The period from 1970 to 1980 in world boxing can be safely called the golden era. It was during these years that many great battles took place. Moreover, in many cases, fights formed a real confrontation not only in the square of the ring, but also in life. This article will talk about a man named Leonard Ray - a boxer whose name is forever included in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Birth
"Sugar" (the nickname of the athlete) was born on 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 a row. In total, besides him, there were six more children. The future champion spent his childhood in Wilmington.
Lovers Career
Leonard Ray began boxing on the advice of his older brother in 1969. He held his first amateur match in 1972. During 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 participated in the selection for the Olympics in Montreal. According to the results of these battles, the defeated were: Ronnie Shields (later he became the world champion in welterweight), Bruce Curry. At the Olympics themselves, Leonard Ray wins the gold, defeating Ulf Karlsson, Valery Limasov, Clinton Mackenzie, Ulrich Bayer, Kazimierz, Shcherba, Andres Aldam on his way.
Going to the pros
For the first time, Sugar Ray Leonard entered the ring in the status of a professional in February 1977. His first mentor at such a high level was Angeldo Dundee, who coached Mohamed Ali himself. This turn of events immediately attracted the attention of the public to a young and promising boxer.
First title
At the end of 1979, a duel was organized and held between two undefeated boxers - an ambitious and aggressive challenger, who, as you might have guessed, was called Sugar Ray Leonard, and the youngest champion in boxing history - Wilfred Benitez. The fight took place for the WBC welterweight title. In the end, Ray knocked out the champion in the final three-minute period.
Confrontation with the Panamanian
After conquering the belt, Leonard held only one defense, knocking out Dave Green. And then six months later he went on a duel with the best boxer of the planet at that time, regardless of the category of Roberto Duran. Experts considered Panamanian as the favorite. However, the bookmakers had a different opinion. By the way, with regard to the financial issue, Duran owed “only” $ 1 million, while Ray received over 7.5 - the amount that no one had ever earned before him in boxing.
Many believed that Ray would try to box an experienced and assertive Panamanian. But, as the battle showed, everything turned out to be wrong. Boxer Ray Leonard accepted the invitation to fight “in the bone”, which put himself in a very disadvantageous position. Nevertheless, Ray showed Duran real resistance. And in the end he lost on points, and with a minimum gap. Ahead of both boxers was waiting for a second duel.
Revenge
The next battle of two magnificent fighters portended something unusual. Their second meeting was a real event in the boxing world, which turned out to be historical.
During the battle, Sugar was calm and relaxed, which allowed him to completely control the course of the fight. At times, Leonard simply openly mocked the champion. This time Ray did not fight Duran. He, as they say, boxed - pulled from side to side, dodged, threw multi-shock combinations, sharply torn the distance, which forced the Panamanian to pound in the air. In addition, Duran was also too exhausted, because before the fight he spent just a monstrous weight loss, having lost 17 kilograms. Round after round, Ray was building up his lead. This led to the fact that the Panamanian in the 8th round refused to continue the fight, saying the sign the phrase: "No mas".
On the top
After that there were more interesting fights. Ray Leonard in 1983 moved to first middleweight, where he was able to knock out WBC champion Ayub Kalyul. However, Ray still returned to the welterweight category. In the fall of 1983, he met with another champion, Thomas Hearns. This fight allowed Sugar to combine welterweight belts. During the fight, Ray lost on points, but still managed to knock out Hearns in the 14th round. After this fight, Leonard was found to have vision problems, as a result of which he was forced to leave the sport for 4 years, and then return, contrary to the doctors' orders.
Sugar Ray Leonard, whose fights have always been spectacular, continued his victorious series in April 1987, when he managed to defeat Marvin Hagler by a separate referee's decision. A year later, he fought light heavyweight Donnie Leylound, whom he was able to knock out in round 9. Ray finally completed his athlete career in 1997, losing to Hector Camacho, with a knockout. This defeat was the first and last early in his career.
Life outside of sports
Today, Leonard pays attention to young athletes, coaching 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 several very sensational statements that described him far from being “sugar.” So, by his own admission, he used cocaine, was in the hardest car accident in childhood, was subjected to domestic violence. Without a doubt, the book will be interesting for all boxing fans.