News
Sugar Ray Leonard: ‘The Big Fight’ Interview
By Kam Williams
Special To The Skanner News
O
ne of the most prodigious pugilists
of all time, Sugar Ray Leonard was
born in Rocky Mount, N.C. on May
17, 1956, to Cicero and Getha Leonard. The
fifth of seven kids, his family moved to
Washington, DC in 1959 before settling
down seven years later in Palmer Park, Md.,
where his father was employed as a super-
market night manager and his mother as a
nurse.
Though shy as a young child, Ray fol-
lowed his brother Roger’s footsteps into
boxing, ultimately eclipsing his elder sib-
ling in terms of potential and finding fame
by capturing the gold medal at the 1976
Olympics in Montreal. He went on to
become the first fighter to earn over $100
million over the course of an enviable
career, winning world championship titles
in five different weight classes while squar-
ing-off in classic showdowns with such for-
midable opponents as Roberto “No Mas”
Duran, Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns, Mar-
velous Marvin Hagler and Wilfred Benitez.
Ray retired from the ring in 1997 with a
record 36-3-1, with 25 of those wins com-
ing by knockout. Today, he lives in Califor-
nia with his wife, Bernadette, and their
children, Camille and Daniel. Here, he dis-
cusses his moving memoir, ‘The Big Fight:
My Life In and Out of the Ring.’
Kam Williams: Hi Sugar Ray, I’m hon-
ored to have this opportunity to speak with
you. How’re you doing, champ?
Sugar Ray Leonard: I’m alright, Kam,
how’re you?
KW: Great! I understand our mutual
friend, filmmaker Janks Morton, Jr., the son
of your first boxing coach, gave you a call
on my behalf.
SRL: Yeah, man, this kid was so special,
although he’s not a kid anymore, obviously,
but he was there from day one of my rise
through boxing. You know how the years go
by and then, when you stop to reflect, you
realize that someone was a part of your
whole evolution as an individual? That’s
what I share with Junior.
KW: Yeah, he told me you guys go way
back. I have a lot of questions from fans
who sent in questions for you. Editor/legist
Patricia Turnier says: I am from Montreal
where you won your gold medal at the ’76
Olympics. What is your best memory of the
city?
SRL: My very best memory of Montreal
was the moment inside the Olympic arena
when I was waiting under the stadium and
those majestic gates opened up. It was a
whole other world. Kam, I was just a
youngster from the ghetto. I suddenly felt
like a star. It was emotionally overwhelm-
ing. It was something I’d wanted, but it was
also something I didn’t understand. It was a
whole different world, and Montreal was an
absolutely beautiful setting unlike any-
where I’d ever been before. So, Montreal in
‘76 was an encompassing experience I will
cherish for the rest of my life.
KW: Patricia also says: It is widely
known that it is very difficult for men to talk
about sexual abuse. What made you decide
to go public with your story, and was it a
cathartic and healing experience to write
about it?
SRL: It was cathartic, Patricia. I only
wish that I had had the courage and the
knowledge to have gotten that out of my
system, out of my mind or my heart years
earlier. But there is no book, there is no
manual to tell you how to deal with sexual
abuse. I saw Todd Bridges talk about being
abused on Oprah. Something that he said, or
an expression that he made that gave me
that little boost I needed to be open about it
and to talk about it as transparently as I did.
When I told my wife, she couldn’t believe
it. She was petrified, because it’s such a no-
no, taboo, a hands-off subject. But I’d have
to say hearing Todd Bridges on Oprah was
my watershed moment.
KW: Kate Newell says: I saw you on
Stephen Colbert and loved it. She was won-
dering why a movie hasn’t been made about
your life?
SRL: Being on Colbert was a real treat
for me, too. I didn’t quite know what to
expect, but it turned out to be pretty cool. In
terms of a movie, we’re talking about it. It’s
on the table but, as you know, Kam, that
type of thing doesn’t just happen overnight,
unfortunately. But I do look forward to see-
ing the story of my life onscreen someday.
KW: Yyou should talk to Tyler Perry.
SRL: I would love that.
KW: Or better yet, Janks, if you could get
him to switch over to drama from directing
documentaries.
SRL: Janks could do it justice, and I’m
not being facetious. You know why?
Because he knows the story. He’s been in
the story. And it’s real. It’s raw. Maybe a lit-
tle too raw for people at times. But this gen-
eration raised on reality-TV might be ready
for it.
KW: I agree. Boxing fan Mike Ehrenberg
asks: Was Wilfred Benitez the best pure
boxer you ever faced?
SRL: Yes, without question. He was a
mirror image of what I considered myself as
a boxer. That was one of my toughest fights,
by far. It’s sad that he’s not mentioned in the
same breath as Hearns, Hagler and Duran. It
always bothered me that he wasn’t consid-
ered in our league, the reason being that he
See RAY on page 8
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Page 6 The Seattle Skanner July 18, 2012