Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard
Retired Professional Champion Boxer
Ray Charles Leonard burst onto the international scene by winning the light-welterweight gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
Named Fighter of the Decade for the 1980s, he is widely considered to be one of the best boxers of all time, winning world titles at multiple weights and engaging in contests with such celebrated opponents as Wilfred Benitez, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler. He is considered to be one of the best thinkers in boxing history. He analyzed his opponents and devised a strategy to overcome them.
He was named after the singing legend Ray Charles and given the nickname "Sugar" by one of his amateur coaches in his hometown of Palmer Park, Maryland.
He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1985.
Ray suffered a detached retina in 1982 causing him to retire from boxing and take a job commentating for HBO. He returned to the ring eight times before retiring for good and started a boxing promotion company.
In 2005, he joined forces with ex-British paratrooper & reality TV mogul Mark Burnett to create The Contender. With movie star Sylvester Stallone also on board, The Contender gives an insight to the hopes and fears of young professional prize-fighters as they compete for a $1 million prize and a headline-grabbing main event in Las Vegas. It was of particular importance to Leonard, as he wanted the public to see that although he had all the trappings of success, such as wealth and glory, the road to the top was filled with setbacks and problems, both physically & emotionally, which he himself had to overcome in his boxing days.
Ray Leonard still remains in the public eye to this day, and his legacy as one of the sport's greatest exponents means that his place in boxing history is forever secure.
He has appeared as himself in a number of television shows. Click here for his filmography.