"Sugar" Ray Leonard

The man who would fill the void left by the departure of Muhammad Ali, and become one of the great sports stars of the 1980s was born on May 17th, 1956 in Wilimington, NC. Leonard took up the gloves at 14 and soon showed a brilliant talent for boxing. As an amateur, he compiled a record of 145-5, racking up 3 National Golden Gloves, 2 National Amateur Championships, a Gold at the 1975 Pan-American Games, and a Gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

A handsome young man, Leonard's big win in Montreal naturally turned a great deal of interest towards his potential as a professional fighter, but initially he was uninterested in boxing for money. After the Olympics, he went home to the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC and became a college student. He intended to make some money off endorsement deals while in school, based solely on his Olympic stardom. However, his Father became sick and his endorsement hopes came to nothing, so he left school and laced up the gloves.

As a pro, Leonard's backer brought in longtime Muhammad Ali trainer Angelo Dundee to join the existing corner team. In his first fight, Leonard was paid $40,000 and televised nationally, a level of promotional push that even Oscar de la Hoya did not receive after turning pro.

Leonard stood 5'10" with a 74" reach. He was a consumate boxer-puncher, with just as much pop in his punches as he had tools in the box. He had a good chin, fast hands and feet, and terrific insight as a ring general.

The Welterweight Champion

Leonard went 25-0 between 1977 and 1979, meeting and beating Floyd Mayweather, Sr. along the way. That led to a showdown with Puerto Rican master technician and prodigy Wilfred Benitez, who had just moved up to the WBC welterweight title specifically to put himself in Leonard's way and get a big money bout with him. In a thrilling fight between two skilled boxers, Leonard proved he had just a bit more of everything, built up a lead on the scorecards, and finished Benitez off with a strong left uppercut in the 15th Round, winning the title by TKO. The victory won Leonard kudos as The Ring's 1979 Fighter of the Year.

Seven months after winning the title from Benitez, Leonard met the dominant Lightweight of the day, the rugged Roberto Duran. The 1980 superfight was to be held in Montreal, and billed very much as Leonard's show. The macho Duran was infuriated, taunted and threatened Leonard and his wife at every opportunity, and won the psychological contest outside of the ring. When the fight took place, Leonard fought Duran's fight, trying to out-macho the Panamanian Prince of Machismo. Even so, Leonard barely lost a fight fought on the other guy's terms: the "Hands of Stone" hammered out a unanimous decision, but led by only 1 or 2 points on the scorecards.

The rematch, held in New Orleans five months later, was very different. Leonard used his speed, fleet feet, and skills to put on a boxing clinic. While neither man absorbed much punishment, Leonard was making a lot of light contact and racking up the points, while leaving Duran utterly frustrated. Roberto Duran famously quit on his stool in the 8th. Leonard had his revenge.

In 1981, Leonard moved up briefly to the 154lbs division to fight undefeated Ayub Kalule at the Houston Astrodome for the WBA Super Welterweight title. Kalule fought valiantly, but Leonard stopped the Danish-based African in the 9th. While Leonard would eventually return to the 154lbs ranks, for the time being he relinquished the title and returned to 147lbs. There were bigger fish to fry.

In September 1981, "The Showdown" between Leonard and the feared, undefeated puncher and WBA 147lbs champion Tommy "Hitman" Hearns took place in Ceasar's Palace, Las Vegas. This battle would become enshrined as a boxing classic. Leonard started by trying to box from the outside as expected, while Hearns used his long arms to sharpshoot. Hearns came out the better, forcing Leonard to shift gears and turn puncher mid-fight. That worked until Hearns adjusted himself, started moving side-to-side and turned boxer. By the final rounds Hearns was way ahead, but exhausted. When Dundee told Leonard he was "blowing" the fight, Leonard went out like a buzzsaw and punched Hearns through the ropes. Hearns survived the round, but not the fight, and was stopped in the 14th.

Leonard had now unified the title and reigned as Undisputed World Welterweight champion, in what became The Ring's Fight of the Year, but at a high price. Hearns had done serious damage to Leonard's left eye, detaching the retina. Leonard defended his title once in 1982, and then retired.

"The Superfight"

The mid-1980s were a frustating time for Leonard. He got bored and mixed up in cocaine, and in 1984 attempted an ill-starred comeback against unheralded Kevin Howard in 1984. Leonard knocked Howard out, but not before Howard embarassingly knocked Leonard down, the first time the Sugarman had ever tasted canvas.

In 1986, Leonard announced he would make a comeback for one last fight: a bout with World Middleweight Champion "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler. The 32 year old Hagler had already tamed a host of middleweight contenders, as well as Leonard's old rivals Hearns and Duran. The 31 year old Leonard had been more or less inactive for years and the odds were heavily against him, but Leonard secretly enterted a prolonged training camp, spending much of a year getting ready for Hagler, including several 12 round sparring sessions that were de facto tune-up fights. One of these sparring partners was future 154lbs titlist Quincy Taylor.

Leonard came out and used his footwork and speed to keep Hagler at bay, and then clinched whenever Hagler caught up with him. Hagler landed the harder punches, with Leonard (much as with the Duran rematch) content merely to make contact with rather than really nail Hagler. Hagler also did himself few favors by giving away the first couple of rounds in showboating. Leonard eeked out an (seemingly) astounding Split Decision win and won the Middleweight championship in a victory that remains controversial today. In particular, Judge Juan Guerra seems to have been blind or watching another fight, since he gave Leonard an inexplicable 118-110. The fight went down as both Fight of the Year and Upset of the Year.

Collecting Titles and Paydays

In November 1988, more than a year after the bitterly disputed win over Hagler, Leonard challenged Donny Lalonde for both the WBC 168lbs and 175lbs titles. The fight was very much created on Leonard's terms, as the newly created 168lbs title was put on the line: Lalonde was the 175lbs champion and required to make the 168lbs limit. In a hard fight, Leonard was dropped in the 4th, and Lalonde twice in the 9th en route to being knocked out. Leonard was now a world champion in 4 divisions, but he soon dropped the Light Heavyweight title and kept only the Super Middleweight strap.

Next came a much-anticipated rematch with Tommy Hearns. It was a solid contest, with Leonard hurting Hearns badly in the 5th, and sending him reeling onto the ropes in the 12th. Hearns, however, outdid Leonard by flooring him in the 3rd and 11th. Nearly everyone thought Hearns has earned the decision, but somehow it came out as a stinky draw, much to the disapproval of those at ringside who started chanting "bullshit!" Even Leonard came out sometime later and said he thought Hearns had won the bout, but at the time the nod went to the more charming and lucrative fighter in the form of Leonard.

As if to erase the stain of two back-to-back controversial big fights, six months later Leonard fought a rubber match with Roberto Duran. It was a boring fight as a too-heavy Duran listlessly followed Leonard the matador around the ring, producing even boos from ringside. Leonard won a lopsided, boring, but uncontroversial decision.

Leonard considered a rubber match with Hearns, but Hearns was now a Light Heavyweight and could no longer struggle down to 168lbs. Leonard, on the other hand, could drop weight and did so in 1991 to fight the WBC 154lbs champion Terry Norris. Leonard's corner did him an enormous, neglectful disservice in matching him with Norris, a talented fighter who would dominate the Super Welterweights for years. He was beaten up, knocked down twice, and lost the decision by a large margin. "Sugar" Ray Leonard retired again, announcing it right after the fight from the center ring.

Ray Leonard could not stay out of the ring, however, and made one more comeback against Hector "Macho" Camacho in 1997. Camacho humiliated the once great Leonard, handing him his first knockout loss. Leonard re-entered retirement, where he has been ever since.

Legacy

Leonard was a celebrated amateur boxer and Olympic gold medalist, who went on to win professional world titles in 5 different weight classes, including one stint as Undisputed World Welterweight champion. He stands as one of the most celebrated fighters in history, having been awarded multiple awards from magazines ranging from The Ring to Sports Illustrated. His resume includes wins over many (but not all) of the significant fighters in and around his weight from the late 1970s and 1980s, although in some cases those wins were controversial.

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Today, Leonard is involved in the reality TV series The Contender.

Sources: boxrec.com; YouTube; Sports Illustrated; The Ring; NY Times