Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard
Ray Charles "Sugar" Leonardis an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he won world titles in five weight divisions, including a run as the undisputed welterweight champion. Leonard was part of "The Fabulous Four" a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of himself, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler. "The Fabulous Four" created a wave of popularity in the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth17 May 1956
CountryUnited States of America
Normally, I would run with a group of guys in my camps. A couple of days before the fight, I would run by myself. That was my time to choreograph the fight in my head, so I needed to be myself.
I enjoy the school run and being a dad. Boxing will always be with me. I like that.
I learned to run backwards from Muhammad Ali. He told me about running backwards because you try to imitate everything you do in the ring, so sometimes you back up. So you have to train your legs to go backwards.
I run with music all the time. I cannot run without my iPod. I have everything. Teddy Pendergrass. Luther Van Dross. Michael Jackson. Outkast. If an Usher song comes on and it's fast, I go fast.
At 14, I was the most disciplined guy around. I would get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and run five miles, and then go to school. Sometimes I would run behind the school bus, and the kids thought I was just crazy. I knew what I wanted.
I run three to four times a week. I go down to Orange County in California and I run all the time... all the time. You see the oceans, the trees. I like running in hot weather. I like to sweat and get all those toxins out of my system. I thoroughly enjoy it.
To be the best, you need to spend hours and hours and hours running, hitting the speed bag, lifting weights and focusing on training.
You have to know you can win. You have to think you can win. You have to feel you can win.
I always expect unexpected challenges. Boxing is not an easy sport.
For the most part, I think video games do a good job of capturing the essence of boxing. However, I'd like to continue to see them push the realism, emphasizing the skill involved.
When you're a boxer, there is a lot of downtime and long periods of inactivity.
I watched Muhammad Ali, how when he would speak, how it was such a thing of beauty. It sounded so wonderful. And I wanted to be like him.
I asked my kids, 'Do you know what Papa used to do.' They said, 'You were a boxer, you won the Olympics!' And that's what they know.
I made mistakes, but I'm luckier than most. I've got a successful business, lots of fans who think a lot of me and a family who loves me.