Sugar Ray Robinson

"Rhythm is everything in boxing. Every move you make starts with your heart, and that's in rhythm or you're in trouble."

"He boxed as though he were playing the violin."

"Robinson could deliver a knockout blow going backward."

"Robinson's repertoire, thrown with equal speed and power by either hand, includes every standard punch from a bolo to a hook—and a few he makes up on the spur of the moment."

"Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest."

"The king, the master, my idol."

"He come at me with two punches, a left and a right. I didn't know which hit me first. The punches didn't hurt me, but when I started to move, my legs wouldn't go with me, and I fell over on my head."

"That man was beautiful. Timing, speed, reflexes, rhythm, his body, everything was beautiful. And to me, still, I would say pound for pound...I'd say I'm the greatest heavyweight of all time, but pound for pound, I still say Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest of all time."

"He was a tremendous puncher, with either hand. Knock you dead puncher. Knock you dead. And a terrific finisher."

"Ray Robinson was the perfect fighter because he had no weakness. He had one greatest chins of all time. He was never really knocked out in a 25 year career. Another special thing about Robinson was how many times he was able to get off the floor to win. He always rose to the occasion."

"Don't give him a rematch. Because once you beat him that way, you'd be sure that the next time he'd adjust, and he'd know what to do."

"Nobody beat Ray twice until he was 40 years old. His intelligence, his versatility, and his will to win were the reasons he won all those rematches. He created a new place for the imagination of a fighter."

"He could knock you out going backwards. He could knock you out going forward. And that's why people remember him now as the greatest fighter we've ever had, pound for pound."

"His use of rhythm, his timing, his footwork. Ray Robinson was the greatest combination of speed and power that ever came together in one fighter."

"This man was the ultimate warrior in the ring. He was the ultimate dispatcher of a foe. He was a distance fighter, an in-fighter, very scientific, beautiful to see, and he made this brutal, uncivilized, barbaric sport ballet."