GOAT Index

Two legends at a time. Thousands of votes. One ranking.

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Sugar Ray Robinson: the case for the GOAT

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    Sugar Ray Robinson: the case for the GOAT

    Welter/Middleweight · USA · Born 3 May 1921, Ailey, Georgia, USA · Died 1989 · Career 1940–1965

    Born Walker Smith Jr., he ruled the welterweight and middleweight divisions in the 1940s and 1950s. A complete boxer-puncher with speed, power, footwork and combinations that set the template for everyone after him.

    Career highlights

    Why Sugar Ray Robinson could be the GOAT

    The phrase 'pound for pound' was popularised to describe Robinson. He went 91 fights without a loss, beat Jake LaMotta five times in six meetings and became the first man to win a divisional world title five times. Many trainers and historians, and fighters like Ali and Leonard, call him the greatest who ever lived.

    What fans say

    Sugar Ray Robinson is #3 of 25 in the fan ranking, with a 2–0 head-to-head record from 19 Men's boxing votes. See the full Men's boxing GOAT ranking

    Sugar Ray Robinson head to head

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

    One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.

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