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Sugar Ray Robinson Training Footage
Most consider Sugar Ray Robinson to be the greatest boxer of all time. He had the perfect mix of power, speed, and skill. We may never see another fighter like him again.
Yet despite his amazing talents, this entry is not about Ray Robinson’s accomplishments. Such accomplishments have already been discussed here several times before. Within this entry, I’d like to instead highlight the video below. Within it, you will see a brief compilation of Robinson’s training.
The clip begins with a summary of his training regimen. He describes going to bed early while in training camp. He also mentions running each morning and training in the gym with a variety of calisthenics, boxing, and rope work. His training was simple yet highly effective. You won’t see any of the fancy gadgets that litter today’s industry.
When the greatest fighter in the world thrived on the basics, it should serve as a message to all. Don’t stray too far from the sport itself. As a fighter, nothing compares to the fundamentals of sparring, bag work, mitt work, etc.
In addition, I’ve had several questions come in over the past few months about what equipment is necessary to start a boxing gym. Once again, Ray Robinson offers a prime example of what is needed to start a gym. It isn’t the fancy equipment that develops fighters. The best gym in the world could be an empty warehouse if there were quality sparring partners found within. Fighters learn by working with experienced trainers and by sparring with other experienced fighters. From an equipment standpoint, one can do quite well with the basics.
As a younger fighter, there was a time when I trained in the basement of a housing project. We didn’t even have a ring. We sparred in an open area and did our best to stay off the ropes (which were actually cement walls). Below is a picture of me there (white shirt) from back in the 1990′s.
We had two heavy bags hanging, a few jump ropes, a speed bag and a medicine ball. My trainer also had an old pair of mitts. We’d spar, hit the bags, hit the mitts and work through our calisthenics and rope work. We’d also run laps outside. That was the extent of the gym. It was as low-tech as anything you’ll ever see yet we had some very good fighters in the gym at that time.
In summary, the people within the gym often make the gym, more so than any piece of equipment. This isn’t to say that equipment cannot be useful, but just a reminder that you can get a boxing gym up and running without an extensive facility. You’ll likely accumulate equipment as the months pass, but you can certainly thrive on the basics. Ray Robinson offers perhaps the greatest example of all.
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Ross,
Great post. I love the simplicity by which Sugar Ray Robinson got to be the boxer that he was.
By the way, when it comes to training with what you have, for about a year or so my trainer and I would spar in the “attic” of a house across the river from Philadelphia. The ceiling of the “attic” was pitched to such an extreme, that I, being 6’2″, could only stand fully upright in the very middle of the room. My trainer was 6’4″, and he couldn’t stand anywhere straight up.
The rooms dimensions were about 10′ x 10′. The ceiling sloped down to about two feet off of the floor, so we were constantly crouched over to an extreme unless we were able to fight back and forth along the beam of the ceiling where the room was the highest.
In this small space, we would spar (boxing and kickboxing) each other round after round. Somedays, we would go about fifteen rounds. Other days, if another person was there to spar, we would go about three rounds, and then alternate sparring partners. The person that was not sparring would be on an exercise climber machine, because this was the only piece of equipment that we could fit up the stairs. This was put right in front of the window, as the headroom there was maybe 5’10″.
During the summer, temps would get to well over 100 degrees, and we only had a small window for ventilation. This was hard, yet very fun, training in a place roughly the size of an office cubicle. It wasn’t glamorous, and we didn’t have much in terms of equipment (the climber, some mitts, a pad for sidekicks, and a heavy bag that we had to take down during sparring), but we got in some fantastic training in that little space. The one thing that we did have in abundance was a dedication to training, so we trained with a purpose. While we laughed and joked as we punched each other, sloppy technique was quickly met with a straight right hand, and upper cut, or a spinning back kick.
Ross, great stuff as usual. What I like most about your topics is that they are all on different but important aspects of the game, whether combat sports or physical culture training you give a wide variety.
This is a wonderful, short piece on probably the best boxer who ever laced the gloves.
thanks,
Machine
Well said and great examples. The media overhypes what is needed to mold a combat athlete. You are doing a fine job making it obvious that the nuts and bolts of proper training makes the real difference.
“the people within the gym often make the gym”
That’s it and it doesn’t matter if the “gym” is a basement, alley, field, etc. Work gets done no matter what.
Thanks for posting this article Ross. Great stuff.
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