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Sugar Ray Leonard was a champion Olympic and professional welterweight boxer. One of boxing’s most beloved and successful fighters, Sugar Ray Leonard was born Ray Charles Leonard on May 17, 1956. The fifth of Gertha and Cicero Leonard’s seven children, he was named after his mother’s favorite singer, Ray Charles. When Leonard was 3 years old, he and his family moved to Washington, D.C. Seven years later, they relocated to a permanent home in Palmer Park, Maryland. Leonard grew up in a loving home, where finances were often tight. His father earned a living as a night manager at a supermarket, while Gertha worked as a nurse. He won the gold medal in light-welterweight boxing at the 1976 Olympic Games and went pro the following year. His 1987 defeat of “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler for the World Boxing Council’s middleweight title is considered one of the greatest professional boxing matches of all time. Leonard retired in 1997 and was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Black History Profile: Sugar Ray Leonard  was originally published on kysdc.com