Teddy Atlas has named who he believes to be the greatest welterweight of all time, surpassing the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford.
Mayweather and Crawford are viewed by many as two of the best 147lb fighters in history, with Mayweather having claimed huge wins over fighters such as Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley, while Crawford notably beat Errol Spence to become undisputed champion.
Despite those accolades, Atlas believes neither Mayweather or Crawford are deserving of the number one spot when it comes to welterweight’s greatest ever competitor, instead revealing on his YouTube channel that he gives that honour to Sugar Ray Robinson.
“[He] may be the greatest fighter of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson. 173 wins, 19 losses, most of ‘em when he was old, six draws, 108 knockouts. That is a lot of knockouts. That is a lot of fights.
“He had a 91-fight unbeaten streak – that is pretty good. Those losses, like I said, most of ‘em came when he was old, way beyond his prime. Welter and middleweight champ, he would have won the light-heavyweight title too.
“He was fighting [Joey Maxim] at Yankee Stadium, it was about 105 degrees in the ring on a summer night outdoors in June. The referee got carried out earlier from heat prostration, he got carried out of the ring – it was that hot, it was that brutal.
“I forget what round it was, it was a very late round [13] and Robinson collapsed. He was ahead in the fight, he was going to win the light-heavyweight title and he collapsed from heat prostration, just like the referee had done four or five rounds earlier.”
It is certainly hard to argue with the assessment of Atlas, with Robinson holding the world welterweight title for five years from 1946 to 1951, where he went on a remarkable 91-fight unbeaten streak.
At one stage he had recorded 129 wins from 132 fights, with 85 knockouts along the way, before finally hanging up the gloves in 1965 having won 174 of his 201 fights, making it clear why so many rightfully hold him in such high regard.
