Olympic champion and Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard is best known for his boxing career, but he has also had an illustrious career outside the ring as a bestselling author, television personality, ringside analyst, and philanthropist.
Having learned to box at the young age of 14, Leonard’s celebrated career includes three National Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championships, and the 1975 Pan-American Games crown. After winning a gold medal in boxing at the 1976 Olympic games, he turned professional as a last ditch effort to help his family defer mounting medical bills incurred from his father’s illness. Blinding speed, tremendous power, and palpable charm quickly made Leonard a media favorite.
At the age of 20, Leonard won his first professional fight, setting the stage for a collection of the most memorable fights in all of boxing history. He went on to defeat some of the greatest boxers of the modern era, from Wilfred Benetiz to Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, from whom Leonard won the world middleweight title. During his 20-year professional career, Leonard also won world titles in the welterweight, junior middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight divisions — the first boxer to win world titles in five different weight classes.
Leonard’s charismatic personality and expert ring knowledge led to a successful career as a television broadcaster for NBC, ABC, FOX, HBO and ESPN. Other television credits include three consecutive seasons as host and mentor in the Emmy-nominated “The Contender,” and a fan-favorite contestant on ABC’s still reigning competition series, “Dancing with the Stars.”
On the silver screen, Leonard appeared in the critically-acclaimed Paramount Pictures film The Fighter, also consulting for DreamWorks and Walt Disney Pictures’ on Hugh Jackman’s Real Steel. Perhaps most importantly, some of Leonard’s most impactful work is yet to be done. With a passion for philanthropy, Leonard has always been devoted to his community and to helping those in need. In establishing The Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation in 2009, Leonard and his wife, Bernadette, took changing the world into their own capable hands. Since its inception a decade ago, the foundation has funded countless research projects and offered life-changing patient care for children living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, the foundation is also committed to helping children lead healthier lives through diet and exercise. Leonard also lends his time to Habitat for Humanity, serves as co-chair for the Ambassadors of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and remains the international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk for a Cure.
(Source: Sugarrayleonard.com)