Born: 17 May 1956

Birth Place: Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA

Nationality: American

Nickname: Sugar

Division: Welterweight (147lbs) – Light Heavyweight (175lbs)

Height: 5’ 10” / 178 cm

Reach: 74″ / 188 cm

• 1976 Olympic Light Welterweight Gold Medalist

• Boxer of the Decade for the 1980’s

• World Champion in Five Different Weight Classes

• First Boxer to Earn More than $100 Million in Purses

• Fast Hands

• Great Movement

• Ability to Brawl or Box

Sugar Ray Leonard effectively utilizes his very fast hands and excellent foot movement to quickly attack and get out of trouble. These attributes were honed from his days as a very successful amateur boxer. His assets often allowed him to dictate the pace of the fight and if necessary, Leonard could brawl as well as box.

One of the greatest boxers ever, Sugar Ray Leonard had a number of legendary fights against all-time greats which includes wins over Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler.

It was Leonard’s speed and foot movement that gave even his toughest opponents a very difficult time finding him. He could attribute his best assets to his training methods.

• Ran 4-5 miles everyday in preparation for the Olympics where he won a gold medal.

• Ran backwards and sideways to try and imitate every movement that goes on inside the ring, most applicably, boxing on the backfoot.

• Wore combat boots for his runs to condition his legs.

Leonard retired from boxing from 3 years and took everyone by surprise when he announced he was making a comeback against the great Middleweight, Marvin Hagler. Inactivity and eye injuries led the general public and media believe that Leonard was no match for the heavy favourite, Hagler.

Unbeknown to Hagler, let alone the public, Leonard had actually engaged in several real boxing fights behind closed doors to shake off any ring rust. It was this preparation that allowed Leonard to jump straight back into the elite level of boxing after such a long layoff.