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Pound for Pound: A Biography of Sugar Ray Robinson
 
 
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Pound for Pound: A Biography of Sugar Ray Robinson (Paperback)

~ (Author), Ray Robinson (Author) "When literary agents Jim Fitzgerald and Ed Summer and editor Manie Barron took me to lunch to talk about my writing a biography of Sugar..." (more)
Key Phrases: Edna Mae, Sugar Ray, Joe Louis (more...)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Pound for Pound: A Biography of Sugar Ray Robinson + Sugar Ray + Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson (Borzoi Books)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In hands as skilled at the keyboard as Sugar Ray Robinson's were in the ring, this athlete would've been a great biography subject. His charisma and winning technique made him the prince of Harlem in the WWII era (though he's primarily known to modern audiences as Jake LaMotta's opponent in Raging Bull). His friendship with Joe Louis helped eradicate color barriers. His fighting skills may have been equaled since then, but they've never been surpassed—he was so powerful he killed a man in the ring. And his excesses of libido, temper, spousal abuse and bling-bling were, Boyd points out, tragic precursors of the behavior of many modern black athletes. Regrettably, the book is minimally competent and, at worst, painful. The journalist rarely devotes more than a few sentences to any of Robinson's matches, some of which, like the LaMotta battles, are the most talked about in boxing history. Instead, readers get puns ("The nation may have been experiencing a rationing of sugar, but the other Sugar was on a rampage") and ostentatious metaphors ("There were many fights when Sugar was a virtuoso pianist with gloves on, a soloist in a pugilist recital, delivering a rapid arpeggio of stiff left jabs"). Robinson is a worthy subject awaiting a more worthy treatment.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From Booklist

In the nebulous category of history's best "pound for pound" boxer, there's no stronger candidate than Sugar Ray Robinson. Lamotta, Graziano, Fullmer--Robinson pummeled them all, but his career has been neglected in print. In this first serious biography of the original Sugar, Boyd (with Robinson's son, Ray II) charts Robinson's ascension to world champion and Harlem business tycoon. But, like so many boxers, Robinson couldn't stay on top: as he aged, his solid marriage to Ray II's mother fell apart, his businesses failed, and his legendary ring speed abandoned him. Boyd nicely ties Robinson's story to the larger history of Harlem: when Robinson was at his peak in the 1940s, so, too, was Harlem, and they both slid precipitously into poverty and despair. But Boyd never delves very deeply into Robinson or his times. Rather than describing fights, for instance, Boyd too often merely writes who won. Fans will wish for more about Sugar Ray's elegance and speed in the ring (which, Boyd points out, Ali would one day emulate), but this is a serviceable introduction to a great fighter. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (January 3, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060934387
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060934385
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #461,295 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

More About the Author

Herb Boyd
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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
When literary agents Jim Fitzgerald and Ed Summer and editor Manie Barron took me to lunch to talk about my writing a biography of Sugar Ray Robinson four years ago, I was very excited, though a bit apprehensive. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Edna Mae, Sugar Ray, Joe Louis, New York City, Golden Gloves, Los Angeles, Seventh Avenue, Black Bottom, Carmen Basilio, Greenwood Lake, Brown Bomber, Randy Turpin, Madison Square Garden, Gene Fullmer, Amsterdam News, Jackie Robinson, Kid Gavilan, Mike Jacobs, Bobo Olson, Frank Sinatra, Langley Waller, Las Vegas, African Americans, Clint Edwards, Harry Wiley
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Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
Sugar Ray by Sugar Ray Robinson
Boxing by Friedrich Unterharnscheidt
 

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
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 (5)
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Tells the story but lacks the poetry, February 3, 2005
By Ian Muldoon (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
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I'll say it up front that Herb Boyd is a good writer but not a great one and that Walker Smith (aka Sugar Ray Robinson) awaits a writer of the stature of Ralph Ellison or Richard Wright or Langston Hughes or Norman Mailer to put the poetry into the story that is this one. On the other hand, this is the first bio I've read of the man I've admired for the past fifty years. Now that I've discovered he had faults - for a professional boxer to lay a finger on a woman is despicable but Miles Davis did it and, hey, is it forgiveable because he was no pro? - it is like finding out your mother used to spit. Nevertheless, I can't help but see him, faults and all, as one of the all time American greats up there with Miles Davis, Bojangles Robinson, Paul Robeson, Martin Luther King. He was so beautiful, so graceful, so strong such an artist of the boxing craft one feels happy to have lived in the same time as he. He never lost an amateur fight and out 175 professional bouts was beaten 19 times. He had a punch so hard that it knocked Rocky Graziano's mouthpiece into the crowd (p.137) He was so beautiful, no actor alive will be able to play his part. Did his grace come from his feeling for music (drumming) and dancing (he did take some lessons but was naturally good at it)? He was incredibly generous in supporting charities especially those associated with cancer. He was cool enough to own a Pink (PINK I TELL YOU) Pink Cadillac and all of this against a backdrop, and this cannot be ignored, of economic and social racism of the most vicious kind. The joy of the man comes through as does the power and character and beauty of his long time partner Edna May Robinson and the resilience and strength of his mother. Buy the book. In hardcover. And treasure it.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book but a step off, February 6, 2005
the Book&story was on Point,but the Writer came up a bit short. Sugar Ray Robinson is One of the Greatest fighters ever. you can Name anyone in any Weight class&His Name deserves to be mentioned alongside anyone. alot of Good details&whatnot in the Book but the Writer is missing a beat here that keeps this Book from being Great. still worth reading.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Good biography but lightweight for boxing fans, February 17, 2007
By Siriam (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
Sugar Ray is one of those boxers who when you read a book like this realise how the term "great" should be subject to stricter rationing. A man who fought over 200 professional fights with 175 victories (including 109 KOs) over 15 years leaves many of the current breed of "champions" looking anything but.

This biography written by African historian Herb Boyd helped by Sugar Ray's son Ray, is a well written warts and all biography of how Sugar Ray progressed from the inevitable poor beginnings of black amateur boxing in
the 1930s to being a world class boxer who excelled at both Welterweight and Middleweight World titles. The coverage falls into two strands being his boxing career and including how Sugar avoided the traps of being a
stooge for crime bosses; his epic struggle with Jake La Motta who he fought six times (after losing on February 5th 1943 rematching and beating 21 days later, both fights being over 10 rounds!); his hard personal negotiating against promoters and managers for his fair share of the fight purse including then unheard of early TV fight rights and his touring of Europe where he became a major star in France.

The second strand is the personal life story of a man who helped fuel the Harlem renaissance by investing his winnings in business ventures in that area to developing a higher level of black self pride with his renowned pink cadillac and family life image (Muhammad Ali being an early fan), all undermined by a lack of the personal discipline he displayed in the ring when it came to personal affairs and business finances, which led to endless battles with the IRS and his descent into penury amidst debilitating illnesses.

What is sadly missing for any fight fan (and the reason for my 3 star rating) is any true understanding of the reasons why so many people still see him as the best "pound for pound" fighter of all time - his fighting skills (rather than his fights record); his training regime and a better coverage of the boxing environment at that time given its vast difference with todays scene. That book still awaits to be written it seems.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, Superficial
Start with 5 stars

Take off 1 star for a self-serving and completely erroneous foreward by Percy Sutton who takes credit for saving the Apollo Thetaer in Harlem... Read more
Published on June 29, 2007 by Howard Wexler

4.0 out of 5 stars Book tailed off
This was a good book on a great champion. We get to see Robinson grow up and become the master boxer and hear about his life over the years. Read more
Published on March 10, 2007 by Peter

4.0 out of 5 stars over-matched with Mrs.
very well written. disappointed to learn he punched his wife from time to time
Published on November 10, 2006 by Stephen Charney

5.0 out of 5 stars Pound For Pound-a biography of Sugar Ray Robinson
I bought this book for a friend's birthday.He enjoyed it a lot.Ounce by ounce,it was worth buying and reading.Thank you for your excellent service.
Published on November 4, 2006 by GORDON RULES

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty decent read
I won't lie, some of the luster I once had for Sugar was somewhat removed after reading this book.

I have to get used to the fact that most heros have flaws not... Read more
Published on July 6, 2006 by Bigchee

5.0 out of 5 stars Gave me insight into both Robinson and Harlem!
Heard the cassette version of POUND FOR POUND by Herb
Boyd with Ray Robinson II, the biography of Sugar Ray Robinson--billed
by many as the best "pound for pound"... Read more
Published on March 21, 2006 by Blaine Greenfield

3.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet Sugar a contender, but not a champion
While I would not say that Herb Boyd's biography of Ray Robinson is disappointing, it is not the definitive book on the life of the greatest boxer ever to live. Read more
Published on December 28, 2005 by Aaron Bayley

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