BELIEVE it or not, but when Sugar Ray Robinson was still competing the magnificent American wasn’t even hailed as the greatest ever welterweight or middleweight, never mind the finest fighter the sport has known.
It is, of course, harder to judge a man when he’s still fighting. But it wasn’t long after Robinson finally called time on a remarkable career before boxing folk recognised the super-smooth former two-weight world champ as being in a class of his own.
That reputation has gathered momentum and now, more than 50 years on since his final fight, it’s pretty unanimous in a sport full of questionable decisions that Robinson is the most complete fighter ever to set foot in a ring.