Sugar Ray's greatest comeback
Post categories: Boxing
Ben Dirs | 08:16 UK time, Monday, 2 April 2012
Listen:
(Sugar Ray Leonard boxing special, BBC Radio 5 live, Tuesday 3 April, 1930-2045 BST)
Sugar Ray was perfection: pretty as a picture, mercury slick, hard as nails.
But the truth was rather different. By Leonard's own admission, he was "out of control": a serial adulterer, a lush and in thrall to the white stuff. And we're not talking about sugar.
"It was all about me. I was on TV all the time, on posters and billboards, and I lost touch with reality. And it wasn't about Ray the friend or Ray the brother, it was about Ray 'the bank', I paid for everything. No-one ever asked: 'How was your day?' And it turned me into this numb and insensitive guy."
"I felt safe in the ring, the ring was my sanctuary," says Leonard. "But after I retired from boxing I found new friends who introduced me to cocaine. And cocaine made me totally uninhibited about anything.
"I wasn't going home to my family, I was messing around with girls, drinking excessively. And the more cocaine I did and the more I drank, the more relieved I felt. It lessened the pain, the anxiety.
In a startling section of his autobiography, Leonard describes the "serenity" that came over him before his first world title fight against Puerto Rican legend Wilfred Benitez, an undefeated two-weight world champion, in 1979.
"I never felt more alive and more authentic," says Leonard. "It was as if I entered a room where no-one else was permitted to go, a pure, almost indescribable sensation I could not attain anywhere else. I miss it terribly."
In 1980, Leonard first fought Panama's Robert Duran, a man who gave the impression of being almost feral. "He was a Tasmanian devil," says Leonard, "he was just so rude and crass. Without question he out psyched me."
Leonard, desperate to prove his manhood, went toe-to-toe instead. "It was a fight, it wasn't a boxing match, and he won," says Leonard. "That fight was so violent, so brutal, I seriously contemplated retirement, and I was only 23."
Perversely, Leonard gained more credit for his defeat by Duran than for his victory in the rematch.
So when Leonard was pitted against the freakish Tommy Hearns in 1981, it was 'The Hitman' who was installed as favourite.... some still thought that while Tommy was legitimate, I sold soda.
Real fighters don't sell soda."
Stirred into action, Leonard rained blows on Hearns from every conceivable angle, eventually stopping him in the 14th round.
"When I decided to come back, everyone thought I was crazy," says Leonard. "And for a while, I thought I was, too. I'd had one fight in five years and I was coming back to fight Marvin Hagler, a man who hadn't lost a fight since 1976, a man who had beaten everybody from Duran to Hearns.
"But I saw something when Hagler fought [John] Mugabi. Mugabi, who was a puncher, a slugger, was able to outbox Hagler. So I knew that if I got into shape - not just physically, but mentally and spiritually - I could win.
Leonard had intended to go to war, as Hearns had done against Hagler two years earlier. But thanks to a late intervention from Dundee ("What? Are you nuts?!") and a sparring knockdown, Leonard wisely changed tack.
"He accused me of running," says Leonard. "He said I should have fought like Tommy Hearns. Well, he knocked Tommy Hearns out in three rounds. I utilized the ring, my hand speed. I did everything that was in my best interests.
I always tell kids, 'If you don't believe in yourself, no-one else will'."
Leonard went on "stalking his own youth", as Dundee so eloquently put it, winning world titles in five weight divisions and drawing a rematch with Hearns in 1989 (a fight Leonard readily admits Hearns should have won). *
"There's no greater thing than to be a fighter and a champion," says Leonard. "It gives people inspiration, hope and courage. It's a powerful thing you transmit. But you also have to take care of yourself.
"Now I'm Ray and I'm Sugar Ray. Ray Leonard is the father who goes to the market to buy his groceries, but it's Sugar Ray who pays the bills."
Boxing, a sport that so often takes more than it gives a man, however great that man may be, has belatedly left Leonard in credit: Sugar Ray is back in style.
*Hearns looked like the winner to me in the second fight and he was haunted by the loss. Tommy sought another fight with Leonard. Even just a few years ago when Tommy and Iran Barkley tried to promote a fight that was barred by Boxing Authorities. They were saved from embarrassment and further punishment by Teddy Atlas getting very vocal about stopping the farce. He was still wanting to get Ray in the ring again. Like Brando in "On the Waterfront"...
Leonard captured gold - and the hearts of Americans - at the Montreal Olympics
But when Leonard was forced into a retirement in 1982, a partially detached retina cutting him down in his physical prime, the sense of loss sent him wandering down a far darker path, from which he only recently emerged.
"I felt safe in the ring, the ring was my sanctuary," says Leonard. "But after I retired from boxing I found new friends who introduced me to cocaine. And cocaine made me totally uninhibited about anything.
"I wasn't going home to my family, I was messing around with girls, drinking excessively. And the more cocaine I did and the more I drank, the more relieved I felt. It lessened the pain, the anxiety.
In a startling section of his autobiography, Leonard describes the "serenity" that came over him before his first world title fight against Puerto Rican legend Wilfred Benitez, an undefeated two-weight world champion, in 1979.
"I never felt more alive and more authentic," says Leonard. "It was as if I entered a room where no-one else was permitted to go, a pure, almost indescribable sensation I could not attain anywhere else. I miss it terribly."
In 1980, Leonard first fought Panama's Robert Duran, a man who gave the impression of being almost feral. "He was a Tasmanian devil," says Leonard, "he was just so rude and crass. Without question he out psyched me."
Leonard, desperate to prove his manhood, went toe-to-toe instead. "It was a fight, it wasn't a boxing match, and he won," says Leonard. "That fight was so violent, so brutal, I seriously contemplated retirement, and I was only 23."
Perversely, Leonard gained more credit for his defeat by Duran than for his victory in the rematch.
So when Leonard was pitted against the freakish Tommy Hearns in 1981, it was 'The Hitman' who was installed as favourite.... some still thought that while Tommy was legitimate, I sold soda.
Real fighters don't sell soda."
Stirred into action, Leonard rained blows on Hearns from every conceivable angle, eventually stopping him in the 14th round.
"When I decided to come back, everyone thought I was crazy," says Leonard. "And for a while, I thought I was, too. I'd had one fight in five years and I was coming back to fight Marvin Hagler, a man who hadn't lost a fight since 1976, a man who had beaten everybody from Duran to Hearns.
"But I saw something when Hagler fought [John] Mugabi. Mugabi, who was a puncher, a slugger, was able to outbox Hagler. So I knew that if I got into shape - not just physically, but mentally and spiritually - I could win.
Leonard had intended to go to war, as Hearns had done against Hagler two years earlier. But thanks to a late intervention from Dundee ("What? Are you nuts?!") and a sparring knockdown, Leonard wisely changed tack.
"He accused me of running," says Leonard. "He said I should have fought like Tommy Hearns. Well, he knocked Tommy Hearns out in three rounds. I utilized the ring, my hand speed. I did everything that was in my best interests.
"That was such a proud moment for me because I did the impossible. Tommy Hearns was a defining moment, but Hagler was such a personal triumph."
I always tell kids, 'If you don't believe in yourself, no-one else will'."
Leonard went on "stalking his own youth", as Dundee so eloquently put it, winning world titles in five weight divisions and drawing a rematch with Hearns in 1989 (a fight Leonard readily admits Hearns should have won). *
"There's no greater thing than to be a fighter and a champion," says Leonard. "It gives people inspiration, hope and courage. It's a powerful thing you transmit. But you also have to take care of yourself.
"Now I'm Ray and I'm Sugar Ray. Ray Leonard is the father who goes to the market to buy his groceries, but it's Sugar Ray who pays the bills."
Boxing, a sport that so often takes more than it gives a man, however great that man may be, has belatedly left Leonard in credit: Sugar Ray is back in style.
*Hearns looked like the winner to me in the second fight and he was haunted by the loss. Tommy sought another fight with Leonard. Even just a few years ago when Tommy and Iran Barkley tried to promote a fight that was barred by Boxing Authorities. They were saved from embarrassment and further punishment by Teddy Atlas getting very vocal about stopping the farce. He was still wanting to get Ray in the ring again. Like Brando in "On the Waterfront"...
"On the Waterfront" Most Famous Scene
He coulda been a contender!
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