Sugar Ray Robinson tried to avoid his fight with Jimmy Doyle in 1947, fearing that the challenger would not walk out of the bout. He was right.
The legendary fighter, who is regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, racked up 109 knockouts in 174 wins in his career, giving him one of the most impressive records you’ll ever see.
While many of them were spectacular, one-punch finishes that had the crowd on their feet, none of Sugar Ray Robinson’s wins even come close to the horror that was his 1947 victory over Jimmy Doyle.
What seemed like a standard victory of an up-and-coming fighter soon turned into one of the worst days of both men’s lives.
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Sugar Ray Robinson killed Jimmy Doyle in the ring during their fight
One of the most tragic moments in boxing history was Doyle’s death at the hands of Robinson in a freak accident on June 25, 1947.
The pair faced off in a world title fight, with Sugar Ray putting his titles on the line against the challenger, who was just 22 years old and early in his career in the ring.
However, it all came to a tragic end in the eighth round. Robinson landed a brutal left hook on Doyle that knocked him to the ground, but he managed to use the ropes to get to his feet by the nine count. However, Doyle’s corner had seen enough and called the fight, not wanting to see him take any more punishment.
Sadly, there was little they could do. Doctors checked with Doyle in the ring as he fell into unconsciousness, remaining prone and knocked out in the ring as Robinson and the crowd watched on with concern.
Doyle was taken to the hospital after the fight, but there was little that could be done. He was given his last rites by a priest as he was rushed to the hospital.
The California fighter had taken too much punishment in his career that he couldn’t even get a boxing license in his home state, which is why the fight with Robinson took place in Cleveland.
Doyle died that night, aged just 22. Distraught with what had happened, Robinson vowed to take care of Doyle’s mother, using the earnings of his next four fights to buy her a house to make up for what he did to her son.
It was something Robinson saw coming in his dreams the night before.
Sugar Ray Robinson had a dream that he killed the opponent before the fight
In an interview years after the fight, Robinson revealed that he had a dream that he killed Doyle in the ring, which came true that one fateful night in 1947.
He was later convinced to take the fight, but with the dream still in the back of his mind, the bout went exactly as he expected in the most tragic way.
Robinson struggled for the rest of his career, no longer putting that power behind his punches through fear of killing another man.
Robinson said: “I dreamed in my sleep that I knocked him out and he died in the ring. I hit him with a left hook, and he died right there in the ring.
“It’s trouble when you have a premonition before. I had a premonition that this was going to happen/ For a long time, I couldn’t fight. When I started again, I couldn’t hit a man hard. I was very trying.”
He did manage to fight for another 18 years after the Doyle fight, so Robinson did find it in himself to continue his career following the tragedy.