Sugar Ray Leonard - “The Big Fight” Interview
One of the most prodigious pugilists of all time, Sugar Ray Leonard was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina 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, Maryland where his father was employed as a supermarket night manager and his mother as a nurse.
Though shy as a young child, Ray followed his brother Roger’s footsteps
into boxing, ultimately eclipsing his elder sibling 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 squaring-off in classic showdowns with
such formidable opponents as Roberto “No Mas” Duran, Tommy “The Hitman”
Hearns, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Wilfred Benitez.
Ray retired from the ring in 1997 with a record 36-3-1, with 25 of those wins coming by knockout. Today, he lives in California with his wife, Bernadette, and their children, Camille and Daniel. Here, he discusses his moving memoir, “The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring.”
Kam Williams: Hi Sugar Ray, I’m honored 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 overwhelming. 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
anywhere 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
wondering 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
seeing the story of my life onscreen someday.
KW: You 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 little too raw for people at times. But this generation 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 considered in our league, the reason being that
he never beat any of us. But he should be right up there.
KW: Mike also asks: Was the Dicky Eklund knockdown, highlighted in the movie
“The Fighter,” legit?
SRL: It was legit that I was knocked down, or pushed down. [Chuckles] But I
remember that fight like it was yesterday because that guy, Dick Eglund, was
so unorthodox. And it was the first time in my life I really experienced
racial hatred from the fans. We’re talking about Boston back in ’78.
SRL: I can believe it. When I arrived at the airport, I had a priest or a pastor greet me with, “Hey boy, welcome.”
KW: I could go on and on about Boston.
SRL: I could, too. That’s what it was like back then.
KW: When I interviewed Governor Deval Patrick last year, I told him I never
would’ve believed that Massachusetts would ever elect a black governor after
my experiences in his state. Mike has one more question: Do you regret
coming out of retirement past your prime to fight Terry Norris and Hector
Camacho?
SRL: Do I regret it? Yeah, I do, but it took that to wake up to the fact
that my time was over, my time was gone. Sometimes it just takes that kind
of beating, if you will, to wake up. It does. I didn’t want to take it. I
took it in intervals. The first time was in ’91. I retired and came back in
’97. Woo! I mean, come on! I don’t know, man. A six-year layoff? That was
crazy! My career was relatively short, whether you look at either its length
in years or the number of fights I had. But it was brutal.
KW: That’s because it was the Golden Age in terms of welterweights and
middleweights.
SRL: Exactly! You couldn’t mess around in that era there.
KW: Harriet Pakula Teweles says: With mounting medical evidence that contact
sports aren’t providing ample equipment to mitigate against cerebral
concussions, how would you feel about boxing associations mandating
protective headgear for fighters, not just for sparring, but also during
bouts?
SRL: I’m not in favor of that because we learn as amateurs how to protect
ourselves. And that’s why there’s a third man in the ring, the referee. And
that’s why there has to be a very strong boxing commission that doesn’t
allow guys in the ring who don’t belong there. Look at football, where you
still have injuries no matter how much they improve the helmets and other
equipment. Boxing’s a poor man’s sport. We can’t afford to play golf or
tennis. It is what it is. It’s kept so many kids off the street. It kept me
off the street. What’s my options?
KW: Harriet also asks: Is it true that once, when you were climbing between
the ropes and entering the ring, a reporter put a microphone up to your face
and asked, ‘Sugar Ray, are you going to win tonight?’ And, you replied, ‘I
didn’t come here to lose.’ I hope it’s true because I’ve always loved you
for that—it’s a great life lesson story. If it isn’t, I’m going to continue
to attribute it to you anyway, because you’re a great life lesson guy.
SRL: Thanks, Harriet. But yes, I did say that.
KW: Yale grad Tommy Russell says: I really respect your admission about
battling drug abuse during the tough times of your professional life. What
is the most important thing you have learned from that experience?
SRL: I learned that I had character defects, that I was allergic to alcohol
and drugs, and that I had an obsession with all the bad stuff. But thank God
that I woke and that I had good people around me to support me. There’s not
much more I can say about it. You have to want to be a better person.
KW: Larry Greenberg says: On Celebrity Ghost Stories, you appeared with one
of my favorite young ancestresses, Leila Jean Davis, and you shared some
very personal experiences. How did you like being on the show?
SRL: I enjoyed it. I never thought in a million years that I would tell people that I saw a ghost. And I’ve seen a lot of ghosts. [Laughs]
Sugar Ray with wife Bernadette and singer Johnny
Gill
KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?
SRL: Yeah, how’s your day? [Chuckles]
KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?
SRL: Yes, we all are afraid of something. We might not admit it, but we are.
KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?
b Extremely!
KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?
SRL: Just now. [Chuckles]
KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?
SRL: It used to be a pint of ice cream in bed.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
SRL: “The Big Fight.”
KW: What inspired you to write the book?
SRL: To be honest, I don’t know. I started one back in 1982 or ’83 when I
first retired. But I was only 25 or 26 and not ready to write my memoirs.
KW: The music maven
Heather Covington question: What music have you been
listening to?
SRL: “Dance with My Father” by Luther Vandross.
KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?
SRL: I’m pretty good with oatmeal.
KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?
SRL: Success. But not necessarily monetary success.
KW: Judyth Piazza asks: How do you define success?
SRL: Success is attaining your dream while helping others to benefit from
that dream materializing.
KW: Dante Lee, author of "Black Business Secrets,” asks: What was the best
business decision you ever made?
SRL: Remaining conservative.
KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?
SRL: At about 6, seeing my mom and dad kissing and understanding it.
KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question: How did your first big heartbreak
impact who you are as a person?
SRL: It made me realize how much I loved that person.
KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your
footsteps?
SRL: You don’t play boxing. [LOL] You really don’t. You play golf, you play
tennis, but you don’t play boxing.
KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?
SRL: As someone who had an impact outside the ring.
KW: Thanks again for the interview, Ray, and best of luck with
your book [Rays' memior The Big Fight.]
SRL: Thank you, Kam.
AALBC.com's comments powered by span class="logo-disqus">Disqus
Related Links
