Customer Reviews

Pound for Pound: A Biography of Sugar Ray Robinson

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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. That book has yet to be written. While Boyd effectively put to use the memoirs of Edna Mae Robinson he was privy to, he creates only a skeletal outline of America's sociopolitical climate, Ray's childhood, the specifics of his boxing instruction, and the psychology behind his ambition and drive to greatness.

Instead of focusing on Robinson's ring exploits, the tone is one of complacency and preoccupation with outside events; Boyd's attempt to show Robinson's abusive and stubborn personality, while honourable, takes away from what should have been a focus on Ray's climactic rise to pound-for-pound glory. The story of Ray Robinson needs to be told with unbridled urgency, and although this book falls short of doing that, it is still a great read.

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.

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. Fact is he ran the Apollo into the ground and if it were not for the NY Daily News exposing Sutton, there would be no Apollo theater. You can look it up.

Take off another 1-1/2 stars for a very odd comment in the epilogue. Boyd talks all through the book that Robinson was violent towards family members, especially his wife Edna. But in the epiologue, Boyd says "there are the reports of his abuse of the women in his life." Huh?? Did Robinson beat Edna or are these just "reports".

Take off another star as the feeling you get at the end that this is a very superficial book. You have no idea of what makes him and Edna tick.

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.

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" boxer of all time.

Robinson was a world welterweight and five-time middleweight champion
whose career spanned three decades . . . before he finally retired
in 1965 at the age of 44, he once won 125 consecutive fights including
victories over Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan, Carmen Basilio, Jake
LaMotta, Rocky Graziano, Gene Fullmer, and Randy Turpin.

Yet POUND FOR POUND is a lot more than just about boxing; in
fact, if there's a weakness to it, it was that I would have wanted
more details on some of Robinson's fights--especially those with
LaMotta . . . but if that had been the case, then methinks the book
would have been a lot longer than it was.

What I really liked about the book was that it gave me a feel for
Harlem in the 1940s, at a time when both the city and Robinson
were at its prime . . . I also felt that I got to know about Robinson,
the man--his life outside the ring . . . both the good and the bad.

Furthermore, I enjoyed getting to learn about the role that the various
women in his life played, as well as about his dealings with
promoters who tried to control his destiny.

The excellent narration by Peter Jay Fernandez added to my enjoyment
of POUND FOR POUND.

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. The decline in boxing skills is discussed as is the infidelities, the spousal abuse and the financial failings.

I would have liked to have had more information on the life post-retirement and have had more photos.

All in all, I enjoyed the book.

very well written. disappointed to learn he punched his wife from time to time

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 exposed to the public.

Sugar did have many flaws within his character and isn't too far removed from most of us who are neither perfect or bad.

The book did allow us to see both sides of Sugar which is about as good a compliment as I can give his biography.

He's still the greatest pound for pound boxer ever to lace up the gloves, and his audacity and confidence I sometimes find in myself. But he also had a dark side to him and only affirms that all men are far from complete.