FUNDAMENTALS
LOST FIGHT: Sugar Ray Robinson UD 10 Henry Armstrong » August 27, 1943, Madison Square Garden, New York On a summer night at Madison Square Garden, 15,371 fans witnessed boxing history, a clash between fighters who Ring Magazine would later deem Nos. 1 and 2 in a special edition ranking the 80 best fighters of the last
MUST-READ: In Sunshine or in Shadow » By Donald McRae (Simon & Schuster UK, 2020)
Donald McRae’s In Sunshine or in Shadow delivers a masterful exploration of boxing’s enduring power to illuminate the human condition during society’s darkest chapters. This compelling work centers on Belfast’s boxing community during The Troubles, examining how the sweet science transcended sectarian violence
80 years. Sugar Ray Robinson, then a 22-year-old rising star with a 44-1 record, faced his boyhood idol, the fading but legendary Henry Armstrong. Robinson initially refused the fight, unable to bring himself to battle the man he’d worshipped as a child. Only when promoter Mike Jacobs convinced him that Armstrong desperately needed the payday did Robinson reluctantly agree. Robinson, towering over the 30-year-old “Homicide Hank,” systematically outboxed his hero while deliberately holding back. The young welterweight landed clean shots but pulled his punches, clinching whenever Armstrong appeared hurt, refusing to embarrass the former champion. Robinson swept all 10
through the extraordinary stories of Barry McGuigan, Hugh Russell, Davy Larmour and Charlie Nash. McRae focuses on these fighters and their legendary trainer Gerry Storey, whose Holy Family Boxing Club became a sanctuary where Catholic and Protestant boxers trained side by side. The author reveals how McGuigan’s rise to world featherweight champion symbolized hope for a divided nation, while Russell’s Olympic bronze medal offered proof that talent could flourish despite surrounding chaos. Larmour and Nash’s journeys demonstrate the personal costs and triumphs within this unique boxing brotherhood. The author’s
meticulous research shines through vivid character portraits that bring forgotten champions and overlooked warriors back into the spotlight. What sets this book apart is its unflinching examination of boxing’s contradictions, how a sport built on violence became a vehicle for progress. For boxing enthusiasts seeking
Robinson's respect for Armstrong (left) was immense.
rounds unanimously. When a reporter suggested Armstrong might have beaten Robinson in his prime, the aging warrior offered a candid response: “I couldn’t have handled Robinson on the best night I ever had.” That admission from a man who simultaneously held featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles makes us wonder: Was Armstrong being modest? Or did he recognize something transcendent in the young Robinson that even a prime “Hurricane Henry” couldn’t have weathered? Robinson would go on to become arguably the greatest boxer of all time, capturing the welterweight crown and claiming the middleweight title five times. Armstrong, despite announcing retirement after this defeat, couldn’t resist one final comeback, fighting until Valentine’s Day 1945, when a controversial loss to Chester Slider finally convinced him to hang up his gloves for good.
deeper understanding of the sport’s social significance, “In Sunshine or in Shadow” offers essential reading. McRae proves that the greatest fights have always been about more than championships; they’ve been about the indomitable human spirit refusing to surrender when everything seems lost.
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