Sugar Ray Robinson was known for a lot of things in the boxing world, Robinson was an all round complete boxer who had every skill and trick in the book both offensively and defensively. Robinson really did not have any weaknesses in his game so it’s no surprise many are of the opinion he was the greatest boxer of all time.

The trick Robinson uses here is setting up his right hand. There are a couple of notable combinations which can do this and the one Robinson uses is the double jab, hook and cross. Let’s see why this combination is so effective to set up the right hand.

Firstly there is the matter of what I call occupation. Robinson uses his lead hand to occupy the back hand of the opponent. The double jab and hook serve to keep the opponents guard occupied and prevent the counter punch, in the video below you will see that Robinson keeps the right hand of his opponent busy by punching and this prevents the counter attack as the opponent needs to use the back hand now to block Robinsons three punches. In this case we see Bobo Olson(Robinsons opponent) pretty much defend the jabs but he gets hit by the left hook off the second jab.

Now by tagging Olson with the left hook, Robinson has successfully hit Olson into the direction of his oncoming right hand which also lands after the left hook, this is also what we call lining up the right hand. What we also see is how Robinson adds a little twist to the double jab, hook and cross by stepping to the left with his punches – so not only is Robinson keeping the opponents guard occupied but by also adding movement to the left the opponent is again being lined up for Robinsons right hand. The stepping to the left has aided Robinsons angle of attack and made it easier for him to land the right hand, combined with the punches beforehand to occupy the guard this is a beautiful little set up and Robinson shows smart ring IQ to pull off this move.