his name for some abc baubles, but reality in his day is that he was finished at the top. The Robertson bout seems like he ran into a tough, awkward African making a dynamic hometown stand rather than Ramos having a precipitous decline in ability.

[enrique]

He killed two men in the ring -Tigre Blanco and Davey Moore- before he was twenty, which affected him emotionally.

When Ramos won the featherweight title he had to drain himself to make weight because by then he should have been fighting at lightweight or Jr. Lightweight. This was an important factor in all his title defenses.