Sugar Ray Robinson Award#1980s

{{Short description|American boxing award}}

{{Infobox sports award

| name = Sugar Ray Robinson Award

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| sport = Boxing

| givenfor = "Fighter of the Year"

| presenter = Boxing Writers Association of America

| country = U.S.

| first =1938

| firstwinner =

| mostrecent =

| url =

}}

The Sugar Ray Robinson Award, known alternatively as the Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year Award and previously known as the Edward J. Neil Trophy, has been conferred annually since 1938 by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

History

The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) first presented the trophy in 1938. The original purpose of the trophy was to recognize "an individual who did the most for boxing in the previous year."

The ** mark indicates the boxer was not active in the year he actually won the award. Over time, the award went strictly to the best fighter of each year as decided by the BWAA. The members of the BWAA vote to decide the best boxer each year regardless of weight class or nationality.

The award was previously named for Edward J. Neil, an Associated Press sportswriter and war correspondent who was killed in 1938 while reporting on the Spanish Civil War.[http://www.bwaa.org/contact.htm About the BWAA] The 2009 award was renamed after boxing great Sugar Ray Robinson. The "Fighter of the Year" award is presented with other honors given by the BWAA at an annual awards dinner.

Starting with the 1990s, the BWAA also began to give an award for "Joe Louis Fighter of the Decade." The winners of this award are listed in a separate section.

Past recipients

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Joe Louis Fighter of the Decade

See also

References

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