Sugar Ray Leonard sits atop the pantheon of boxing greats. An Olympic gold medalist, Hall of Famer and world boxing champion in five different divisions, he is recognized as one of the greatest boxers ever, regardless of weight class. For years, he entertained fans with his fluid fighting style and gregarious personality.
In his new book, "The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring," the 55-year-old champion opened up about the man outside of the ring, including his marital infidelities, cocaine and alcohol abuse, fractured relationships with his children and the sexual abuse he experienced as a teenager by one of his coaches.
"He had unzipped my pants and put his hand, then mouth, on an area that has haunted me for life," Leonard recently told the Daily Mail. "I didn’t scream. I didn’t look at him. I just opened the door and ran."
The Huffington Post caught up with Ray during his book tour to talk in-depth about the book and his experiences:
What inspired you to write the book?
I don’t really know what inspired me. I think it was just time. I think it was just the point in my life, not necessarily age, but a point in my life where it was doable. It was something I wanted to do. Maybe not to the world, just get it out of me. It was something that took nearly two years of recounting memories, incidents, moments, in not just my boxing career but my life.
What has the response been thus far, not only from boxing fans, but fans of Ray Leonard in general?
It's been amazing; it really has been. This whole process has been very cathartic for me. The reaction wherever I go at some point, some guy, whether it's a guy in a suit, some guy with huge muscles and tattoos would come up to me and embrace me and some share a tear and say, "hey, you know, it happened to me man. Thanks." You know it's overwhelming emotionally.
Did the sexual abuse have an affect on you in the ring, perhaps as a motivating factor?
I don't know if it did -- or subconsciously it did. I don't know. I mean I do know the person that I am, and I am nowhere near what people perceive as a fighter as far as my personality is concerned. I'm kind of laid back, quiet, almost shy, but in the ring was kind of my safe haven. In the ring, I felt controlled of that atmosphere, and that's why I enjoyed doing it the most. But I don't know, I don't know how to answer your question.
So boxing was the one place where you felt you had total control of your life?
For sure. I mean when that sexual situation happened, I was 15, maybe 16, but in the ring, again, it was what I controlled. You know, it was mano-a-mano. I fought with a fury; I fought with a purpose; I fought with a commitment. And I don't know if that translates to what happened in the past, maybe, who knows.
Do you still keep in touch with Marvin Hagler?
You know, I see Marvin every blue moon. At a major boxing event, we bump into each other, and there is without question, there's mutual respect. But for him, it still lingers in his mind or in his heart that he won the fight. I mean, that fight was over what, 20-some years ago, I mean it's gone, like with Tommy Herons, you know he calls me every now and then. We call each other and BS with each other. I see [Roberto] Duran, and we embrace; you know those fights are gone. I think Hagler's a lot more sensitive to those issues.
How has this book impacted your relationship with Juanita, your first wife, and your children?
Juanita, I saw her. It's funny you asked that, I saw her. I did a book signing in Atlanta. She came to the book signing. That evening, we went out to dinner, and we just talked about the good things; we didn’t go back to the past, or, 'you hurt me, I hurt you' -- never talked about that. I felt good about that. You know, the fact that I wasn’t the best husband or best father, and I met my flaws and transgressions and what have you -- and you know it's great to be able to move on, or take another step I should stay in a good direction.
Again, there is work in progress with Ray Jr., I think we still have some obstacles that we need to overcome, or get over. And Jerrell, my middle son, 27, in fact, we just spent a weekend together at a nice resort, with family.
Obviously this was a very courageous step for you to take. What is the most important thing about the book for you? What is your goal?
You know, the whole thing in a nutshell was really me, relieving myself, or freeing myself of the pain and agony of what I experienced many, many years ago. It's really for me a way of now I feel lighter because getting that off my back, didn’t really intend to be the world again, you know, but, by being the world, every day is a better day for me. Every day it's like with the program, one day at a time. It is one day at a time, and that's really a sobering feeling to know that I'm feeling better about myself and I got that pain, or that fight I should say, out of my system.
Are there any young fighters you have mentored so that they don't make the same mistakes?
You know, I've voiced this to everyone, to every young fighter, to every potential champion: My story's not a sad story, I had an illustrious boxing career, and a wonderful life. I just had stumbling blocks that I had to overcome, so I want them to know that even Sugar Ray Leonard, behind that smile, behind those hands being raised as champion, you know I had my faults to. But it's best to overcome them now than later because thank god I had this strength or courage to talk about these things.
Muhammad Ali has said many times that your heart and kind soul propelled you as a boxer. What does he mean by that?
Well you know, yeah, I mean my father and my mother taught me to be humble, but in the ring I gave it as much as I could. You know I would never quit. You know I had more heart than the other guy and a lot of times that's what separated me, you know. I mean we want to win, but you want to win a little bit more, the majority of time you should come out on top.
How would you describe the health of the sport right now?
Well, the sport naturally is not where it used to be. You know back in the glory days, when there were so many fighters, even though they were not champions, you'd heard the name mentioned before; they were household names and back in the day, there were contenders, you heard the term contender quite often. Boxing is a resilient sport; it will survive. It has it's dips pretty much like everything else, but more so boxing, because it's such a primal, mano-a-mano, you either put up or shut up sport, but it will survive. I mean there's always new talent, new prospects on the horizon that will bring boxing hopefully back to where it used to be.
Related: READ my piece on one of boxing's youngest and brightest stars, Jose Ramirez, who is the first person in his family to attend college (a promise he made to his father) and well on his way to the London Olympics next summer.
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