He was tutored by two volunteer boxing coaches, Dave Jacobs and Janks Morton, both of whom worked out of the Oakcrest Community Center in Palmer Park. Leonard discovered boxing when he was 14, and he threw all his energy into it.
All my other boys were always into something, but Ray. Selected awards: Gold medals at Pan American games, 1975,andSummerOlympicGames, 1976 inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame, June 15,1997.Īddresses: Agent - International Creative Management, 8899 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA.
#Querious fight club professional#
professional boxer, onefight with HectorCamacho, March 1, 1997, retired again. Boxingcommentator and analystfortelevision broadcasts star of exercisevideo Boxout, 1993. Became World Boxing Council (WBQ welterweight champion, 1979 won juniormiddleweight championship, 1981 became undisputed welterweight champion, 1981 in retirement, 1982-84 retired again after one fight, 1984-86 became middleweightchampion, 1987 became WBC super middleweight champion and light heavyweight champion, 1988 retired in 1991. £ Education: Graduated from high school in Palmer Park, MD.Īmateurboxer, 1969-76 professional boxer, 1976-91. ” He continued: “It At a Glance …īorn May 17, 1956, in Wilmington, NC son ofCiceroand Getha Leonard married Juanita Wilkinson Janu(divorced, 1991) married Bernadette Robi (a model), Augchildren: (first marriage) Ray Jr., Jarre!.
In a Washington Post interview, Leonard ’s father called the fighter “a funny sort of kid ” who “always hung back. He sang with his sisters in a church choir and behaved himself in school. Somehow the shy Ray Leonard was able to avoid the trouble. Sports Illustrated correspondent Rick Reilly called the area “a poor, mixed neighborhood with more than enough trouble to go around. Palmer Park is hardly a ghetto, but it is not a wealthy community by any means. The fifth of seven children, Leonard grew up in Palmer Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. He is named not after a boxer but after jazz great Ray Charles, because his mother wanted him to be a singer. Ray Charles Leonard was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, on May 17,1956. As Nack put it, Leonard ’s “was a remarkable performance, an exercise in guile, nerve, endurance and superior athleticism. Fighting through injuries that might have robbed him of his eyesight, overcoming drug abuse, and beating opponents who were expected to pulverize him became Ray Leonard ’s signal achievements. His numerous comebacks were celebrated with a great deal of hoopla, attesting to Leonard ’s healthy ego, but they also proved that the fighter possessed unusual degrees of stamina and determination. He “retired ” as early as 1976 and claimed to be through with boxing no fewer than four times even at the age of 41, in 1997, Leonard insisted that he was still a competitive fighter, looking for a match. Melodrama played no small role in Sugar Ray Leonard ’s professional life. Sports Illustrated correspondent William Nack called Leonard “the very embodiment of the American dream, ” and claimed that the engaging boxer ’s career “is the paradigm for the sport. Handsome and glib outside the ring-and unusually crafty within it-Leonard beat a number of formidable opponents on his way to wealth and fame.
He also had the distinction of being the first boxer ever to earn $100 million in purses. “Image not available for copyright reasons ”īy his last retirement in 1991, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard had become the first fighter to win titles in five divisions-every weight class from welteweight to light heavyweight. Championships Intermingle with Retirements
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