Sport: Crowned

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For more than four years, Sugar Ray Robinson had been known as the uncrowned welterweight champion of the world, the man the champions were afraid to fight. Last week his big chance was at hand: Champ Marty Servo had retired with a bad nose. As No. 1 boxer-in-waiting, Sugar Ray had only to beat fellow Negro Tommy Bell to get the title. Sugar Ray's good friend Joe Louis dropped into his dressing room in Madison Square Garden with some advice: "You got to pace yourself, because you can get awful tired in 15 rounds." A few minutes later, 15,670 fans saw Sugar Ray Robinson, a 5-to-1 favorite, knocked to the floor in the second round.

Sugar Ray got up slowly, and with a lot more respect for Tommy Bell's left hook. For six rounds, he followed Louis' advice, relying on jab-&-retreat rather than toe-to-toe mayhem. When he finally cut loose in the eleventh, Robinson had Bell glassy-eyed and ready for a K.O.—but lacked the strength to drive home the finishing punch. After hearing himself announced as new welterweight champ, Sugar Ray stood in his corner, dog-tired and happy, but not quite the world-beater he was cracked up to be.