by Herb Boyd
New York Herald Tribune
New York Homeopathic College
New York Journal–American
New York Post
New York State Athletic Commission
New York State Boxing Commission
New York State Liquor Authority (SLA)
New York Sunday Mirror
New York Times
New York World Telegram and Sun
Nichols, Joe
Nixon, Billy
Norfolk, Kid
Norris, Jim
Norwood, Walter
Norwood Hotel
Nugent, Pete
Oates, Joyce Carol
Olla, Ted
Olson, Carl “Bobo,”
Olympia Stadium
Olympic Games
One Life (Holly)
Pacheco, Ferdie
Palais des Sports
Palermo, Frankie “Blinky,”
Panter, Garth
Papaleo, Willie. See Pep, Willie
Paramount Hotel
Paris
Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light (Stovall)
Parker, Dan
Parks, Gordon
Parsons, Louella
Patterson, Floyd
Pearl Harbor, Japanese attack on
Pender, Paul
Pep, Willie
Perry, Lincoln
Person to Person,
Philadelphia
Plantation Club
Poitier, Emma Webb
Poitier, Reggie
Poitier, Sidney
Police Athletic League (PAL)
Polo Grounds
Pound for Pound (documentary)
Powell, Adam Clayton
Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.
Powell, C. B.
Pride and the Passion, The
Prohibition
Pythagoras
racism
church burning and
Jim Crow segregation and discrimination as
lynching and
police brutality and
race riots and
Raging Bull
Randolph, A. Philip
Randolph, Red
Rangel, Charles
Reed, Leonard
Remnick, David
Respectful Prostitute, The (Sartre)
Reuben James,
Reynolds, Linda
R. G. S. Reality Corporation
Rhodes, Teddy
Rhumboogie
Rice, Grantland
Rindone, Joe
Ring,
SRR as fighter of the year in
Rinky Dinks
Rivers, Joan
RKO–Television
Roach, Max
Roberts, Thomas
Robeson, Paul
Robinson, Bill “Bojangles,”
funeral of
SRR’s imitation of
Robinson, Edna Mae Holly:
birth and childhood of
business abilities and record keeping of
character and personality of
death of
distinguished family background of
fur coat collection of
higher education of
marriage of SRR and
nightclub dancing and acting of
post-divorce financial straits of
pregnancies and childbirth of
separations and divorce of SRR and
SRR’s physical abuse of
SRR’s star-crossed relationship with
striking beauty of
unpublished memoir of
volunteer work of
Robinson, Jackie
Robinson, Millie Bruce
Robinson, Rachel
Robinson, Ray
Robinson, Ray, Jr.
childhood and adolescence of
on SRR
Robinson, Ronnie (Smith)
Robinson, Sugar Chile
Robinson, Sugar Ray:
Alzheimer’s diagnosis of
amateur career of
amnesia claimed by
aspirations and dreams of
athletic ability of
autobiography of
awards of
birth of
boxer’s death caused by
boxing technique of
boxing vs. fighting as ideal of
brief childhood farm life of
business enterprises of
café owned by
celebrity and glamour of
character and personality of
childhood and adolescence of
cornermen and sparring partners of
death dreams of
death of
early gym attendance of
education of
elevators avoided by
entrepreneurial and bargaining sensibility of
European tours of
fans and entourage of
fast feet and fists of
fatherhood of
featherweight ranking of
fight earnings of
financial and business difficulties of
first knockout by
first marriage and annulment of
first victory party of
flashy style of
flyweight ranking of
gambling of
generosity of
glucose and vitamin injections of
Golden Gloves titles of
golf tournament co-sponsored by
incomparable ring record of
injuries and scars of
knockouts scored by
last great ring victory of
libel suit of
light-heavyweight rankings of
lightweight ranking of
liquor license withheld from
management and promotion of
marijuana use of
marriages of. See Joseph, Marjorie
“Marjie”; Robinson, Edna Mae
Holly; Robinson; Millie Bruce
middleweight ranking and title of
military service of
musical aptitude of
natural power, grace, and endurance of
paternity suit against
philandering of
philanthropy of
physical decline of
physique and stature of
pink Cadillac and other automobiles of
as “pound for pound” best boxer
powerful punches of
prefight ritual of
press coverage of
professional debut of
professional name adopted by
psychological and physical conditioning of
racial discrimination experienced by,
sartorial style of
show business career of
singing voice of
six-year blacklisting of
tap dancing of
temporary retirements of
Time cover story on
training regimen of
underworld elements attracted to
violent temper and abusive behavior of,
wealth of
weight-gaining efforts of
welterweight ranking and title of
wicked left hook of
world-class career predicted for,
youthful jobs of
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
Ross, Barney
Roth, Bob
Rothschild, Norman
Route
Roxborough, John
Royals, Samuel “Shake,”
Roy Scott Studio
Rumpf, Howard
Ruth, Babe
Ryan, Robert
St. Clair, Stephanie
St. Cloud Country Club
St. Jacques, Raymond
St. Matthew’s Church
St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church
St. Vincent Charity Hospital
Salem Crescent gym
Salem Methodist Church
Salvation Army
Sa
mmons, Jeffrey
Sarron, Petey
Sartre, Jean-Paul
Saunders, Hilly
Savold, Lee
Savory, P. M. H.
Savoy Ballroom
Sawyer, Grant
Saxton, Johnny
Schaap, Dick
Schiff, Alexander
Schmeling, Max
Schmidt, Peter
School Daze,
Schoor, Gene
Schultz, Dutch
Scillie, Henri
Scott, Hazel
Sebastian, Flashy
Selassie, Haile
Servo, Marty
Shank, Ruben
Shapiro, Maxie
Shibe Park
Shropshire, Kenneth
Siki, Battling
Sikora, Frankie
Silliphant, Stirling
Silvana
Simon, Andrea
Simon, Roger
Simon & Schuster
Sinatra, Frank
Sinclair, Abiola
slavery
Sleeping Car Porters
Smalls, Ed
Smalls’ Paradise
Smith
Smith, Evelyn
Smith, Lelar “Leila” Hurst
domestic and factory work of
early opposition to SRR’s boxing career by
SRR’s generosity to
SRR’s relationship with
Smith, Marie. See Brewer, Marie Smith
Smith, Marion
Smith, Walker, Jr. See Robinson, Sugar Ray
Smith, Walker, Sr.
character and personality of
manual labor of
Northern migration of
SRR’s relationship with
Somebody Up There Likes Me (Graziano)
Southern, Terry
Speary, Bill
Spencer, Gene
Sport,
Sports Illustrated,
Springer, Wilfred
Stafford, Silent
State Department, U.S.
Stevens, Hope
Steward, Emanuel
Stillman’s Gym
Stock, Jean
Stovall, Tyler
Stranger at the Party (Lawrenson)
Sugar, Bert
Sugar Ray Robinson: Bright Lights and Dark Shadows of a Champion
Sugar Ray Robinson Harlem Enterprises
Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation
Summer, Ed
Sunday Express (London)
Supreme Court, U.S.
Supreme Linen and Laundry Company
Susskind, David
Sutton, Percy
“Sweet Georgia Brown,”
Sydenham Hospital
Tambourines of Glory (Hughes)
Tan
Tandy, Vertner
Tannen, Stanley Eugene
Taylor, Art
Taylor, Chuck
Taylor, Gardner C.
Templeton, Alec
Theresa Hotel
Tiger, Dick
Time,
Toast of the Town
Tonawanda, Jackie
Tosches, Nick
Treasury Department, U.S.
Tree of Hope (Wishing Tree)
Trevigne, Barbara
Trotter, Marta
Turpin, Randy
Twain, Mark
Twentieth Century Sporting Club
Tyson, Mike
Valentine, Spider
Van Dam, Luc
Vanity Fair
Vanucci, Armand
Vejar, Chico
Villemain, Robert
Voices in the Mirror (Parks)
Wade, Tiger
Walcott, Jersey Joe
Walcott, Young Joe
Walker, A’Lelia
Wallace, Coley
Waller, Langley
Walzack, Jean
Warner, Jack
Webster, Milton
What’s My Line,
White, Peter J.
Wiley, Harry
Wilfred’s Academy of Hour and Beauty
Culture
Willard, Jess
Williams, Edward Bennett
Williams, Joe
Wills, Harry “Black Panther,”
Wilson, Dooley
Wilson, Fred
Wilson, Jackie (boxer)
Wilson, Jackie (singer)
Wilson, Sunnie
Winchell, Walter
Womber, Danny “Bang Bang,”
Woodard, Dino
World Champions, Inc.
World War I
World War II
Wortherly, Sigmund
Wright, Winky
Yankee Stadium
Young, Bob
Young, Coleman
Youngstown Business–Journal
Zale, Tony
Zannelli, Ralph
Zanuck, Darryl
Zengaras, George
Zivic, Fritzie
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A biography of Sugar Ray Robinson required a corps of reliable and inexhaustible cornermen and-women. I should note at the outset my indebtedness to the unpublished memoir of Edna Mae Robinson. Ed Summer, who devoted many hours by her side, gave me a lengthy manuscript she had written. She had worked on it for several years and it was more than three hundred pages. Each attempt she made to get it published was met with rejection; among her notes and memorabilia—and she kept everything—are several rejection letters from editors who expressed deep regret that her manuscript, though well done, was “not what we are looking for at this time.”
It was just what I needed. I read the manuscript and found it more than adequate for a beginning writer, and then Summer told me about Edna Mae’s condition. There was no way I would be able to plumb additional information from her, because she was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. But he promised to set up a meeting so I could visit her, if I wanted to. The visit was without any worth, other than to see how such a ravishing beauty had so totally disintegrated, and was as hopelessly dependent as Sugar was in his final years. On several occasions I went by the apartment and just sat with her, and there were times when she would make a remark that seemed to have no meaning. I thought things would improve once her son came to town from California to visit. But together we would sit, and Ray II would put on videotape of her on some television show with Sugar, and it didn’t seem to mean anything to her. As she herself had said about her life with Sugar—so many wonderful moments, but no way to relive them, no way to thrill again to how gorgeous she was, no way to recapture the astounding glamour she radiated wherever she went.
Complementing Edna Mae’s manuscript were the memories of her son, Ray Robinson II. Sugar Deuce, as I call him, searched his yesterdays and divulged an array of gems, many of which have been processed and interwoven throughout the book. Also in my corner were three women to deal with various facets of completing this match with Sugar. My wife, Elza, was an irreplaceable sparring partner with whom I grappled over tone, mood, and perspective. Marie Brown, my agent, was like my manager/ trainer, making sure I got the right deal and the right encouragement to go the distance. And then there was my cut lady—my editor, Dawn Davis—who rescued me when I was on the ropes, applied the salve and sutures to a tattered text, and pushed me out into the ring once again. Of course, neither she nor my other handlers are responsible for the outcome of this match.
Many years ago, it had been my mother who introduced me to Sugar. When I was growing up, there were three men I knew she admired—Nat “King” Cole, Billy Eckstine, and Sugar Ray Robinson. I appropriated all of them. Jim Fitzgerald, Manie Barron, Carol Mann, and Ed Summer were among the first promoters of this bout, and I was blessed to have their faith and support. Back in the hood there were Clinton Edwards, Johnny Barnes, Jules Allen, Robert Van Lierop, Malik Edwards, Delilah Jackson, Sylvia Dixon, Percy Sutton, Sigmund Wortherly, Hilly Saunders, Jackie Tonawanda, Roger Simon, Reverend Dino Woodard, Bill Haley, Mel Dick, James Booker, Charles Dudley, Joe Bos
tic, Sr., Howie Evans, Herbert Wright, Sondra Kathryn Wilson, Sharon Howard, Kelly Howard, and Claude Sharrief, all of whom in their special ways helped me get back into the ring of this project and to see it through.
Langley Waller adopted me at the very start of all this, and has been unflagging in his ringside assistance.
It is to Waller and his ilk, who saw Sugar in the flesh, that this book is dedicated. I hope there are enough flashes of the past to remind you of Sugar’s greatness and the joy he brought. Though I may not have cornered and nailed him like I wanted to, I think you will appreciate this encounter. Let us hope that I’ve done no worse on paper than his opponents did in the ring.
—Herb Boyd
I want to completely acknowledge my former wife, Celeste Robinson, who supported the vision of this book, and my children, Ray Robinson III, CoCo Robinson, D. D. Robinson, Tal Mario Robinson, and Zoe Grace Robinson, who are the result of the dream of my Mom and Dad! One World, One Race—HUMAN!
—Ray Robinson II
About the Authors
HERB BOYD is an activist, journalist, author, and teacher. His articles have appeared in such publications as the Amsterdam News, the Final Call, Essence, and the Network Journal. In 1995, with co-editor Robert Allen, Boyd received the American Book Award for Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America. A noted authority on black studies, he is the author of We Shall Overcome and has been teaching African and African American history for nearly forty years. He teaches at the College of New Rochelle and lives in New York.
RAY ROBINSON II is an independent producer who is currently in the process of establishing a museum in honor of his mother and father.
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ALSO BY HERB BOYD
Heroes of America: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Down the Glory Road: Contributions of African Americans in United States History and Culture
Black Panthers for Beginners
African History for Beginners
Former Portuguese Colonies: Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe
EDITED BY HERB BOYD
The Harlem Reader: A Celebration of New York’s Most Famous Neighborhood from the Renaissance Years to the 21st Century
Race and Resistance: African Americans in the Twenty-First Century
Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told by Those Who Lived It
Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America—An Anthology (co-editor Robert Allen)
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.