Masonic Biographies
Sugar Ray Robinson
Born: Tuesday, 03 May 1921
Died: Wednesday, 12 April 1989
Sugar Ray Robinson was a boxer, celebrity, and Freemason whose strength and magnanimity in victory reflected his deeply held Masonic values.
Sugar Ray Robinson is one of the most famous boxers in American history. His boxing record of 173 wins, 19 loses, and 6 draws is almost unrivaled in the history of the sport. Born Walker Smith Jr. in 1921, Robinson moved with his parents from Georgia to New York City where he attained professional status early in his boxing career.
Entering the sport of boxing in the ninth grade, Robinson's natural talent quickly became apparent. His prowess in the ring earned him the reputation as being "as sweet as sugar," and he subsequently changed his name to "Sugar Ray Robinson" in 1939. Robinson's strength and magnanimity in victory reflected his deeply held masonic values, as Brother Sugar Ray was a Prince Hall Freemason.
Many episodes in Sugar Ray’s life demonstrated evidence his virtues and high moral character. During World War II, Robinson participated in mulitiple exhibition matches against famous boxers in order to inspire and motivate the troops to fight against the evils of Nazism. In his later career, Sugar Ray would fight a big title match against Jimmy Doyle, another famous boxer of the time. He would have a premonition that his opponent would die in the ring, and Brother Robinson initially refused to fight.
Unfortunately for his opponent, a priest was able to convince Robinson that such a premonition should be ignored. However, his premonition became reality in the 6th round of the match. A responisible and charitable Freemason, Brother Sugar Ray proceeded to take care of his opponent's family by providing them with financial support and enough money to purchase a new house.
Throughout his life, Robinson gave freely to the sacred cause of Charity, often donating his entire pool of winnings to worthy causes such as cancer research. His masonic character and activities were and are a credit to the Craft. To this day, Brother Sugar Ray is remembered and honored as one of the boxing greats, and a Mason of the highest caliber.
