Tag Archives: Robinson

Posted on 12/02/2016

The Night the Two Greatest P4P Boxers Faced Each Other!
By: Ken Hissner

There have been many opinions on “who was the greatest P4P boxer in the history of boxing?” Going way back it was Sam “The Boston Tar Baby” Langford, 180-29-30 (128), Stanley “The Michigan Assassin” Ketchel, 51-4-4 (48), Jack “The Galveston Giant” Johnson, 56-11-8 (35), Harry “Pittsburgh Windmill” Greb, 107-8-3 (48), and Willie “Will o” the Wisp” Pep, 229-11-1 (65). In modern times we had “Sugar” Ray Leonard, 36-3-1 (25), Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker, 40-4-1 (17), Julio Cesar Chavez, 107-6-2 (86), and Floyd “Money” Mayweather, 49-0 (26).

There always seemed to be two others on everyone’s P4P list. They met at Madison Square Garden in New York on August 27, 1943 before over 15,000 fans.

In one corner being introduced was a young 22 year-old boxer out of New York City named “Sugar” Ray Robinson, posting a 44-1 record and coming in at 5’11” and 145 lbs. He was 4 fights from losing to Jake LaMotta who he previously beat and after the loss beat again prior to this fight and would win 4 out of 5 overall against LaMotta. He hadn’t won a title yet but would go onto win the welterweight (76th fight) and middleweight titles. He was well ahead in an effort to win the light heavyweight title after 13 rounds but couldn’t continue due to heat exhaustion.

In the other corner was the former NBA, NYSAC featherweight champion who won that title in 1937, won the welterweight title in 1938 and then dropped back to 135 winning the world lightweight title in 1939 while fighting to a disputed draw in 1940 for the middleweight title. In the other corner was the 33 year-old boxer out of L.A. named Henry “Homicide Hank” Armstrong, posting a 134-17-7 record and coming in at 5’5 ½ and 140 lbs. He had a 23-3 record after losing his title in back to back losses to Fritzie Zivic whom he defeated after that and prior to the fight with Robinson.

This was no grudge match. Robinson idolized Armstrong in his youth. It was scheduled for 10 rounds.

The best punches by both boxers were Armstrong rocking Robinson with a left hook to the chin in the fifth round and Robinson staggering Armstrong with a fight right bolo uppercut. Robinson opened up an old gash on Armstrong’s lip in the second round that never proved to be a problem throughout. Armstrong ran out of gas after the fifth round.

In attempting to find who the officials were and how the scoring went this writer came up with zero. Even www.youtube.com didn’t have the fight. Boxing Historian Henry Hascup sent me two newspaper articles about the fight. The only comment I saw was Robinson won every round. Robinson ended up with a 173-19-6 record with 108 knockouts. Armstrong ended up with a 151-21-9 record with 101 knockouts.

Armstrong said after the fight “I’m sorry to go out with such a bad fight and he wouldn’t stand up and mix it. I have to retire now due to scar tissue inside the pupil of my left eye. I can’t take any more chances for I get blurred vision.” The fans were not happy with Robinson moving from side to side and dancing away from Armstrong while landing jabs and occasional rights.

Two other fights that I can think of is when future heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano stopped Joe “The Brown Bomber” Louis and said he cried afterwards since he idolized Louis. Larry Holmes “claims” he felt bad after beating Muhammad Ali for the latter’s only stoppage during his career. But when you remember after the then 44-0 world champion slaughtered Marvis Frazier within 3 minutes of the fight. Afterwards he was heard saying “that’s for the whooping’s your daddy gave me in the gym.” So it makes one wonder about his sincerity.

Another report had the losing Armstrong saying “I couldn’t have licked this kid on the best day I ever saw.” Robinson would admit when he hurt Armstrong he would go into a clinch with him keeping him steady. It was well known that both boxers went broke and kept fighting to either pay the IRS or have a place to lay their heads down.

Posted on 10/29/2016

“New” Ray Robinson Returns with a Picture Perfect Win at the SugarHouse Casino, in Philadelphia, Friday!
By: Ken Hissner

The return of The “New” Ray Robinson after 18 months of inactivity brought him one fight closer to challenging WBC champion Danny “Swift” Garcia for his title. Robinson is ranked No. 4 in the WBC. Hard Hitting Promotions packed them in for the second straight show at the casino. Partners Manny Rivera and Will Ruiz who also does the matchmaking couldn’t have been any happier with a solid night of boxing. They will return December the 16th to the casino.

In the Main Event returning after 18 months of inactivity welterweight “New” Ray Robinson, 21-2 (10), of Philly fought a picture perfect fight causing a gutsy Nicaraguan Santos, “El Toro” Benavides, 25-11-2 (19), out of Houston, TX, not able to come out for round five.

In the opening round Benavides charged forward swinging wildly as Robinson tattooed him with his jab. Benavides started clowning around with his hands down and Robinson nailed him with a right hand and followed with a right hook to the head knocking Benavides down at the time the timekeeper gave the 10 second warning. In the second round Robinson pin pointed almost every punch with accuracy hurting Benavides who showed a lot of heart but was taking a licking.

In the third round Robinson landed almost a dozen punches without return from Benavides. Robinson was landing right hooks to the body and then going to the head of Benavides. A powerful left by Robinson stopped Benavides in his tracks. In the fourth round Robinson gave the gutsy Benavides a beating to both the body and head. The corner of Benavides wouldn’t let him come out which was a wise move. Robinson put on a “picture perfect” exhibition tonight. He had been out of the ring 18 months and it never showed. It was his tenth straight win having not lost since 2010 in back to back losses. “I felt good and I am ready for bigger and better things,” said Robinson

Super welterweight Steve Martinez, 17-3 (13), out of the Bronx, won a close if not controversial decision over Jeremy Ramos, 9-5 (4), of Colorado, over 8 rounds.

In the opening round Martinez was very cautious looking to counter and got outworked by Ramos. In the second round Ramos continued to outwork Martinez pinning him against the ropes which seemed to wake Martinez up as he started landing left hooks to the body hurting Ramos. In the third round Martinez took over with a solid body attack mostly landing left hooks. In the fourth round Ramos came back from the previous round to pin Martinez against the ropes. Seems like 90% of the punches Martinez throws are left hooks. Ramos switched to southpaw briefly. Twice Martinez had his mouthpiece knocked out.

In the fifth round it turned out to be the best round up until then with Martinez landing the harder punches with that left hook of his. In the sixth round Martinez dominated Ramos with left hooks to the body and head. In the seventh round for the third time in the fight Martinez had his mouthpiece knocked out. Referee Talmadge wisely took a point away from Martinez which is the rule once the mouthpiece is out for the third time. When it continued Martinez was on the attack knowing he lost a point in a close fight. In the eighth and final round with the fight up for grabs Martinez seemed to get over with the left until a right hand from Ramos stunned Martinez which was the best punch of the night. Ramos was bleeding from the nose but had the heart of a lion. This was supposed to be a walk in the park for Martinez.

Judge Steve Weisfield had it 77-74, Alan Rubenstein, Jr. 76-75 and Linday Page 75-74. This writer had it 76-75 for Ramos. “It was a good fight and I thought I did enough to win the fight,” said Ramos. The manager of Martinez Brian Cohen seemed to agree with this writer that he may have hurt his right hand because he only threw it sparingly.

Local fan attraction bantamweight Christian Carto, 4-0 (4), of Philly, scored a second round technical stoppage at 1:42, over Angel Carbajal, 2-5 (0), of Chicago.

In the opening round Carto was landing combinations to the head causing Carbajal to do a lot of holding. Carto landed 4 punches without return near the end of the round. In the second round Carto landed a combination driving Carbajal into the ropes. Carto followed with a lead right to the head causing Carbajal’s knees to buckle. Carto went right after him landing a flurry of punches causing referee Talmadge to step in. Carbajal was not happy with the stoppage that may have been a little too quick by referee Talmadge. Carto is a young man with limited words and simply said “the fight went good.”

Super bantamweight Angel “Pretty Boy” Pizarro, 2-0 (1), of Philly, scored a second round technical stoppage at 2:40, over Maurice “Mo” Adams, Jr., 1-2 (0), of D.C.

In the opening round Pizarro seemed to be loading up getting some power punches in and hurting Adams just prior to the bell causing him to hold on. In the second round an overhand right from Pizarro dropped Adams. Upon rising he was in no condition to continue causing referee Shawn Clark to call a halt. The 21 year-old Pizarro was in and out of the gym but is back full time and it shows.

The younger brother of Angel the 17 year-old amateur sensation lightweight Branden Pizarro, 1-0 (1), of Philly, scored a sensational knockout at 0:39 of the first round over Ezequiel Ocasio, 1-3 (0), of PR.

In the opening round Pizarro showed a lightning jab. Pizarro caught Ocasio with a pair of right hands to the head dropping him to his knees and not able to beat the count of referee Clark. Word was Boxing Director fined Ocasio $250.00. “In my pro debut in my hometown was great. Team work makes the dreams work,” said Pizarro. His father assists Bozy Ennis in the corner of both sons.

In the opening bout super lightweight southpaw Jeremy Cuevas, 1-0 (1), of Philly, scored a second round technical stoppage at 1:32 of the round over Luis Ramos, 0-3 (0), Carolina, PR.

In the opening round it was all Cuevas. Ramos was doing a “Muhammad Ali” Rope-A-Dope. In the second round a right hook dropped Ramos in a neutral corner. Upon rising from referee Talmadge’s count Cuevas jumped on him and the referee wisely called a halt.

It looked like another sell out crowd by Hard Hitting Promotions who will return to the SugarHouse Casino December 16th!

Posted on 10/28/2016

The Return of the “New” Ray Robinson Friday at SugarHouse!
By: Ken Hissner

The No. 4 WBC welterweight from Philly the “New” Ray Robinson, 20-2 (9), returns Friday after an 18 month lay-off due to an auto accident in January of this year to headline at the SugarHouse Casino at 1001 N. Delaware Ave. in the city of Brotherly Love, Philly. It will be telecasted over Telemundo channel 62.
The promotion is another Hard Hitting Promotions event put on by Manny Ramirez and Will Ruiz who also serves as matchmaker. At the Local 57 Labor Union Wednesday night they held a press conference attended by many and most of the boxers on the card.

Ring Announcer Pat Michael Fattore did his usual excellent job introduced all six boxers in attendance including the main event boxers in Robinson and his opponent Nicaragua’s hard hitting Santos “El Toro” Benavides, 25-10-2 (19), now out of Houston, TX, who will be in an welterweight 8 round bout.

Robinson has won his last nine fights and has not lost since 2010. The lanky southpaw is a spoiler and made it clear he’d like nothing better than to challenge WBC champion Danny “Swift” Garcia, also of Philly. Robinson said he has been ducked by many top contenders. An elimination match between him and No. 1 WBC contender Andre Berto would be welcomed.

The undercard consists of six bouts including New York’s Steve Martinez, 16-3 (13), who could not make the event and he will be meeting Jeremy Ramos, 9-4 (4), from Colorado in a super welterweight match. The Pizarro brothers Angel, 1-0 (1), and 17 year-old Branden who will be making his debut are both trained by their father. Also appearing will be hard hitting David “One-Two” Murray, 5-1 (4), Christian Carto, 3-0 (3), an outstanding amateur who turned pro this year and another top Philly amateur making his debut in Jeremy Cuevas who was a NJ and PA state champion.

Doors open at 6 and the first fight at 7 per PR man Kurt Wolfheimer.