Art & Creativity Quote by Dick Schaap

Schaap lands the punch before you even see it coming: “dealing with Sugar Ray was a lot like fighting him.” It’s sportswriting as character sketch, and it works because it treats conversation like a ring. Ray isn’t just evasive; he’s strategically evasive. The line borrows the vocabulary of boxing (“fake you in,” “drop you”) to translate a familiar journalist’s frustration into something mythic: even in negotiation, the champ is still dictating distance, tempo, and outcome.

The intent is slyly double-edged. On the surface, Schaap is confessing how hard it was to pin down an elusive subject for “articles” or a “book.” Underneath, he’s admiring the professionalism of that elusiveness. Ray’s genius wasn’t only physical; it was psychological. The fake isn’t merely a lie, it’s an invitation - a moment where you think rapport is forming, that access is being granted. Then comes the “drop”: the sudden disappearance, the canceled plan, the broken promise. The journalist realizes he’s not interviewing a man so much as trying to corner a style.

Context matters here. Schaap came from an era when sportswriters were gatekeepers and confidants, trading proximity for flattering portrayal. His line admits the bargain can invert: the athlete, especially a star like Sugar Ray Robinson, becomes the one controlling the story by controlling access. It’s also a neat comment on celebrity itself - charisma as misdirection, charm as footwork, and the hard truth that the public persona can outbox anyone who tries to claim it on the page.