Sugar Ray

Author: Sugar Ray Robinson
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 9780306805745
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 380

Book Description
Sugar Ray Robinson (1921–1989) was hailed as the finest boxer to ever enter a ring. Muhammad Ali once called him "the king, my master, my idol"—and indeed, he was the idol of everyone who had anything to do with boxing. But for African Americans, he was more than a great boxer. In an era when blacks were supposed to be humble and grateful for favors received, he was a man whose every move in and out of the ring showed what black pride and power meant.Sugar Ray grew up during the Depression in the ghettos of Detroit and New York, rose through the amateur boxing ranks, became Golden Gloves champion at the featherweight at the age of eighteen, and become world welterweight champion in 1946 and middleweight in 1951. Robinson had it all, but later lost it all; and in this classic autobiography he tells it all with remarkable candor. Here is Sugar Ray: the dazzlingly handsome champion with a craving for fast cars and fast living; the kid who was terrified of elevators; the young GI who, together with Joe Louis, combated racial discrimination; the honest fighter who refused a million dollars to throw a fight against Rocky Graziano; the boxer who dreamed he would kill his opponent in the ring, and did so the following night.This Da Capo edition is supplemented with a new foreword and afterword by Dave Anderson about Sugar Ray's last years in Los Angeles and the legacy he left behind, and with eight new pages of stunning photographs.

Sweet Thunder

Author: Wil Haygood
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 1569768641
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 479

Book Description
Sugar Ray Robinson was one of the most iconic figures in sports and possibly the greatest boxer of all time. His legendary career spanned nearly 26 years, including his titles as the middleweight and welterweight champion of the world and close to 200 professional bouts. This illuminating biography grounds the spectacular story of Robinson's rise to greatness within the context of the fighter's life and times. Born Walker Smith Jr. in 1921, Robinson's early childhood was marked by the seething racial tensions and explosive race riots that infected the Midwest throughout the 1920s and 1930s. After his mother moved their family to Harlem, he came of age in the post-Renaissance years. Recounting his local and national fame, this deeply researched and honest account depicts Robinson as an eccentric and glamorous--yet powerful and controversial--celebrity, athlete, and cultural symbol. From Robinson's gruesome six-bout war with Jake "Raging Bull" LaMotta and his lethal meeting with Jimmy Doyle to his Harlem nightclub years and thwarted showbiz dreams, Haygood brings the champion's story to life.

The Big Fight

Author: Sugar Ray Leonard
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101515767
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Book Description
In this unflinching and inspiring autobiography, the boxing legend faces his single greatest competitor: himself. Sugar Ray Leonard's brutally honest and uplifting memoir reveals in intimate detail for the first time the complex man behind the boxer. The Olympic hero, multichampionship winner, and beloved athlete waged his own personal battle with depression, rage, addiction, and greed. Coming from a tumultuous, impoverished household and a dangerous neighborhood on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., in the 1970s, Sugar Ray Leonard rose swiftly and skillfully through the ranks of amateur boxing-and eventually went on to win a gold medal in the 1976 Olympics. With an extremely ill father and no endorsement deals, Leonard decided to go pro. The Big Fight takes readers behind the scenes of a notoriously corrupt sport and chronicles the evolution of a champion, as Leonard prepares for the greatest fights of his life-against Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns, and Wilfred Benitez. At the same time Leonard fearlessly reveals his own contradictions and compulsions, his infidelity, and alcohol and cocaine abuse. With honesty, humor, and hard-won perspective, Leonard comes to terms with both triumph and struggle-and presents a gripping portrait of remarkable strength, courage, and resilience, both in and out of the ring.

Sugar Ray

Author: Anna Louise Golden
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN: 1466873930
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 171

Book Description
These five fly guys are part of today's hottest band! Hailing from Southern California, Sugar Ray--including hunky frontman Mark McGrath, guitarist Rodney Sheppard, bassist Murphy Karges, DJ Craig Bullock and drummer Stan Frazier--shot to the top of the charts with their sophomore album, Floored, featuring their irresistibly upbeat single "Fly." Today they're one of the hottest bands around, producing hit after hit and charming audiences with their cover-boy good-looks and infectious sense of fun. Find out what goes on off the record and behind the scenes, as author Anna Louise Golden reveals all the awesome answers and fabulous facts about your favorite band! WITH EIGHT PAGES OF FLY PHOTOS! FUN FACTS ABOUT SUGAR RAY... * Mark sports a tattoo of the Cadillac logo on his right butt cheek * Rodney played Chaka on "Land of the Lost" for six episodes * Murphy was studying to be an orthodontist before joining the band * In his spare time, Stan likes to cook * Mark has the hots for Winona Ryder * Before they were Sugar Ray, the band called themselves the Shrinky Dinx * Mark's favorite sports are basketball and hockey

Sugar Ray

Author: Anna Louise Golden
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0312976232
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
Sugar Ray and its hunky leader, Mark McGrath, shot to the top of the charts with their sophomore album, "Floored" and have become one of today's hottest bands, charming teenage girls everywhere. This unauthorized biography reveals all the awesome details about what goes on off the record and behind the scenes. of photos.

Pound for Pound

Author: Herb Boyd
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061749699
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Book Description
Hailed by critics as a long overdue portrait of Sugar Ray Robinson, a man who was as elusive out of the ring as he was magisterial in it, Pound for Pound is a lively and nuanced profile of an athlete who is arguably the best boxer the sport has ever known. So great were Robinson's skills, he was eulogized by Woody Allen, compared to Joe Louis, and praised by Muhammad Ali, who called him "the king, the master, my idol." But the same discipline that Robinson brought to the sport eluded him at home, leading him to emotionally and physically abuse his family -- particularly his wife, the gorgeous dancer Edna Mae, whose entrepreneurial skills helped Robinson build an empire to which Harlemites were inexorably drawn. Exposing Robinson's flaws as well as putting his career in the context of his life and times, renowned journalist and bestselling author Herb Boyd, with Ray Robinson II, tells for the first time the full story of a complex man and sport-altering athlete.

Sugar Ray Leonard

Author: Bert Rosenthal
Publisher: Children's Press(CT)
ISBN: 9780516043265
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
A brief biography of "America's Sweetheart," the welter-weight champion boxer.

Sugar

Author: Charles Rosen
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496206126
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 206

Book Description
The 1980s were arguably the NBA's best decade, giving rise to Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan. They were among the game's greatest players who brought pro basketball out of its 1970s funk and made it faster, more fluid, and more exciting. Off the court the game was changing rapidly too, with the draft lottery, shoe commercials, and a style driven largely by excess. One player who personified the eighties excess is Micheal Ray Richardson. During his eight-year career in the NBA (1978-86), he was a four-time All-Star, twice named to the All-Defense team, and the first player to lead the league in both assists and steals. He was also a heavy cocaine user who went on days-long binges but continued to be signed by teams that hoped he'd get straight. Eventually he was the first and only player to be permanently disqualified from the NBA for repeat drug use. Tracking the rise, fall, and eventual redemption of Richardson throughout his playing days and subsequent coaching career, Charley Rosen describes the life‑defining pitfalls Richardson and other players faced and considers key themes such as off‑court and on‑court racism, anti-Semitism, womanizing, allegations of point‑shaving within the league, and drug and alcohol abuse by star players. By constructing his various lines of narration around the polarizing figure of Richardson--equal parts basketball savant, drug addict, and pariah--Rosen illuminates some of the more unseemly aspects of the NBA during this period, going behind the scenes to provide an account of what the league's darker side was like during its celebrated golden age.

The Big Fight

Author: Sugar Ray Leonard
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0091946816
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
In this unflinching autobiography, boxing legend Leonard faces his single greatest competitor: himself. With honesty, humor, and inspiring perspective, Leonard comes to terms with triumph, struggle, strength, courage, and resilience.

Being Sugar Ray

Author: Kenneth Shropshire
Publisher: Civitas Books
ISBN: 9780465078042
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
Muhammad Ali memorably referred to Sugar Ray Robinson as “the king, the master, my idol,” and rarely a fight fan has chosen to argue too much with those words. With a career spanning three decades, multiple championships, over two hundred fights (without once taking a 10-count), and more victories than Joe Louis and Ali combined it was no surprise when RING magazine named Robinson “pound for pound, the best boxer of all time.” In Being Sugar Ray, acclaimed scholar Kenneth Shropshire contends that Sugar Ray Robinson's influence extends far beyond the ring. It was Robinson who introduced America to the athlete as entrepreneur and celebrity. From his business empire to his prized flamingo pink Cadillac, described as the Hope Diamond of Harlem, Sugar Ray was the trailblazer whom every athlete since has been trying, consciously or otherwise, to emulate.