Sugar Ray Robinson

Walker Smith Jr. was born in Ailey, Georgia, before moving to Detroit and then Harlem, New York City, during the Great Depression. Borrowing the AAU amateur identity card of a friend named Ray Robinson to enter an underage bout, a ringside observer later remarked to his trainer George Gainford that Robinson's style was 'sweet as sugar,' coining the immortal name 'Sugar Ray Robinson.'

Robinson possessed the absolute archetype of boxing perfection: lightning speed, lethal knockout power in either hand, dancing footwork, and immaculate defensive counter-punching. In the welterweight division from 1943 to 1951, Robinson compiled an astonishing 91-fight unbeaten streak. He reigned undefeated as world welterweight champion from 1946 to 1951 before stepping up to middleweight to conquer the division.

His rivalry with Jake LaMotta spanned six savage fights, culminating on Valentine's Day in 1951 in Chicago, where Robinson stopped LaMotta in the thirteenth round of what became known as the 'St. Valentine's Day Massacre' to win the world middleweight championship. Robinson would go on to win the middleweight crown a record five times against hall-of-famers such as Randy Turpin, Gene Fullmer, and Carmen Basilio. Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike Tyson all cited Robinson as their supreme boxing idol.