June 25, 1952: Sugar Ray Robinson takes the biggest chance of his career.
He was called Walker Smith Jr. at birth, called Sugar Ray Robinson as a boxer, and called "pound-for-pound, the greatest boxer who ever lived" by many observers. He won the Welterweight Championship of the World in 1946, gave it up in 1950 to fight for the Middleweight Championship, and won that.
He was 129-1-2 for his career, the only loss coming in the 2nd of his 6th fights against former Middleweight Champion Jake LaMotta, before losing to British boxer Randy Turpin on July 10, 1951. On September 12, he regained the title. He followed that up with a decision over Carl "Bobo" Olson and a knockout of former Middleweight Champion Rocky Graziano.
Now, still holding that title, he tried to move up to the Light Heavyweight Championship. It was held by Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli, a 30-year-old Clevelander who fought under the name Joey Maxim. His pro career was just getting going when he was drafted into World War II, and he fought Army bouts while serving as a Military Policeman in Miami.
The wartime experience kept him from fighting real contenders, so he didn't get a title shot until January 24, 1950, against British boxer Freddie Mills, in London. It was no contest: Maxim didn't just knock Mills out, he knocked out 3 of his teeth. Mills never fought again. But before Robinson could take a chance and move up, Maxim did, challenging Ezzard Charles for the Heavyweight Championship. He went the distance, but lost by a unanimous decision.
The Maxim-Robinson fight was scheduled for Yankee Stadium on June 23, but it rained, and the fight was postponed for 2 days. For all intents and purposes, the weather was no better: New York had gone into a record heat wave.
During the fight, Robinson built up a large points lead over Maxiim, who began to come on later in the fight. Robinson gradually succumbed to the heat, and collapsed to the canvas at the end of the 13th round, but managed to stagger back to his corner. He failed to answer the bell at the start of the 14th, even though he only had to remain on his feet to win the fight, and Maxim won by a technical knockout. This was the only time that Robinson was stopped in his 200-fight career.
Ray Miller waved the fight over. He was the substitute referee: Ruby Goldstein, himself once a boxing contender, and generally regarded as the best ref in the business, had to drop out of the fight, due to the heat. And dozens of spectators also collapsed due to the heat. No deaths were recorded, though.
At this point, Maxim's career record was 79-17-4. But he was never the same fighter: He lost his next fight, to Archie Moore, who not only held the title for the next 10 years, but beat Maxim twice more. After losing 6 straight fights in 1957 and '58, Maxim retired, his final record being 83-28-4.
For the rest of his life, people told Maxim the only reason he lost is that Robinson couldn't handle the heat. "Maybe you think it wasn't hot for me," he told such people. He ran a restaurant and became a standup comic in Las Vegas. He lived until 2001.
Robinson was Middleweight Champion 5 different times, on and off, from 1951 to 1960. He retired in 1965, concentrating on running his famous Harlem restaurant, and died in 1989.
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June 25, 1952 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees, obviously on the road, lost to the St. Louis Browns, 10-9 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Vic Raschi didn't get out of the 3rd inning, but, pitching for the Browns, once-and-future Yankee Tommy Byrne didn't get out of the 2nd. Mickey Mantle went 2-for-4 with a walk.
* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at the Polo Grounds. Willie Mays was unavailable, due to serving in the Korean War.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1 at Ebbets Field. Carl Erskine went the distance for the win. Jackie Robinson went 1-for-4. Roy Campanella drove in all the Dodger runs with a home run.
* The Boston Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2 at Braves Field in Boston. The Braves would only win 37 more games before moving to Milwaukee.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-9 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-3 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Ted Williams was unavailable, due to serving in the Korean War.
* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 9-6 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. White Sox reliever Marv Grissom collapsed in the top of the 10th inning, giving up 3 walks and a single and suffering an error behind him, before being relieved by Bill Kennedy, who gave up 2 walks, all leading to 3 Senator runs.
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