70 Years Ago Today: Sugar Ray, World Champion!

[elmersalsa]

On December 20th, 1946 at New York's Madison Square Garden, the great phenomenal boxing superstar, Ray Robinson, the original Sugar Ray, 25, finally got a long-deserving title shot when squared up with top contender Tommy Bell for the vacant World Welterweight Championship.

Robinson at the time was considered the "Uncrowned Champion of the World" for a long time. He was shunned and ducked for at least 4 years by the top welterweight and middleweight contenders of the day. The flashy young man from Harlem, NY had a the time an unbelievable record of 75-1. His only loss was against a middleweight legend: Jake LaMotta. But, by the time of his title opportunity, Robinson had beaten LaMotta 4 times in 5 encounters.

Robinson was decked to the canvas in the second round. Sensing that it was probably his only opportunity to become champion, he flipped the script by decking bell to the canvas in later rounds, and won the fight by a comfortably unanimous decision margin. It was the beginning of an era.

Later, Sugar Ray defended the crown 5 times and relinquished it in 1951 when he challenged then champion LaMotta for the middleweight laurels.

Believe it or not, this happened 70 years ago, today!

[Kalan]

On December 20th, 1946 at New York's Madison Square Garden, the great phenomenal boxing superstar, Ray Robinson, the original Sugar Ray, 25, finally got a long-deserving title shot when squared up with top contender Tommy Bell for the vacant World Welterweight Championship.

Robinson at the time was considered the "Uncrowned Champion of the World" for a long time. He was shunned and ducked for at least 4 years by the top welterweight and middleweight contenders of the day. The flashy young man from Harlem, NY had a the time an unbelievable record of 75-1. His only loss was against a middleweight legend: Jake LaMotta. But, by the time of his title opportunity, Robinson had beaten LaMotta 4 times in 5 encounters.

Robinson was decked to the canvas in the second round. Sensing that it was probably his only opportunity to become champion, he flipped the script by decking bell to the canvas in later rounds, and won the fight by a comfortably unanimous decision margin. It was the beginning of an era.

Later, Sugar Ray defended the crown 5 times and relinquished it in 1951 when he challenged then champion LaMotta for the middleweight laurels.

Believe it or not, this happened 70 years ago, today!

Robinson fought a very beatable fighter for a vacant title... Bell did well... He had 10 losses and wasn't a very good boxer, but he decked Robinson with a hard left hook and made a fight out of it.. Bell finished his career with 29 losses including several KO losses.