Ultimate Classic Boxing on Fight Network USA ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson vs. Ralph ‘Tiger’ Jones Sunday, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. ET |
NEW YORK (Jan. 14, 2015) – Fight Network USA will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Ralph “Tiger” Jones‘ major upset of legendary “Sugar” Ray Robinson, arguably the greatest boxer of all-time, by airing their fight this Sunday night (Jan. 18) as part of its Ultimate Classic Boxing series from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET.
Fight Network is the world’s premier combat sports network dedicated to 24/7 coverage, including fights, fighters, fight news and fight lifestyle. The channel is available in the U.S. on Cablevision in parts of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, Texas-based Grande Communications, Armstrong Cable in Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, as well as on Shentel Cable in Virginia, West Virginia and portions of western Maryland. Fight Network is also on Roku set top boxes throughout America, and streaming live on website KlowdTV.com.
Robinson was a multiple world welterweight and middleweight champion, when there were only eight weight classes, during his illustrious 25-year professional boxing career (1940-1965) in which he compiled an eye-opening 173-19-6 (108 KOs) record. The flashy Hall of Famer had an incredible 132-3-2 record when he fought Jones (32-12-3) on Jan. 19, 1955 at Chicago Stadium.
Robinson retired in 1952 after being stopped for the first time in his career by world light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim, when “Sugar Ray” was unable to continue after 13 rounds due to heat prostration from fighting outdoors at Yankee Stadium in 104 degree heat (Robinson led 10-3, 9-3-1 and 7-3-3 in rounds scored). At 33, Robinson came out of retirement 2 ½ years later and the Jones fight was the second of his comeback.
Jones, known as a very aggressive fighter, upset Robinson in this fight by way of a one-sided 10-round decision (100-88, 99-94, 98-89). The New Yorker went on to upset two other Hall of Famers, Joey Giardello and Kid Gavilan.
Later that same year in 1955, Robinson defeated Carl “Bobo” Olson for the world middleweight title, something he did on two other occasions before he finally retired for good. Jones never got a world title shot. Robinson died in 1989 at the age of 67, Jones in 1994 at 66.
Also airing this Sunday evening on Fight Network, starting at 11:00 p.m. ET onBanner: Best of the Decade is undefeated WBA and WBO super featherweight champion Acelino “Popo” Freitas (32-0) successfully defending his world title belts March 15, 2003 against challenger Juan Carlos “El Ranchero” Ramirez (29-4) with a fourth-round technical knockout at UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
This Sunday night’s boxing on Fight Network starts at 7:30 p.m. ET with KOTV Boxing Weekly, which covers all the latest news in professional boxing, features full recent fights and highlights. Sandwiched between Robinson vs. Jones and Freitas vs. Ramirez from 9:00 p.m. ET-11:00 p.m. ET is a replay of the European super featherweight title fight between Devis “Boom Boom” Boschiero (32-1-1) and Samir Kasmi (15-9-1) from March 23, 2013 in Veneto, Italy.
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