Boxer Tried to Pull Out of Title Fight after Death Premonition That Came True

A boxer tried his best to pull out of a fight in 1947 as he dreamed he’d kill his opponent in the ring.

Sugar Ray Robinson woke up in a cold sweat shortly before his fight with Jimmy Doyle, which proved to be the latter’s last.

The world welterweight king wanted out of the fight following a dream that he knocked Doyle to the canvas and he never woke back up.

“I woke up in a cold sweat, yellin’ for Jimmy to get up – get up – get up! My yellin’ woke me up, I guess,” Robinson once recalled.

“And the sight of Jimmy lyin’ there on the canvas in the dream seemed so real that I had the jitters when I woke up. And I couldn’t go back to sleep.

“I just laid there, tossin’ around in bed... And I felt lousy the next day. And in the back of my mind I felt scared every time I thought about the coming fight.”

Robinson was convinced to fight

The fight went ahead as a priest was summoned to assure Robinson that ‘it was only a dream’.

Robinson won his first title defence with an eighth-round knockout after a devastating left hook as Doyle crashed to the mat.

However, Doyle’s head bounced off the canvas with a nasty thud that knocked him unconscious, and he ultimately passed away hours after the fight owing to a brain injury.

Doyle became the first fighter to die in a world title fight, which saw Robinson donate the earnings from his next fights to the former’s mother in order to purchase a house.

Sugar Ray was exonerated following the death of Doyle (Image: Getty)

Robinson was exonerated of all blame for Doyle’s death, and it was later revealed that Doyle had suffered several severe knockouts in earlier fights, which saw the California boxing commission refuse to sanction his bouts.

The dangers of boxing

Doyle’s passing in 1947 serve to highlight the dangers of boxing, which rings true to this day.

Gabriel Olanrewagu died after collapsing during a fight in Ghana back in March this year, while Japanese duo Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa passed away owing to injuries sustained in the ring back in August.

Kotari and Urakawa both died following injuries during a fight on the same card in an event in Tokyo.

“The WBO mourns the passing of Japanese boxer Hiromasa Urakawa, who tragically succumbed to injuries sustained during his fight against Yoji Saito on August 2 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo,” a WBO statement read at the time.

“This heartbreaking news comes just days after the passing of Shigetoshi Kotari, who died from injuries suffered in his fight on the same card. We extend our deepest condolences to the families, friends, and the Japanese boxing community during this incredibly difficult time.”