Leonard Ray: success with a taste of "sugar"

The period from 1970 to 1980 in world boxing can be called a golden era. It was in those years that many great battles took place. And in many cases fights formed a real confrontation, not only in the square of the ring, but also in life. This article will deal with a man named Leonard Ray, a boxer whose name is permanently entered into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Birth

"Sugar" (the nickname of an athlete) was born May 17, 1956. His birthplace is the city of Rocky Mount, located in the US state of North Carolina. In his family he was the fifth child. In all, apart from him, there were six more children. His future childhood champion spent in Wilmington.

Career in amateurs

Leonard Ray began boxing on the advice of his older brother in 1969. His first amateur bout was in 1972. During the performances in amateur boxer was able to win twice the most prestigious world tournament called "Golden Gloves". It happened in 1973 and 1974. And in one of the finals Leonard Ray was able to defeat the future world champion among professionals - Hilmer Kenti.

In 1976, our hero took part in the selection for the Olympics in Montreal. According to the results of these battles defeated were: Ronnie Shields (later he became world champion in the junior welterweight), Bruce Curry. At the same Olympics, Leonard Ray wins "gold", beating Ulf Karlsson, Valery Limasov, Clinton Mackenzie, Ulrich Bayer, Kazimierz, Scherba, Andres Aldamu on his way.

Go to the pros

For the first time in the ring in the status of a professional, Sugar Ray Leonard stepped in February 1977. His first mentor at such a high level was Angelodo Dundee, who coached Mohamed Ali himself. This turn of events immediately attracted the public's attention to the young and promising boxer.

The first title

At the end of 1979, a duel was organized and conducted between two undefeated boxers - an ambitious and aggressive challenger whom, as you may have guessed, is called Sugar Ray Leonard, and the youngest champion in the history of boxing - Wilfred Benitez. The fight took place for the WBC welterweight title. As a result, Ray knocked out the champion in the final three minutes.

Confrontation with Panamanians

After conquering the belt, Leonard spent only one defense, knocking out Dave Green. And then in half a year left on a duel with the best at that time the boxer of a planet without dependence from a category of Roberto Durant. Experts considered it a favorite of Panamanians. However, bookmakers had a different opinion. By the way, as for the financial issue, Durrant was due "only" $ 1 million, while Ray received over 7.5 - the amount that no one in his box ever earned.

Many believed that Ray would try to outbox an experienced and assertive panaman. But, as the fight showed, everything turned out not so. Boxer Ray Leonard accepted the invitation to fight "in the bone", than put himself in a very disadvantageous position. Still, Ray gave Duran real resistance. And eventually lost on points, with a minimum lag. Ahead of both boxers was waiting for a second duel.

Revenge

The next battle of two magnificent fighters foreshadowed something unusual. Their second meeting was a real event in the boxing world, which turned out to be historical.

In the course of the battle, Sugar was calm and relaxed, which allowed him to fully control the course of the match. At times, Leonard simply frankly scoffed at the champion. This time, Ray did not fight Duran. He, as they say, boxed - pulled out from side to side, dodged, threw out multi-shot combinations, sharply broke distance, than forced Panaman to pound through the air. In addition, Durant was also too exhausted, because before the fight he had spent a monstrous weight loss, losing 17 kilograms. Round after round Ray increased his advantage. This led to the fact that the Panamanian in the 8th round refused to continue the battle, saying the sign: "No mas".

On the top

After that, there were other interesting fights. Ray Leonard in 1983 moved to the first middleweight, where he was able to knock out WBC champion Ayub Kalul. However, Ray still returned to the welterweight division. In the fall of 1983, he met with another champion, Thomas Hearns. This fight allowed Shugar to unite his belts at welterweight. During the bout, Ray lost on points, but still managed to knock out Hirns in the 14th round. After this battle, Leonard found eye problems, as a result of which he was forced to leave the sport for 4 years, and then go back in defiance of the doctors' instructions.

Sugar Ray Leonard, whose fights were always spectacular, continued his victorious series in April 1987, when in a confrontation against Marvin Hagler was able to win a separate referee decision. A year later he fought with light heavyweight Donny Leylound, who was able to knock out in the 9th round. His career as a sportsman Ray finally ended in 1997, losing to Camaro, and knockout. This defeat was the first and last pre-term in his career.

Life outside sports

Today, Leonard pays attention to young athletes, training them. He is also often invited to television. He writes his autobiography. By the way, in his book "The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring", Ray wrote a few very sensational statements that described him not as "sugar". So, by his own admission, he used cocaine, visited a severe car accident in childhood, was subjected to domestic violence. No doubt, the book will be interesting for all boxing fans.