Sugar Ray Robinson - a deadly nightmare turned into a terrible reality

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Considered one of the greatest boxers in history, Sugar Ray Robinson has memorable victories in the ring, is loved by millions and is the image many of the next boxers try to emulate. However, there are many dark moments in his illustrious career, and one of the most scandalous cases ends fatally for his rival.

Sugar Ray has had a brilliant career, and in his first 128 fights he recorded only one defeat and inflicted a total of 84 knockouts. However, one of them turns out to be fatal. The strangest thing about this story, however, is that the legend of the ring expected this to happen after he dreamed about how he would kill an opponent during a duel.

In June 1947, Robinson was scheduled to fight Jimmy Doyle, a 22-year-old west coast talent. In his autobiography, Sugar Ray tells a chilling story about how he saw in a dream how he was going to kill his rival after a heavy blow. "In my dream, I saw myself hitting him several times and he fell on his back. His eyes are fixed on me and I'm looking at him too. The ref is already counting to 10, but he doesn't move a muscle as the crowd screams that he's dead. I didn't know what to do and started screaming for him to come to his senses and stand up. Maybe those screams made me wake up drenched in sweat,” Sugar Ray wrote in the book.

The dream seemed prophetic to Robinson, who initially wanted to walk away from the fight. Moreover, he was categorical in his intention. The promoters of the fight, who would lose money by canceling the fight, immediately stepped in and tried to calm him down. It gets to the point that a priest is secured for Robinson, who also convinces him that it is just a dream and has no connection with reality. Eventually, Sugar Ray decided to face Doyle in the ring.

Of course, Robinson is by far the better boxer, and in the 9th round he ends the fight with a very heavy hook that goes straight to the head of Doyle, who falls to the ring. The referee starts a count, but it is unnecessary - Doyle is not himself and the match is stopped, and medics come to the ring. Immediately after the fight on June 24, the 22-year-old boxer was taken to the hospital, where he died hours later (on June 25). The cause of death was declared as severe blows to the head. Robinson is devastated, then learns that the only reason Doyle is boxing is because he wants to buy his mother a house. In the next 4 fights, he collected his fees and donated them to the Doyle family. In the aftermath, Robinson himself was tried for murder, but was found not guilty.

The other shocking part of the tragic death is the fact that due to health problems, Doyle's boxing license was revoked by the California commission. In Cleveland, however, he received permission and entered the ring, although he was far from in good physical condition, and this was considered the main reason for the fatal end.

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