Sugar Ray Robinson Sugar Ray Robinson Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr.; May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is widely regarded as the greatest boxer of all time and in 2002, Robinson was ranked number one on "The Ring" magazine's list of "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years". Robinson was 85–0 as
Dixie Walker spelled, because "Choice" in the "Brooklynese" of the mid-20th century frequently was pronounced that way). He was an All-Star in five consecutive years (1943–47) and the 1944 National League batting champion. Walker may be best known for his reluctance to play on the same team as Jackie Robinson in 1947. Born on September 24, 1910, in Villa Rica, Georgia, Walker was the scion of a baseball family. His father, Ewart Walker (the original "Dixie Walker"), was a pitcher for the Washington Senators (1909–12); an uncle, Ernie Walker, was an outfielder for the St. Louis Browns (1913–15); and his younger brother,