Sweet Thunder

As several earlier biographies already attest, Sugar Ray Robinson is widely considered the greatest “pound-for-pound” boxer of all time, and the archetype of the modern celebrity athlete. But unlike his mentor Joe Louis, his heir apparent Muhammad Ali and his longtime rival Jake Lamotta, the showbiz-obsessed Robinson still hasn’t received the biopic treatment. This oversight is not lost on Sweet Thunder author Wil Haygood, who recounts the great welterweight’s travails with an eye toward the bigger picture (and the supporting cast). Haygood, a Washington Post writer who authored 2003’s Sammy Davis bio In Black and White, augments his story with sketches of Lena Horne, Langston Hughes and Miles Davis—midcentury black entertainers whose penetration of the broader culture roughly paralleled (and intersected with) Robinson’s. Haywood argues that the apolitical but uncompromising fighter was a pivotal, if unwitting, agent of change during those last years before civil rights. Even more convincing, the author makes the case that Robinson brought just as much artistry to the ring as his entertainer friends brought to their respective fields.

Despite its breadth, Sweet Thunder is confoundingly thin in certain key areas. Robinson’s early years are given short shrift, while his two sons are mentioned only in passing. The book finds its stride, though, in its telling of Robinson’s experiences during World War II, when he and Joe Louis were both recruited by the Army. Disenfranchised by his experiences in segregated Southern barracks, the then-rising star claimed amnesia after going AWOL during a return home to New York. An honorable discharge enabled him to resume his title aspirations, but the episode cast a murky pall over his career.

Haywood’s prose has a self-consciously jazzy gait, as if he intends for his words to be consumed to a soundtrack of Billy Eckstine and Count Basie, Robinson’s musical idols. While this initially comes across as cloying, it gradually becomes unnoticeable and appropriate.—Jesse Serwer

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