Sugar Ray Robinson's prime

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 03 Aug 2006, 22:12

I would argue that he was past his physical prime when he beat LaMotta for the title in 1951.

i wouldny say this. robinson was 29 years old and he weighed 155lb for the lamotta fight. he looked fabulous in this fight

Robinson was so good a welterweight that the Robinson that fought Jake LaMotta weighing 150 pounds would probably beat nearly every middleweight that ever lived,

i though robinson weighed 142lb?

or the way a 154-pound Sam Langford beat a better group of heavyweights, arguably, than any man before Muhammad Ali!

i thought langford weighed 175-185lb in 1911-1913 his heavyweight prime??

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 03 Aug 2006, 22:20

Oh, and I'm not down with the idea that all fighters are in their prime at age 29. Most of them aren't.

age 29 is usually ur peak. think about it. at 29, ur still at ur physical prime and plus have better ring smarts and more experience. so ur mentally and physically at ur peak

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 03 Aug 2006, 22:21

anyway if u ask me when robinson true prime was, i would say at 147lb in the mid-late 1940s

HomicideHenry · Post by **HomicideHenry** » 03 Aug 2006, 22:45

Well, judging by Robinson's career, he was a far better fighter at Welterweight than he was at Middleweight, though he held the Middle. title a record five times---he almost won the LHW title easily from champion Joey Maxim, before collapsing on his stool from dehydration after 13 long rounds under 110 degree heat.

But that is a span going from 1942 (when he faced Fritzie Zivic, his first real tough opponent) to 1952, a span of 10yrs. But even after that span he made a few successful defenses of his Middleweight crown, before losing to Fullmer, to regain it back, to lose it to Basillio, to win it back from Basillio---to lose it to Paul Pender, and never was the same ever again.

But it was evident after Fullmer that something was not the same with Robinson, sure he could win back his title, but he lacked something. In my own personal opinion Robinson's best years were from 1942-1952; because he beat relatively everyone who were all in their prime years, guys like LaMotta, Zivic, Bell, Doyle, Gavilan, Olson, Graziano---then after the Maxim fight, he was gone for two years, only to lose to Ralph Tiger Jones, and made himself credible again by beating tough but limited Olson again for the title---only to lose it again with the Fullmer/Basillio matches.

Everything 1952 and beyond was not 'prime' Robinson.