Editing Sugar Ray Robinson (section)

==Early life==
Robinson was born Walker Smith Jr. in [[Ailey, Georgia]], to Walker Smith Sr. and Leila Hurst.<ref name="Pop">Robinson and Anderson, p. 7.</ref> Robinson was the youngest of three children; his eldest sister Marie was born in 1917, and his other sister Evelyn in 1919. His father was a cotton, peanut, and corn farmer in Georgia, who moved the family to Detroit where he initially found work in construction.<ref name="Pop"/> According to Robinson, Smith Sr. later worked two jobs to support his family—cement mixer and sewer worker. "He had to get up at six in the morning and he'd get home close to midnight. Six days a week. The only day I really saw him was Sunday{{nbsp}}... I always wanted to be with him more."<ref>Robinson and Anderson, pp. 8–9.</ref>

His parents separated, and he moved with his mother to [[Harlem]] at the age of 12. Robinson originally aspired to be a doctor, but after dropping out of [[DeWitt Clinton High School]] (in [[the Bronx]]) in ninth grade, he switched his goal to boxing.<ref>Robinson and Anderson, p. 5.</ref>

When he was 14, he attempted to enter his first boxing tournament, but was told he first needed an [[Amateur Athletic Union|AAU]] membership card—which he could not legally procure until he was 16.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.myblackhistory.net/Sugar_Ray.htm |title=Sugar Ray Robinson |website=BHA |access-date=April 20, 2022}}</ref> He circumvented the AAU's age requirement by using an ID card from a youth named Ray Robinson, who had quit boxing. So, Walker began his amateur fighting career under that name—and it stuck.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.westadamsheritage.org/read/457 | title=Sugar Ray Robinson: Greatest welterweight and middleweight boxer of the 20th century |website=[[West Adams Heritage Association]]}}</ref><ref name="stamping">{{cite press release| url=http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2006/sr06_011.htm| title=Sugar Ray Robinson Returns to the Ring to a 'Stamping Ovation' of 100 Million| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606034623/http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2006/sr06_011.htm| archive-date=June 6, 2011| publisher=[[United States Postal Service|U.S. Postal Service]]| date=April 7, 2006| access-date=January 18, 2021}}</ref> Later, when a lady in the audience at a fight in [[Watertown, New York]], said he was "sweet as sugar," the name "Sugar Ray Robinson" was born.<ref name="businessman">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930065751/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,806051,00.html Businessman Boxer], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', June 25, 1951, Retrieved June 6, 2007.</ref><ref name="Sportscentury"/>

Robinson idolized [[Henry Armstrong]] and [[Joe Louis]] as a youth, and actually had lived on the same block as Louis in [[Detroit]] when Robinson was 11 and Louis was 17.<ref name="businessman"/> Outside the ring, Robinson got into trouble frequently as a youth, and was involved with a street gang.<ref name="businessman"/> He married at 16. The couple had one son, [[Ronnie Robinson (roller derby)|Ronnie]], and divorced when Robinson was 19.<ref name="businessman"/>

He reportedly finished his amateur career with an 85–0 record with 69 knockouts – 40 coming in the first round, though this has been disputed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016440.html |title=A brooding genius |last=Schwartz |first=Larry |website=ESPN |access-date=September 12, 2013}}</ref> He won the New York [[Golden Gloves]] [[featherweight]] championship in 1939 (defeating Louis Valentine on points in 3 rounds), and the New York Golden Gloves [[lightweight]] championship in 1940 (defeating Andy Nonella by KO in 2).<ref name="stamping"/>