Being Sugar Ray by Kenneth Shropshire

Description:

And in this corner, hailing from Black Bottom, Detroit, by way of Harlem, with more victories than Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali combined, the greatest fighter -- pound for pound -- of all time: Sugar Ray Robinson.

If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery then there should be little doubt Sugar Ray Robinson is the greatest and most influential American boxer. Fighters (and the occasional alt-rock band) have been adopting his name and trying to imitate his inimitable fighting style for decades. Braggadocio may be the native tongue of most boxers, but Sugar Ray Robinson is legitimately considered the greatest boxer of all time. One only has to ask Muhammad Ali -- who modeled himself early-on after Sugar -- about it, as he referred to Sugar as "the king, the master, my idol."

Being Sugar Ray contends that Sugar Ray Robinson's influence extends far beyond the ring and far beyond the sport of boxing, Robinson transcended race and sport to become a celebrity athlete in a way that no one -- white or black -- had accomplished before him. Although today's basketball players have rap albums, over-the-hill boxers push kitchen appliances, and baseball players testify before Congress -- it was Sugar Ray Robinson who introduced America to the athlete as entrepreneur and celebrity. From his business empire to this prized flamingo-pink Cadillac, described as the Hope of Diamond of Harlem, Sugar Ray was the trailblazer whom every athlete since has been trying, consciously or otherwise, to emulate. With unprecedented insight into the world of sport and celebrity, Kenneth Shropshire shows how so many American athletes -- from Magic Johnson to Allen Iverson and Roy Jones Jr. to Deion Sanders -- have each been trying to be Sugar Ray.

Being Sugar Ray
The Life of Sugar Ray Robinson
America's Greatest Boxer and the First Celebrity Athlete
by Kenneth Shropshire

ISBN: 9780465078035
ISBN-10: 0465078036
Publisher: Basic Civitas Books (Perseus)
Publication Date: 2007
Format: Hardcover, 246 pages
Book Type: New