Sugar Ray Robinson's Top Five Matches - Part 1

Sugar Ray Robinson's Top Five Matches - Part 1

The best knockout of all time - the rematch against Gene Fulmer

Sugar Ray Robinson is one of the most dominant boxers in the professional ring. Many consider the American the greatest of all time, and a number of legends, including Muhammad Ali, feel the same way. Unbeaten in his amateur career and with just 1 defeat in his first 73 professional fights, Robinson is decidedly uncontested in the welterweight division. With a total of 201 fights, the first boxer to be given the nickname "Sugar" has an extraordinary number of memorable and significant fights. In a series of articles, we will recall the best five of them.

There's no arguing that Ray Robinson's best fight was his second fight against Gene Fulmer, in which the Ely, Georgia boxer scored the best knockout of all time. It is under this name that the meeting between the two, played on May 1, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois, is known. Before the start of the meeting, the expectation is that Robinson may finally have a serious competitor to dethrone him and retain the title he won in the division. Younger by a full 10 years, far more energetic and durable, Fulmer should go 12 rounds according to the experts and will end Sugar's dominance in the middleweight and welterweight divisions for the last 10 years.

Five months earlier, the "Utah Cyclone", as Gene was nicknamed, really got going and won the fight by unanimous decision in a packed Madison Square Garden. That gives him the upper hand in a rematch against the 35-year-old challenger in a bid to retain his title. And in the first three rounds, those expectations for a better performance from Jean are there. He dominates his opponent and lands heavy blows, albeit only to Sugar's body.

In the fourth part, however, Ray Robinson wakes up and shows his usual sharpness as well as his accurate shots. The match began to develop in a completely different direction, and only the big muscles and strong neck help Fulmer not to start giving up after only three strong minutes for Sugar.

Then it's time for round number five. In it, the champion takes extremely heavy hits to the head. It looks as if after 40 fights without a knockout, Fulmer will go down after defeating Robinson five months ago, and in the beginning of this meeting he even dominated against the more experienced boxer. With a landing right straight, Rey opens up the opportunity to land a powerful left hook to Gene's chin and end the match. Cyclone's attempts to stand up using the ropes are unsuccessful. Even on the contrary. By the time the referee ends his count, Fulmer is face down.

The win gave Sugar Ray Robinson the middleweight title for a then-record fourth time. And in 64 bouts in the division, this is the only time Gene Fulmer has been defeated by knockout. Ray's match-winning left hook has long been regarded as the perfect punch in boxing, and to this day, this knockout is considered the greatest of all time in the history of the sport.

This fight has to go down as Sugar Ray Robinson's greatest, as he regains the title he lost five months ago to the same opponent, overcomes his apparent three-round deficit, and regains his usual lethal form and precision shots that make him arguably the greatest of all time.