Being Sugar Ray: The Life of Sugar Ray Robinson, America’s Greatest Boxer and First Celebrity Athlete

And in this corner, hailing from Black Bottom, Detroit by way of Harlem, with more victories than Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali combined, the greatest fighter-pound for pound-of all time: Sugar Ray Robinson. If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery then there should be little doubt Sugar Ray Robinson is the greatest and most influential American boxer of all time. Fighters (and the occasional alt-rock band) have been adopting his name, and trying to imitate his inimitable fighting style for decades. Sugar Ray Robinson transcended race and sport to become a celebrity athlete in a way that no one-white or black-had accomplished before him. From his business empire to his prized flamingo pink Cadillac, described as the Hope Diamond of Harlem, Kenneth Shropshire shows Sugar Ray was the trailblazer whom every athlete since has been trying, consciously or otherwise, to emulate.

Kenneth Shropshire is the David W. Hauck Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Director of the school’s Sports Business Initiative. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, as well as on NPR’s ＂All Things Considered,＂ ESPN’s ＂Outside the Lines,＂ and ABC’s ＂Nightline.＂ His previous books include The Business of Sports, In Black and White: Race and Sports in America, and Basketball Jones: America Above the Rim. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and their children.