why did randy turpin give ray robinson so much trouble

[rightsideup]

I have read that randy had the strength of a lightheavey in a middleweights body and caught sugar ray in poor condition in the first fight.
The second fight was still competive and sugar was cut and used that one punch power of his to guide him to victory. Do any of you have any other thoughts on why Randy gave ray hell?





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[Ray Corso]

Turpin was a strong fighter who had the will to win and his style seemed to bother Sugar in their first bout won by Turpin by 15D. The rematch found Turpin TKO'd in 10 rounds as was Sugar's M.O. in his career if you won a decision the rematch was usually the opposite outcome.
Strong southpaws gave Sugar trouble also later in his career he fought I guy who I knew named Stan Harrington and Stan won two decision from Sugar and beat quite a few top contenders at that time. Stan was very strong and determined and fought Gavalin, Robinson, Ortega, Moyer and all the rest of the great WW thru Middles back then. Turpin was a popular guy to fight and that meant good live gates if you had a piece of the gate. If the gate percentage was in your earnings back then you wanted a popular opponent and the correct seating capacity to maximize your earnings. Ray

[jabsRstiff]

Randy was awkward, and awkward (but effective) guys will bother a classic boxer in a lot of situations. They do stuff that you can't train for and it is stuff that would get a schmoe off the street knocked silly....but they find a way to put it to use.

[TheGreatA]

Consider that Robinson's first fight against Turpin was his 5th contest inside a month. He had not prepared for the kind of a fighter he was about to face, a strong, awkward and ultimately very skilled fighter in Randy Turpin.

Turpin had no real weaknesses aside from his lack of focus at times but he was certainly focused to beat Robinson. He was no joke, Turpin had beaten Tommy Yarosz and went onto whip future heavyweight contender Don Cockell easily, probably in more impressive fashion than heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano did.

In the rematch Turpin still gave Robinson a competitive fight but to Sugar Ray's credit he did largely figure Turpin's style out by then and gave him a beating at the end. Only the cut would've allowed Turpin another win, otherwise it was going Robinson's way.

[Anthony342]

Randy was awkward, and awkward (but effective) guys will bother a classic boxer in a lot of situations. They do stuff that you can't train for and it is stuff that would get a schmoe off the street knocked silly....but they find a way to put it to use.

Is that why Holmes had trouble with Michael Spinks? Because Spinks always seemed kind of awkward to me.

[jabsRstiff]

Is that why Holmes had trouble with Michael Spinks? Because Spinks always seemed kind of awkward to me.

Absolutely.....Holmes wasn't ready for all of that energy coming from who the hell knows where.

[Sugarj]

Is that why Holmes had trouble with Michael Spinks? Because Spinks always seemed kind of awkward to me.

Also because Holmes was a little post prime too. Both fights were close though.

[raskat]

Turpin was a strong fighter who had the will to win and his style seemed to bother Sugar in their first bout won by Turpin by 15D. The rematch found Turpin TKO'd in 10 rounds as was Sugar's M.O. in his career if you won a decision the rematch was usually the opposite outcome.
Strong southpaws gave Sugar trouble also later in his career he fought I guy who I knew named Stan Harrington and Stan won two decision from Sugar and beat quite a few top contenders at that time. Stan was very strong and determined and fought Gavalin, Robinson, Ortega, Moyer and all the rest of the great WW thru Middles back then. Turpin was a popular guy to fight and that meant good live gates if you had a piece of the gate. If the gate percentage was in your earnings back then you wanted a popular opponent and the correct seating capacity to maximize your earnings. Ray

Turpin was not a southpaw though

[Ray Corso]

I didn't say he was. Ray

[Anthony342]

Also because Holmes was a little post prime too. Both fights were close though.

This is why I don't like Spinks to this day. He ruined Holmes' chance to retire undefeated and break Marciano's heavyweight record. Also why I was glad to see Tyson knock him out.