The Steve Jordan Experience

Sugar Ray Leonard is one of the legendary sports icons of the 20th century whose very name epitomizes boxing and conjures the image of a champion. Having learned to box at the age of fourteen, Leonard’s illustrious career includes three National Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championships and the 1975 Pan-American Games crown. After winning a gold medal in boxing at the 1976 Olympic games, he turned professional to help his family defer mounting medical bills incurred because of his father’s illness. Blinding speed, tremendous power, and great charm turned Leonard into an immediate media favorite.

In 1977, at the age of twenty, Leonard won his first professional fight, setting the stage for a collection of the most memorable fights in history. He went on to defeat some of the finest boxers of the modern era, including Wilfred Benetiz, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler, from whom Leonard won the world middleweight title. During his twenty-year professional career, Leonard also won world titles in the welterweight, junior middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight divisions. He was the first boxer to win world titles in five different weight classes.

Leonard has always been devoted to the community and to helping those in need. In 2009, Leonard and his wife, Bernadette established The Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation, which funds life-changing care & research for pediatric type 1 & type 2 diabetes. The Foundation is also committed to helping children lead healthier lives through diet and exercise. Leonard serves as Co-Chair for the Ambassadors of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and the is international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk for a Cure. He also participates in a variety of national and international causes benefiting children’s charities.

In this episode Ray answers these questions and many more:

• How did you get into boxing?
• What was it about boxing that attracted you?
• How did you get the name Sugar Ray?
• Did you focus on going to the Olympics and turning pro?
• What was your training style then? What does it look like now?
• Who was your boxing mentor?
• Did you use visualization training?
• What's the most important skill or lesson you learned from boxing?
• How have you been able to leverage your boxing success into life?

www.SugarRayLeonard.com