Sugar Ray Leonard (INTERVIEW)
Sugar Ray Leonard
“The Big Fight” Interview
with Kam Williams
The Main Event
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:
Yyou 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.
KW:
I lived in Boston
from ’75 to ’78. It’s the most racist city I ever experienced before or since.
You couldn’t step foot in white neighborhoods… they wouldn’t serve you in some restaurants…
and you couldn’t go to Fenway Park or the Boston Garden.
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]
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?
SRL:
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
the book.
SRL:
Thank you, Kam.
To
order a copy of Sugar Ray Leonard’s memoir, “The Big Fight,” visit: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452298040/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20
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