Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard
Leonard in 1998
Born
Ray Charles Leonard[2]

(1956-05-17) May 17, 1956 (age 68)[2]
Other namesSugar
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[1]
Reach74 in (188 cm)[1]
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights40
Wins36
Wins by KO25
Losses3
Draws1
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1976 Montreal Light welterweight
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1975 Mexico City Light welterweight

Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as Sugar Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professionally between 1977 and 1997, winning world titles in five weight classes; the lineal championship in three weight classes;[3] as well as the undisputed welterweight championship.[4] Leonard was part of the "Four Kings",[5] a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of Leonard, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler. As an amateur, Leonard won a light welterweight gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

The "Four Kings" created a wave of popularity in the lower weight classes that kept boxing relevant in the post-Muhammad Ali era, during which Leonard defeated future fellow International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Hearns, Durán, Hagler, and Wilfred Benítez.[6][7] Leonard was also the first boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses, and was named "Boxer of the Decade" in the 1980s.[8] The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1979 and 1981, while the Boxing Writers Association of America named him Fighter of the Year in 1976, 1979, and 1981. In 2002, Leonard was voted by The Ring as the ninth greatest fighter of the last 80 years.[9] In 2016, he was voted by The Ring to be the greatest living fighter.[10] BoxRec ranks him as the 14th greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound.[11]

  1. ^ a b Showtime Championship Boxing tale of the tape prior to the Terry Norris fight.
  2. ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sugar Ray Leonard". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  3. ^ "The Lineal Boxing World Champions". Cyber Boxing Zone.
  4. ^ "Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard lead the way". SkySports.com. August 18, 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  5. ^ Ross (January 21, 2015). "The Fabulous Four – Hagler, Hearns, Duran, and Leonard". RossBoxing.com. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Sugar Ray was ring artist". ESPN. July 11, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  7. ^ "ESPN 50 Greatest Boxers of All Time". ESPN. November 5, 1994. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  8. ^ "Mark Grossinger Etess Award". Boxrec.com. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  9. ^ Eisele, Andrew. "Ring Magazine's 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years". About.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  10. ^ Gray, Tom (August 9, 2016). "Who is the greatest fighter alive? No. 1 revealed". RingTV.com.
  11. ^ "BoxRec ratings: world, pound-for-pound, active and inactive". BoxRec. Retrieved November 7, 2020.