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Ray Charles Leonard (born
May 17, 1956) is a retired
American professional boxer. He
was one of the leading boxers
in the world in the late 1970s
and 1980s, 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 was
named after the singing legend
Ray Charles. Leonard was given
the nickname "Sugar" by one of
his amateur coaches in his
hometown of Palmer Park,
Maryland.
 Personal
Ray's older brother, Roger
Leonard, was also a
professional boxer, as well as
an amateur standout. He
frequently found on the
undercard of Ray's bouts .
Amateur
career
Sugar Ray Leonard had an
extremely successful amateur
career, winning several
championships, three Golden
Gloves, 5 gold medals, 1
silver, and 1 bronze, two AAU
championships, and a gold medal
at the 1975 Pan American Games.
His amateur career culminated
in an Olympic gold medal at the
1976 Summer Olympics in
Montreal, Quebec, where Leonard
was a member of what is
considered to be the best
American Olympic boxing team
ever. Fighting as a junior
welterweight, Sugar Ray
finished his amateur career
with a record of 145-5, with 75
KO's. After winning the gold
medal, Leonard told
sportscaster Howard Cosell he
was quitting boxing for
good.
Turning
professional
After this success, Leonard
wanted to attend the University
of Maryland. However, his
father became ill and his
family needed money. With no
endorsement contracts coming
his way, Leonard announced his
intention to become a pro
boxer.
Angelo Dundee, Muhammad Ali's
trainer, was brought in to be
Leonard's co-trainer. Long-time
coaches Janks Morton, Dave
Jacobs and lawyer Mike Trainer
made up the rest of Leonard's
team. Promoted by ABC TV as
their replacement for the aging
Ali, Leonard made $40,000 for
his first professional fight
(then a record) against Puerto
Rican Luis Vega. The fight was
televised nationally on CBS-TV,
and the novice Leonard won by a
6 round unanimous decision.
Leonard won his first 25 pro
fights. In Sugar Ray's most
impressive performance to date,
he knocked out Pete Ranzany in
four rounds to win the North
American Boxing Federation
(NABF) welterweight
championship. This bout took
place in August 1979. A month
later, a 1st round KO of
respected contender Andy Price
followed. Price had won his
last four bouts, three of them
in 1979, but was decisively
beaten by Leonard. Leonard then
signed to meet Wilfred Benitez
for the WBC welterweight title
in November.
WBC World
Champion
In a highly competitive battle,
Leonard became world champion
with a technical knockout in
round 15, with the referee
stopping the fight in Leonard's
favor with 6 seconds left.
Leonard led by 2, 4, and 7
points on the three judges'
scorecard at the time of the
stoppage.
In March 1980, Leonard won his
first defense by easily beating
British challenger Dave "Boy"
Green in four rounds in
Landover, Maryland. Green had
been a very busy fighter,
having fought 6 times in 1979,
winning 5 of them.
Roberto
Duran
Next, Leonard went back to the
Olympic Stadium in Montreal to
defend his title against former
lightweight champion Roberto
Duran, in the first superfight
of the 1980s. In a long,
grueling contest, mostly fought
against the ropes or in
corners, the more experienced
Duran outmauled Leonard and
captured a close, but unanimous
decision. Leonard surprised
many observers by standing
flat-footed with the Panamanian
slugger.
Their rematch was held in New
Orleans on November 25, 1980.
This time around, Leonard used
far more lateral movement and
jabs, staying off the ropes
whenever possible. In round 7,
Leonard taunted Duran, dropping
his arms and winding up with a
bolo punch. Neither fighter had
absorbed much punishment, but
Leonard had a narrow lead on
all three scorecards after 7
rounds. In round 8, Duran
turned around, walked to his
corner and gave up. Although
Duran is widely remembered for
the now famous words, "no más,"
he never actually said them. It
was actually commentator Howard
Cosell who uttered the phrase.
Regardless, the sports world
was stunned by Duran's actions.
The controversy regarding this
bout and Duran's motivation for
quitting continues to this day.
However, in an interview with
ESPN, Duran had stated that he
had started to get stomach
cramps and felt it better to
quit now than suffer through
it.
But Leonard was a world
champion again and, after
avenging his only defeat, once
more was on top of the boxing
world.
In March 1981, Leonard scored a
routine 10th round TKO of
unheralded Larry Bonds in a
welterweight title defense.
A second world title, and "The
Showdown" with Thomas
Hearns
On June 25, 1981, Leonard
fought undefeated Ayub Kalule,
world junior middleweight
champion. Kalule gave Leonard a
tough fight, but Sugar Ray won
via a 9th round TKO.
Undefeated arch-rival Thomas
Hearns, meanwhile, was tearing
apart the welterweight division
and had won the WBA world title
by knocking out Pipino Cuevas.
Hearns seemed unbeatable,
having scored 30 KO's in 32
fights. A unification bout was
set for September 16, 1981,
once again at Caesar's
Palace.
Hearns unexpectedly weighed in
at a very light 145 pounds,
causing many to speculate he
over-trained. "The Showdown"
was televised on closed-circuit
and pay-per-view outlets
throughout the world.
Hearns controlled the early
rounds with his jab, keeping
Leonard off-balance. In the
middle rounds, Leonard got
inside and seriously hurt
Hearns with left hooks. From
rounds 8-12, Hearns rebounded
and took charge by becoming the
boxer, using side-to-side
movement, steady jabs and
occasional right crosses.
Leonard's left eye, injured
during a sparring session two
weeks earlier, began to swell
up. By the end of round 12 it
was almost completely
closed.
Warned by trainer Angelo Dundee
that he was "blowing it,"
Leonard roared out in the 13th
round and seriously hurt Hearns
with a barrage of punches and
knocked him down. Hearns barely
survived the round. In the
14th, a combination of blows
prompted the referee to stop
the fight. At the time of the
stoppage, all 3 judges had
Hearns ahead on points. Leonard
was now the undisputed
welterweight champion, and had
greatly increased his
popularity and respect among
sports fans.
Sugar Ray was later named
Fighter of the Year by Ring
Magazine for 1981, and they
also tabbed his fight with
Hearns as Fight of the Year. In
addition, Ray was named ABC's
Wide World of Sports Athlete of
the Year.
Eye
Injury
In February 1982 Leonard KO'd
Bruce Finch in the 3rd round to
retain his undisputed title.
However, Leonard's next defense
against Roger Stafford in May
had to be canceled. A few days
before the bout, doctors
discovered Leonard had suffered
a detached retina in his left
eye, and he underwent surgery
at Johns Hopkins hospital to
repair the problem. The boxing
world had to wait 6 months for
Leonard to announce his future
boxing plans. His future plans
generated much speculation.
Retirement
and 1st
comeback
In November 1982, after
consulting with doctors,
friends and family, Sugar Ray
invited Hagler and other boxing
dignitaries to a charity event
in Baltimore, Maryland.
Standing in a boxing ring with
ABC's Howard Cosell nearby,
Leonard announced his
retirement, saying a bout with
Hagler would unfortunately
never happen. Leonard
maintained his eye was fully
healed, but that he just didn't
want to box anymore. In
retirement, Leonard continued
to be a commentator on HBO
& CBS boxing contests, and
performed other assignments for
them. He also did more
endorsements.
Missing the limelight, and the
big purses of boxing, Leonard
announced in December 1983 that
he was returning to the ring.
This was the first of what
would be several boxing
comebacks during his career.
Leonard boasted that he would
re-claim his welterweight
titles, and then take on Aaron
Pryor, Donald Curry, Milton
McCrory, Duran, Hearns and
finally Hagler. This decision
was met with a torrent of
criticism from fans and the
media, who felt Leonard was
taking unnecessary risks with
his surgically repaired
eye.
A bout with Philadelphia's
Kevin Howard was scheduled for
February 1984 in Worcester,
Massachusetts. This was
postponed until May 11th when
Leonard had minor corrrective
surgery on his right eye. This
latest eye injury further
fueled the flames of those who
opposed Leonard's comeback.
The Leonard-Howard bout was
televised live on HBO. Howard
knocked Leonard flat on his
back in the 4th round . The
fight had a disputed ending,
with the referee stopping the
fight later in Leonard's favor
even though Howard had not been
knocked down. At the post-fight
press conference, Leonard
surprised everyone by
announcing his retirement
again, saying he just didn't
have it anymore.
Wanting
to fight Marvin
Hagler
In May 1986, Leonard shocked
the sports world once again
when he announced he would
return to the ring for one more
fight: against middleweight
champion Marvin Hagler. This
announcement generated a lot of
controversy because of
Leonard's inactivity and eye
injuries. Yet it also excited
many sports fans, who had
wanted to see this match for
years. Hagler took a few months
to decide, then agreed to the
match, scheduled for April 6,
1987 at Caesars Palace, Las
Vegas.
Leonard had a very long
training camp for the Hagler
fight it came to light after
the fight.
After the Hagler fight it was
also revealed that Leonard had
had a number of full 12 round
fights behind closed doors.
These were officially sparring
sessions, but with a few major
differences. There were no
headgaurds used, small gloves
and the sparring partners were
told to try there best to win
over the full 12 rounds. They
were basically REAL fights.
Two of the sparring were Quincy
Taylor and Anthony Fletcher
(who was a southpaw). Taylor
floored Leonard during one of
these 'fights'.
The bout against Hagler was
marketed by the promoters as
"The Superfight". In exchange
for more money, an
over-confident Hagler agreed to
a 12 round limit (which
guaranteed WBC sanction) and
10-ounce gloves. The 12-round
limit would haunt Hagler later
on. Leonard-Hagler was
broadcast on pay-per-view TV
and closed-circuit outlets all
over the world and was a huge
money maker.
Hagler was a heavy favorite,
the odds starting at 4-1, then
settling at 3-1. Leonard had
only fought once in five years,
and had never fought as a
middleweight. It was only
Hagler's third fight in two
& a half years as he
entered the twilight of a
glittering career. Leonard used
the same tactics as he did in
the 2nd Duran match, lateral
movement, jabs and clinching
when he was in trouble. Hagler
had trouble keeping up with the
fleet-footed Leonard. In
general, Hagler landed the
harder blows, Leonard landed
more and the flashier ones, and
neither fighter was cut or
knocked down. Leonard was
warned repeatedly for holding
by the referee, but no points
were deducted. The decision
went to Leonard via split
decision. Hagler bitterly
protested the result, and many
boxing fans and writers have
argued about the decision
since.
Despite pleas from Hagler's
camp for a rematch, Leonard
announced his retirement a
month later.
Past his
prime, but still
fighting
On
November 7, 1988 Leonard
came back and fought Don
Lalonde. In a tough,
brusing battle, Sugar Ray
suffered a 4th round
knockdown and was cut on
the nose. Yet he recoverd
and knocked out Lalonde in
the ninth round to win two
world titles in one fight,
the newly created WBC
super middleweight
championship, and
Lalonde's WBC light
heavyweight championship.
This arrangement was
somewhat controversial
because light-heavyweight
LaLonde had to weigh-in at
or below the
super-middleweight limit
of 168 pounds.
In 1989, Leonard fought two old
rivals. In June, he battled
Hearns again at Caesar's
Palace. In an exciting battle,
Leonard was knocked down twice,
but the decision by the
officials was a twelve round
draw. Most onlookers thought
the draw decision unfair since
Hearns knocked Leonard down
twice. Years later, Leonard
himself would admit this to
Hearns on ESPN's Ringside TV
program. Nevertheless, the draw
decision enabled Leonard to
retain his WBC
Super-Middleweight title. Six
months later, in December 1989,
Sugar Ray fought Roberto Duran
for a third time. This matchup
took place at the new Mirage
Hotel in Las Vegas. Leonard
used constant lateral movement
and won by a lopsided twelve
round unanimous decision over a
listless Duran. In a fight that
many considered to be very
boring, both fighters were
booed often by the fans and
many left the arena before the
decision was announced.
Failed
comebacks and post-boxing
life
Leonard was inactive in 1990,
but came back in February 1991
to fight world junior
middleweight champion Terry
Norris at Madison Square
Garden, Leonard's first outing
there. Norris knocked Leonard
down twice and won a lopsided
unanimous decision. After the
verdict was announced, a
battered Leonard took the
microphone and once again
announced his retirement.
Around this time, Leonard's job
as a boxing commentator with
HBO came to an end. His
association with CBS had ended
a few years earlier.
Ahead were very difficult
times: after the fight, Leonard
admitted to a stint with
cocaine that lasted from 1982
to 1986. He fell victim to the
drug, and reports surfaced of
violence against his wife
Juanita. Leonard admitted that
his problems were caused by a
need to be involved in the
sport of boxing during the
periods he was away from it,
and immaturity.
He and Juanita divorced, and in
1993, he married Bernadette
Robi, the daughter of Paul
Robi, a member of the original
Platters.
In 1997, at age 40, Leonard
launched his final boxing
comeback against former
lightweight champion Hector
'Macho' Camacho. Years past his
prime, Leonard was easily
stopped by the smaller, usually
light-hitting Camacho in 5
rounds. After this humiliating
defeat, it was finally enough
for Leonard, and he has not
fought since. Later that year,
Leonard was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall Of
Fame.
For a short time, Leonard
headed a boxing promotion
company that included world
cruiserweight champion Vassiliy
Jirov and rising heavyweight
Joe Mesi.
He is currently involved in the
TV reality boxing series, The
Contender and has served as
host and boxing mentor to the
aspiring fighters. His former
co-host Sylvester Stallone was
one of the executive producers,
along with Mark Burnett.
Source : Some
of the information on this page
came from a Wikipedia
article and is
licensed under the GNU
Documentation License.
©2008
www.geneticmatrix.com.
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