A little preview of something I plan to do all throughout next year:
The year 2007 will be a special one here along the Beltway. 2007 is the 30th anniversary year of the pro debut of perhaps the greatest Beltway Boxer of all-time: Sugar Ray Leonard. On February 5, 1977, Leonard made his pro debut at the Baltimore Civic Center and won by six-round unanimous decision over Luis Vega.
Throughout the coming year, the plan is to talk to the people who know him best and those who have been inspired by his championship legacy.
Hopefully, I will be able to talk to Mr. Leonard himself at some point during 2007.
To preview this celebration, I am putting up a new poll. In your opinion, what was Sugar Ray Leonard's greatest boxing moment? I have chosen nine of his great moments. Please participate in the poll. Thank you.
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40 comments:
Sounds cool. I don't mean to nitpick though, but according to Wikipedia (which could be wrong) Sugar Ray wasn't born in the DC area. I assumed he moved there?
As for the poll, I voted for winning the Olympic gold-from the little I know, that seems enough.
No, Ray was not born in DC (he was born in North Carolina), but he moved here at an early age and his boxing career was spawned in this area.
He grew up in Palmer Park, MD where there is a boxing gym that bears his name.
I would say his crowning acheivement was the fact, he did not let Chris Middendorf rip him off like he did so many of us fighters here along the Beltway.
Winky did you know last night you had a crook walking behind you to the ring? Run, Wink, Run........
Thanks Digital. And "anonymous," this Middendorf stuff has gotten BEYOND old.
Wow...This is a tough one here. (He had alot of them!) Boy...Whew...My first reaction was to say the Duran rematch, however...I think I may go with the following...
No matter how close or controversial the fight & decision was, I would have to probably say coming back - two divisions removed from his original, and after a MULTI-year layoff - to beat the great Hagler may be tops. Even if you are of the opinion that Hagler won that fight by a slight margin (and you could certainly make a legit case for that) the fact that he more-or-less fought on 'even-terms' with him after a layoff like that...That in itself, is just absolutely phenomenal, and almost mind-boggling. I'm trying to think of a prior case in Boxing that was very similar to that, and I can't off the top of my head...A bit similar perhaps, but not quite the same as what he did.
BTW - That fight to me was SO close, and so subjective in terms of scoring, that you could have had it a 6-6 draw or 7-5 either way and not been 'wrong'. There was only one of the three cards that was (unfortunately) completely 'out to lunch' in my opinion.
I would have to say coming from behind and defeating Tommy Hearns in the first Leonard/Hearns match up. Defeating Hagler as a 3 -1 underdog would be a very close second.
Boxing Fan
Was Ray Leonard mad at everyone back home? How come he never did nothing for the youngsters boxing out of Palmer park? Even the gym called Sugar Ray's is only called that because of his name. He never once did nothing for that place and actually has nothing to do with it either. I always hear from different people that they trained Ray. After looking into it, I see that there was only one person who trained Ray and that was Dave Jacobs. I think Dave still lives in Palmer Park while Ray lives in Hollywood. Im 17 and if I ever make-I will not forget where I came from. I hear he will not ever answer his brother Rogers phone calls. He left his first wife, left his second wife for some damn white girl that lives in LA. He may have been a good fighter, but he sures is at the bottom when it comes to a decent and caring person. I bet he has trouble facing people from back home. Its no secret of the crud-ball stuff he has done to everyone. Yesterday Janks Morton was telling some kids at the gym that he trained Ray, then I find out that Janks Morton only knew football. Yet he tells anyone that will listen that he was the man behind Ray. I wish this gym had another name, I do not like fighting out of a gym named after a crud-ball...
Johnson you are right!!!! I knew that stuff long ago.
In actuality, Ray managed and was involved with a number of local boxers over the past 20 years. This includes William Joppy, Luther Smith and Gary "Fast Hands" Jones.
What you shouldn't forget that approximately 85 percent of the Beltway Boxers over the past 25 years can say they were influenced by Leonard.
I know this because when I was doing the TV series Boxing Spotlight, we gave every boxer a questionnaire about themselves. When they came to their favorite boxers, the majority of them put down Ray Leonard.
Not everybody who contributes to their hometown does it with money. Ray's contributions by example should be noted highly.
Gary and people on the blog Ray move to sursum quaters then he moved to Palmer Park.Come on Gary know your History on our fighters.Don't give people the wrong information.In NW wash DC.Lets talk about that. Look it up. He went to Terell Junior High School
Thanks very much. I had forgotten that he lived in the city for a short time.
I boxed at ray leonard's gym when it first opened in the early eighties; had the pleasure of meeting Ray on several occassions and watched him train there before he fought hagler. The first time I met ray was in '77, a year after he had returned home from the olympics. I used to see him jogging around the neighborhood when he first turned pro..
ray was the one who got me started in the sport, after watching him fight bruce finch in feb 82', i decided i wanted to box. as we all know, he retired for the first time after that fight.
dave jacobs is down at ray leonard gym training a fighter in the evening now. he is always telling stories of ray, tommy hearns and pryor, as amatuers; great guy !!!
crowning achievement had to be defeating thomas hearns. both fighters were in their primes and the best in the division at the time. the fight had all the ebbs and flows that you would expect from a championship fight.
i really can't speak about ray as a person, but i do know people who know him well. people would tell me that ray would cry sometimes because of the things he had to go through with family friends.
money and fame changes things sometimes to the detriment of those who have it...
Ray forgot everyone who helped him get to where he is at now!
Bottom Line!
Hank u r xactly right.
It would be nice if all of our sports heroes were perfect people but they aren't. From Michael Jordan to Muhammad Ali, one could find things in their past that we don't agree with.
As far as Sugar Ray's greatest achievement, I would have to go with the Hagler fight followed closely by Hearns and Duran 2. I chose this one because his performance defied the odds and captivated everyone watching. This would have to be it for me.
Another classic for me was nowhere near a crowning acheivement but the davey boy green fight was a network tv fight that I will never forget.
BRING BACK NETWORK TV FIGHTS!!!!
Excellent point(s) Bigg, and my feelings exactly. As for the one matter...I don't know Leonard personally, and I don't know De La Hoya personally, but it seems as though some similar things are said about them in the negative sense. (i.e. I think when you are THAT mega-rich and mega-famous, it just kind of goes with the territory...)
* I will however say that ODLH definetly contributed financially to his former community. NO doubt there. Peace...
BTW - I share your sentiments on the network t.v. fights Bigg...But (aside from maybe Olympics) I'm afraid those days are just plain over. In my opinion, we should be focusing more of our efforts on basic/regular cable t.v. at this point. That's much more realistic. Even Monday Night Football is no longer on network T.V. If that isn't a sure 'sign of the times', I don't know what is.
* Getting rid of the vile and incompetent 'alphabet-soups' and multitude of 'world champions' would also work minor miracles in bringing Boxing back a bit closer to the mainstream.
BTW - What is "The Digital One's" vote on this (very difficult!) poll? Or is he not divulging at this time?
;-)
Ray was a good fighter, but Ray cared about himself only and no one else. He pretends that he did it all by himself. He has did nothing what-so-ever for the kids in the hood. He is an absolute loser in my opinion.
I have always leaned toward the win over Hearns. I thought that was a brilliant come-from-behind win. When I hear Leonard talk about the edge being slim for one boxer to prevail over another, I think about that fight.
I always thought Leonard didn't win the bout against Hagler so much as Hagler lost that bout. Hagler fought a dumb fight in my opinion that night.
Excellent point(s) Gary, and I could definetly agree with that. However, on the latter...I agree, but there is kind of another way of looking at that I.M.O. And that is that Leonard outfought Hagler mentally, and "outthought" him (i.e. "suckered him in") and that was truly one of his gifts. One may also say that he "suckered two of the three JUDGES" in that fight, with his ring generalship bordering-on-smoke-and-mirrors last minute end-of-round pitty-pat-punching-shoe-shining schtick, and they may have a valid point there.But not only was the guy a great fighter and showman, but almost a 'magician' of sorts as well in the ring. Perhaps some may say 'con artist' in that fight, but...*Shrugs shoulders* An artist of some sorts he was that night! (LOL)
* Sidenote - I had the fight just razor-thin. Hagler gave away some of those early rounds on my card, and it really came back to haunt him.
BTW - It's kind of funny. A long time ago, I asked a very high-profile trainer what exactly "ring generalship" was. (People always throw that fancy term out, and I swear well over half of them really DON'T know what it is! It's kind of one of those things you always wanted to know...But were afraid to ask!) Anyways, it's still a bit of an 'ambiguos' term open to interpretation I.M.O, but his answer made alot of sense on some levels, and helped he have a better understanding of the term. He said: "Don't ask me, just pop in the Leonard-Hagler fight."
Hmm...(It kind of 'clicked' at that moment...;-)
Warren Hovermale
It had to have been when he won the Gold Medal in 76. Without that he would have surely had a great career, but he would not have been the true superstar (not just in boxing, but he was a crossover star) in all of sports. People knew who Ray was as an amateur. Heck, people knew Duane Bobick, The Spinks Brothers, and so many other great fighters as amateurs. Remember those meets they would show against Cuba, Russia, Poland, and Italy? Teofilo Stevenson was a household name, and he was Cuban! People even knew Francisco Damiani, the Italian Heavyweight. Wow, how times have changed. It's all in the coverage of the sport, that's all. There are just as many boxing fans out there, there just isn't as much coverage as their used to be. Perhaps competition from other sports, I don't know.
I definitely think the hearns win was bigger given the way he won in come from behind fashion but I think the Hagler win just because of the circumstances surrounding it. The first hearns-leonard fight along with the first ali-frazier rank as the greatest style matchups ever.
Leonard's greatest achievement has not been a single moment, and there have been many of those. His greatest achievement has been that through all the years, the tremendous wins and few losses in the ring and the ups and downs in his personal life, Ray Leonard has presented himself and our sport to the world with a winning smile and a lot of class. He has never been controversial, has always remained above the fray and to this day whether it is as a former fighter, promoter or Contender star remained the greatest ambassador of the sport.
I seen Ray in Vegas over a year ago. I knew Ray for well over 20 years now. The man acted like he never even saw me before in his life. He has forgot everyone on the East Coast.
i believe ray achievement came when he decided to turn pro instead of not fighting professional at all.
it seems to me that people in the dc area act as if ray owes them something. lets stick to the question at hand and remember that this subject is about boxing and not personal feelings. ray has bought boxing fans around the world great fights. he is and always will be a great fighter and hall of famer. he conducted himself professionaly and had great ring savy. in my book ray is a great fighter. and as for the bad talk of him we all have done wrong things in our lives. so instead of blasting ray let us first look at our lives and hopefully ask god for forgiveness of sin so that we can learn to forgive others.
Yes Ray was a halfway decent fighter, but the truth is, he is a selfish bastard. one can be the best fighter in the world, but that will not get him in Heaven. the way he treats people and did his own family wrong, he might wind up somewhere down below.
Odell Leonard was a decent person, he was an honest and sincere boxer. Ray never did nothing what-so-ever for Odell or his Aunt Marcie.
Nate Charles Leonard,I miss you boy! Remember Chauncy and Kim???
I laugh my ass off when ever I think of that night. Call me at the barber shop.
..."Half-way decent fighter"???
*Chuckle*
;-)
Listen Fans: The question is was Ray a good boxer or not? We all know of the dirty low down stuff he did to his friends and family.
However, you must admit he was a damn good boxer. He did whip my uncle Johnny and I think my uncle Johnny Gant was a very good fighter. Ray was in fact a back-stabbing guy, but he was a good boxer. Juanita will even admit the guy was a good fighter, yes she too will say he was a dirt-bag but again the question was about his fighting abilities. I still remember when Ray caught Benitez tounge kissing his sister, he went absolutely nuts. It was the funniest damn thing I have ever seen. I am pulling out my photo album now and I cannot stop laughing. Those times were great!!!
I will never forget when the big shots paid for Ray to go to a school to teach him how to talk right and use big words. We were all dying lauging when he got back and acted completely different.
RAY I MISS YOU. You were hillyarious...
Twin, you got my laughing my ass off. Please tell us more. I love it.
I loved that skit "Three Champs And a Baby" back in the 80's or 90's with the Wayans brothers (Ali and Tyson) and (Tommy Davidson?) as Leonard on that show In Living Colour. Hehehe...That guy had Ray nailed to a 'T'...(LMFAO!...LOL...)
Dear Ray Leonard, why is it you have never done nothing for the people who made you what you are today? How could you forget those who helped you? What do you feel like when you run into them? Is Juanita still dating James from NW Washington DC? Is it true that Juanita's Aunt Marcie slapped you in the face cuz you asked for the ring back? Do you have trouble sleeping at night knowing what you have done to those who are close to you? Can you even look at yourself in the mirror? Why do you refuse to help the poor kids in your old neighborhood?
Hmm...Well, what can I say. I never realized that some of these feelings towards Ray existed in the D.C area, but I guess that's part of the reason why a West Coast bloke like me frequents these threads on occasion. I have to give some props to the posters here, as (unlike a certain other case) they are not posting under the guise of 'anonymous', and are making their points in a very direct but respectful manner.
Ray got some money, packed up and left. Never once thanked the ones who got him there in the first place. Left his own family.
He is an absolute waste when it comes to a loyal person.
Sugar Ray Leonard's left hoof KO of Dave Boy Green was magical. March 31 1980 the Sugar Man at his best. Gary do you have any photos or know of anyone?
Giving back is not always measured in dollars and cents, Ray Leonard has the power to give by just taking the time to show his face in the places he once called home to encourage other that they can make it out too. My son is a current boxer at SRL gym, and he asks me on the regular when do I think Sugar Ray will come into the gym to see the fighters there who wears his name to war. Great local fighter are always there,(Joppy, Cancel,Johnson,the Russell klan etc. and even Paul Williams)but how often can the past and current greats in the DC metro area stick their chest out and brag about meeting and having a chance to talk to the greatest beltway boxer of all times?
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