Ray Charles Leonard was born May 17, 1956 in Wilmington, North Carolina. At age three, his family moved to Palmer Park, Maryland, where he started boxing at age thirteen. He developed quickly as an amateur, and finished in 1976 by winning a gold medal as a light welterweight at the Montreal Olympic games. His final amateur career was an impressive 165-5, with 76 KOs.
Originally wanting to retire and attend the University of Maryland, his sick parents altered those plans. In need of money to help, he turned professional and had his first bout on February 5, 1977 against Luis ‘The Bull’ Vega. Ray was paid $40,000 for his debut and quickly moved up the rankings over the next few years. Some of the names on his list of victims were Dick Eklund, Floyd Mayweather Sr., Randy Shields and Pete Ranzany. After knocking out Andy Price in one spectacular round on September 28, 1979 , Sugar Ray agreed to meet the WBC welterweight champion Wilfred Benitez for his title.
As a young boxing fan at that time, this was one bout I was more than a little excited to see. In those days, you could sit in your bedroom and watch a fight for free on ABC, and it didn’t matter that it was on an 11″ black and white TV. After sitting through the opening bout between Marvin Hagler and Vito Antuofermo, which was ruled a draw despite the fact that Hagler kicked the Italian’s ass. Most people don’t it, but Antuofermo was a mob fighter, who owned him and got him his title shot. Compared to Hagler, he was a rank amateur.
The main event was a close and exciting battle. Benitez was a slick and talented boxer of whom Ray said “It was like looking in a mirror, he was that good.” Both men exchanged punches and blows, but as the bout reached the championship rounds, Leonard’s strength started to make the difference. Finally as the 15th and final round came near an end, Ray hurt Wilfred badly, which caused referee Carlos Padilla to call a halt to action, and rightfully so. Sugar Ray had won by a TKO. and was the new Welterweight Champion of the World. With Ali now retired, boxing needed a new face to carry the load, and no one fit that role better than Ray would.
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