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

by Herb Boyd (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...)

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.

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

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Amistad (January 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060188766
• ISBN-13: 978-0060188764
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,174,176 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

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 (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book but a step off, February 6, 2005

By	[e-mail] "mistermaxxx" (usa) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

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.

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

This review is from: Pound for Pound: A Biography of Sugar Ray Robinson (Paperback)

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.