Motivational speaker Sugar Ray Leonard is the first boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses, who won world titles in five weight divisions, defeating fellow greats Wilfred Benitez, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, and Marvin Hagler along the way. For his achievements, he was named Boxer of the Decade in the 1980s.

Sugar Ray Leonard exploded onto the world of boxing by winning light welterweight gold for the United States at the 1976 Olympics, as part of a pugilistic ensemble claimed by many to be the greatest in the history of the Games. Though he had plans to go to college after the Olympics, difficult circumstances and family issues led to him taking up boxing professionally – which turned out to be the making of one of the greatest fighters of the last few decades.

Making his professional debut in 1977 in front of a crowd of 10,270 in Baltimore, Maryland, he defeated Luis Vega in six rounds. By 1979, after fighting world ranking opponents including Floyd Mayweather, he had accrued a record of 25-0 with 16 knockouts.

Sugar Ray retired with 36 wins – 25 by knockout – and a draw out of 40 fights, winning a multitude of titles across five different weight categories in the process, the first boxer to do so. His sincere, charismatic personality coupled with his ring experience led to a successful career as a television broadcaster for NBC,  ABC, HBO and ESPN. His television credits also include competing on the hit ABC series, Dancing With The Stars.

In addition, his celebrity status and tremendous cross-over appeal fostered commercial endorsement relationships with numerous companies including EA Sports, Vartec Telecom, Track Inc, Ford, Carnation, 7Up, Nabisco, Coca-Cola, and Revlon.

A top motivational speaker, Sugar Ray Leonard is also among the most sought-after inspirational speakers in the world today. His speech, titled POWER (Prepare, Overcome, and Win Every Round), is consistently booked with major Fortune 500 companies in the United States and abroad.