American · Rocky Mount, North Carolina · Born 17 May 1956Sugar Ray Leonard is an Olympic gold medalist who became the first five-division world champion and beat Durán, Hearns, and Hagler.
Ray Charles Leonard was born on 17 May 1956 in Wilmington, North Carolina, the fifth of seven children of Cicero and Getha Leonard, and was named after singer Ray Charles, his mother's favourite musician. He turned professional in 1977 after winning Olympic gold at the 1976 Montreal Games, and developed into one of the most charismatic and technically gifted boxers of his generation. Leonard, nicknamed "Sugar," became the first boxer to win world titles in five different weight divisions, and his rivalry with Roberto Durán produced one of the sport's most memorable storylines: after losing a close decision to Durán in Montreal in June 1980, Leonard abandoned his usual boxing style for a street fight in the rematch that November, provoking Durán into quitting mid-fight with the famous words "No más." Leonard unified the welterweight championship in 1981 with a dramatic 14th-round stoppage of Thomas Hearns, named The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year, before a detached retina forced a temporary retirement in 1982. He returned periodically throughout the 1980s for a series of high-profile superfights against Marvin Hagler, Hearns again, and Durán again. Leonard retired in 1997 with a record of 36 wins, three losses, and one draw, and became a successful boxing analyst and occasional actor, appearing in television shows and the 2010 film The Fighter, remaining one of the most beloved and technically accomplished champions of boxing's golden era.
First boxer to win world titles in five weight divisions; member of boxing's 'Four Kings'
How They Played
Fast, powerful puncher with excellent footwork and ring IQ
Lasting Impact
One of boxing's greatest welterweights and pound-for-pound fighters
Career Honours
- 1976 Olympic gold medal
- International Boxing Hall of Fame
American Athletes