Sugar Ray Robinson is widely considered to be the greatest fighter to have ever laced up the gloves.
Robinson entered the paid ranks back in 1940 and would embark on a storied 25-year professional boxing career which saw him fight on no less than 201 occasions before his retirement from the sport in 1965.
He became a world champion six times throughout the course of his tenure, reigning as the world welterweight champion between 1946 and 1951 before he eventually made the move up to middleweight where he captured the world title on 5 occasions within a 9-year period.
Whilst many fans and analysts around the world consider Robinson to be the best fighter to have ever graced the sport, the legendary champion reportedly once told another legend of boxing that he was even better.
Speaking to Cornerman Boxing, Panamanian icon Roberto Duran revealed details of a conversation between his son and Robinson, where he claims the six-time world champion said ‘Hands of Stone’ was even better than him.
“Yes, that was a fight I believe in Los Angeles, but he said that, Sugar Ray Robinson, to my son while I was in the ring fighting, and he said ‘Him right there, he’s better than me’, my son replied ‘Who are you?’ [he said] ‘I’m Sugar Ray Robinson’.
“‘Him, he’s better than me’ he told my son. For me it is satisfying that a great amongst the greats said it. That bigs me up because he’s considering me even greater than he was.”
Duran rose to stardom during the 1980s, where he became a member of the iconic ‘Four Kings’ alongside Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
He was a world champion in four weight classes throughout the course of his 33-year professional career, which spanned across five decades between 1968 and 2001.
