Texan Robin Blake lit up the lightweight division in the 1980s, his thrilling, all-action style seeing him to memorable wins in memorable fights. Southpaw Blake, known as “Rockin’” Robin, also had a fine amateur career, with him boxing some 300 bouts. Going pro in August of 1981, this at age 19, Blake would thrill fans with his often amazing punch output and his willingness to engage in slugfests, this in fights against the likes of Chris Calvin, Tony Baltazar, Melvin Paul, Jimmy Paul, and later, Meldrick Taylor.
In reaching a 22-0 record by September of 1983, this an incredible rate of fighting – Blake often fighting twice a month – the warrior from Lubbock, Texas lost two fights back-to-back. Tyrone Crawley and Harry Arroyo decisioned a “burnt out” Blake, with Blake today also saying he was forced to fight at an almost insanely dangerous rate, with not anything like enough time given to him to rest. Blake got his one and only shot at a world title in June of 1985, when he challenged Kronk fighter Jimmy Paul for the IBF title. Paul stopped Blake in the 14th round of yet another gruelling fight.
From there on, it was downhill for Blake, “used up” as he says he was, this by managers who sometimes even scheduled a fight, and sold tickets to the bout, without his knowledge. Blake fought on until 1990, with his final record reading 33-8(21). He was stopped four times. It’s fair to say Blake left the sport with a sour taste in his mouth, but he found satisfaction in becoming a police officer, this a job he continued to love doing until he retired in February of this year.
Blake, who doesn’t give any indication of the wars he went through in the ring, his speech clear and his memory sharp, kindly looks back on his ring career with Eastside Boxing.
Q: You had such an exciting style. You loved to fight?
Robin Blake. “Yes, sir. When I was 15, I won the Junior Olympics. After that, at 16, I won the Texas Golden Gloves. I travelled around the world with the United States boxing team, and I fought in lots of international bouts. Then I turned pro in 1981, and I did what my management wanted me to do, they kept me going and I would fight anyone they put in front of me.”
Q: Looking at your pro record, it’s an amazing rate you fought at, with you sometimes fighting twice a month…..
R.B: “What happened was, they [my team] sprang on me how I was to fight in just three weeks. This was after my fight with Melvin Paul (a stoppage win for Blake in September of 1983). We had a party after the Paul fight, and then they told me I was to fight against Tyrone Crawley in my hometown. I didn’t know anything about this fight that was coming up. My body was eating me up after the fight with Melvin Paul. I was so tired. 22 fights which I won, and then they pushed that 23rd fight on me. If you look at my record, one time I fought in Memphis, and that same weekend I flew to Las Vegas to fight there. I was just a go-getter, I kept the money flowing. They only gave me enough money to pay my bills……I certainly didn’t get rich.
“So, after I had fought Paul, I had to go through with the Crawley fight, they had told me they had sold out the fight. So there was no backing out. I wanted to fight Ray Mancini at this time, I had earned my shot. But against Crawley, I knew I was gonna lose, it just wasn’t in me. And then, three months after that fight, they had me in the ring with Harry Arroyo, who was another fantastic fighter. I was so tired, but I thought I beat Arroyo, but they gave him the decision. Then I started becoming a stepping stone for other guys. Thankfully I was smart enough to hang up the gloves. I went back to school and I became a police officer.”
Q: You do feel strongly things would have been way different for your career had your management guided you differently, at not such a breakneck pace?
R.B: “Yeah, oh yeah. And the thing is, some guys [fighters] don’t know when to quit and retire. And I’ve got to be honest with you, towards the end of my career, I started to like getting hit with those punches. I started getting hit a lot and I actually began to like it. But then I realised, this ain’t the name of the game. I got out and I became a police officer here in my second hometown of Odessa, Texas.”
Q: You were a box-office hit, your fights getting big TV numbers.
R.B: “Yes. I fought under the Gorman Super Pros in Fort Worth. We had Donald Curry, Gene Hatcher, Stevie Cruz, Troy Dorsey. They all became a world champion, and if they [my management] had been more careful with me, I would have been a world champion myself. If you look at the other guys’ records, Curry, Dorsey and the others, you will not see them fighting every three weeks. Me, I was always in top shape, but here’s the thing: it’s the mental side of boxing that wins you fights. That’s where it went bad for me.
“And after I lost, I didn’t think I could beat anyone. It was like that all the time from there on, with my mind playing tricks with me, and I lost all confidence in myself and in the people that were handling me. It was just a disaster. I was on a roll, and we were already in negotiations with the Mancini camp for a world title fight. And that would have been a big money fight. When at that time did you ever see two white fighters fighting for a title? I’m not racist at all, but you just didn’t see it. And here’s the thing, If I’d had my rest and everything, Mancini, at the time, he was ready to be beaten. But unknown to me, when the Crawley people saw how I was fighting, they knew I was ready to be beaten! And they took advantage of it, and my manager allowed it. I even called Bob Arum, and I told him I wasn’t ready for that fight, and he said, ‘Oh, Robin, Tyrone Crawley can’t hit.’ I told him I was tired, that I needed to rest before getting ready for Mancini. He wouldn’t let me, you know why? Because they [Top Rank] already had their money invested. You know how much I got paid for the Crawley fight? I only got $50,000. I had to pay a third of that to my management and my trainer. But Mancini, I think he would have been perfect for me, with his style.”
Q: You never became a world champion but you beat some good fighters, and again, you were so exciting.
R.B: “Yeah, despite all that happened, with me not being taken care of [by my management], they were the good old days. Tony Baltazar was a good fighter, and that was a good win. Let me explain, they were ALL good fighters that I fought. The only thing that beat me was my mental state, with me beating myself. When you get in that ring, you have to really, truly believe you’re gonna win. But I never said no to any fight, well, I couldn’t! Today, I still get asked for autographs and the fans still respect me, so that’s all right by me (smiling). And I must tell you, all the guys – myself, Crawley, Mancini, Paul – I like to think that we set the stage for all these guys who are fighting today, because they’re making millions. We didn’t make millions. Well, not me (laughs).”
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