Sugar Ray Leonard captured the hearts of Americans when he won the gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. He fought with a swift, graceful style and soon became a media favorite with his charm and good looks. Howard Cosell, who called the bouts for ABC television, called him the new, lighter Muhammad Ali because of his quick, butterfly moves in the ring and his flamboyant personality during interviews. It was at about this time that Leonard became widely known as "Sugar Ray" after the great Sugar Ray Robinson. He also started working with Ali's former trainer, Angelo Dundee. After the Olympics, Leonard's decision to leave the amateur world and turn professional stemmed from the need to help support three generations of his family.

In 1977, at age 20, Sugar Ray Leonard won his first professional fight against Luis Vega. This fight set the stage for some of the most memorable fights in history. A true warrior, Leonard won his first 27 fights against some of the finest boxers of the modern era including Wilfred Benetiz, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler.

After one more fight, Sugar Ray Leonard, suffering from a detached retina in his left eye, retired. He returned to the ring in 1984 and knocked out Kevin Howard only to retire again. In 1987, returning from retirement once again, Leonard defeated "Marvelous" Marvin 1-lagler in one of the greatest upsets in sport history to become the WBC Middleweight Champion. In 1989, Leonard met Roberto Duran for the third and final time, dominating the fight and retaining his WBC Super Middleweight Title. Leonard's last bout was against Hector Comacho on March 1, 1997 in Atlantic City, twenty years after he turned professional. His final record stands at 36-3-1(25) KOs.

Sugar Ray Leonard's charming and charismatic personality has lead to a successful career as a television broadcaster for NBC, ABC, HBO and ESPN. Leonard has also been the national spokesman for EA Sports, Vartec Telecom, Track, Inc., Ford, Carnation, 7-Up, Nabisco, and Revlon to name just a few. Leonard hosts his own weekly television program on ESPN, Sugar Ray's Hit Parade. A great deal of Leonard's time is devoted to his commitment to improve the sport of boxing. Leonard's Boxing Management company was recently called the "dream team of professional boxing management" by executives at KO Magazine. Since 1997, Leonard has focused much of his time and energy on the Sugar Ray Leonard Youth Foundation, which educates children about the danger of drug abuse, gangs and violence. He is also the face of D.A.R.E. America, the world's pre-eminent anti-drug and anti-violence campaign reaching 36 million kids world-wide. In fact, Leonard's book 12 Rounds to Victory has been re-worked for today's youth and will be distributed as part of D.A.R.E.'s fall 1999 curriculum. Leonard is married, has three beautiful children, and lives in California.