George Costner

George "Sugar" Costner (July 22, 1923—October 29, 2002) was a professional boxer. Costner fought for the welterweight championship in 1950. [http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=011079 George Costner] , boxrec.com, accessed June 6, 2007. ]

Costner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and started his career 70–9–5. In 1950, Costner fought Sugar Ray Robinson for the middleweight title. Costner, by the time had taken to calling himself "Sugar" and stated in the weeks leading up to the fight that he was the rightful deserver of the name. However, Robinson, who is widely considered one of the greatest fighters in history disagreed. "We better touch gloves, because this is the only round," Robinson said as the fighters were introduced at the center of the ring. "Your name ain't Sugar, mine is."Anderson, Dave. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6DE143EF930A25757C0A96F948260 Sports of the Times; The Original Sugar Ray 'Never Lost'] , "The New York Times", April 13, 1989, accessed April 10, 2008. ] Robinson then knocked Costner out in 2 minutes and 49 seconds. Afterward, Robinson reportedly told Costner, " [n] ow go out and earn yourself the name." [Randolph, Bert. [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/classic/news/story?id=2824208 Boxing's Greatest Fighters: Sugar Ray Leonard] , espn.com, April 3, 2007, accessed June 6, 2007. ] In his next fight Costner fought future Hall of Famer Kid Gavilan, and won in a controversial 10 round decision. After two more fights, Costner retired in 1950 with a 73–10–5 record.

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