“When the trainer talks to the fighter, there’s a connection. You don’t always have to say much.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Boxing is the ultimate challenge. There’s nothing that can compare to testing yourself the way you do every time you step in the ring.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Looking back, yes, I made too many comebacks. But each comeback I was 100 percent sure that I would win. I never came back for the money, because I didn’t need it. The adulation I was getting anyway in other spheres. But I’m a guy who likes to see how close he can get to the edge of the mountain – that’s what makes me tick.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“People can do more than they ever believe they can do. Physically, mentally, academically. You have to be pushed. It hurts. But it’s worth it, and it’s a great thing.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I’m one of the most optimistic persons in the world. I always believed that – there’s another shot, another chance. In boxing, I never gave up. I kept trying, kept trying. Even when things seemed so dim, I continued to push forward to make something happen in my favor.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Boxing is the ultimate challenge. There’s nothing that can compare to testing yourself the way you do every time you step in the ring. On the downside, you meet a lot of really bad people in boxing, at all stages of your career.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“You don’t appreciate things until they’re gone. For me, I miss my friends; I don’t miss boxing, I miss the camaraderie.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I am excited to share my archive pictures and footage. I’ll also share announcements about current events and success stories from the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation to help fight diabetes and child obesity.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Success is attaining your dream while helping others to benefit from that dream materializing.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I always expect unexpected challenges. Boxing is not an easy sport.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I wouldn’t change anything because the mistakes and the hurt are as important as all the great fights. They made me who I am today.”― Sugar
“I’m a competitor and a very proud man. If a guy beats me once, he’ll have to do it again to make me believe him.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I was not from a middle-class family at all. I did not have middle-class possessions and what have you. But I had middle-class parents who gave me what was needed to survive in society.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“It’s hard to talk about yourself.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Holyfield is nothing but class, and I think he’s a breath of fresh air for the sport.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“To be the best, you need to spend hours and hours and hours running, hitting the speed bag, lifting weights and focusing on training.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“No one but myself thought I could beat guys like Tommy Hearns or Roberto Duran.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“For the most part, I think video games do a good job of capturing the essence of boxing. However, I’d like to continue to see them push the realism, emphasizing the skill involved.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Muhammad Ali was a god, an idol and an icon. He was boxing. Any kid that had the opportunity to talk to Ali, to get advice from Muhammad Ali, was privileged. He’s always given me time to ask questions, although I was so in awe that I didn’t ask questions.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Boxing is individual, although there’s a team concept because you need a great corner, you need a great trainer, you need a great prep man, you need all of these things, but it’s more of a Mano a Mano; it’s more you versus me. I miss that time in training camp and Dad and Mom cooking meals. It was one big family.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Ray Leonard is more the family man, kind of quiet. He’s not as outgoing as Sugar Ray Leonard. Sugar Ray Leonard was very determined, very focused, very outgoing and very selfish, if you will. There are two different individuals there.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I made the decision to turn pro, and I remember what Ali said to me: ‘Get Angelo Dundee. He’s the right complexion with the right connection.’ He knew boxing. Our relationship was so genuine, so sincere.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Boxing will always be in my life.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Bruce Lee was an artist and, like him, I try to go beyond the fundamentals of my sport. I want the public to see a knockout in the making.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“To be the best, you need to spend hours and hours and hours running, hitting the speed bag, lifting weights and just focusing on training.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“We’re all given some sort of skill in life. Mine just happens to be beating up on people.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Duran always disturbs me. The guy is just weird. Before our first fight, both Duran and his wife gave my wife the finger.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“When I turned pro, Muhammad Ali was laying back, and I was able to fill up an area that was empty.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Ali’s belief in himself was something I picked up on, and it’s become my own philosophy.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I’m a free agent. I haven’t allowed any promoters to have exclusive options on my fight. I don’t need a promoter.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I’ve never believed in tying myself up in a long-range contract, and I’ve been very outspoken on that subject.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I think an athlete should be honest. I know it’s difficult, but if a guy knocked me on my can, I couldn’t very well say, I slipped.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“You just don’t heal that easy unless you’re young.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Aaron Pryor wants to get into the ring with me. He wants to be able to retire, and he will. For health reasons.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“When I’m not in training. I’ll walk around the streets at 153, but it’s not solid; it’s my socializing weight.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Generally, the more weight you put on, the less effective you are.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I was painfully initiated into boxing, because the guys I fought were a lot bigger than me.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Boxing was not something I truly enjoyed. Like a lot of things in life, when you put the gloves on, it’s better to give than to receive.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Before the start of the ’76 Olympics, I’d had 160 amateur fights. I won 155 and lost five.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“It’s different when you become a professional, because you also have to become a businessman, and that takes something away from it.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“In Italy, I had an Afro, and a lot of the kids came up and felt my hair. It really was funny. I wish I had understood Italian.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“When we got back to the U.S., I wanted to kiss the ground after seeing what people in other countries are denied or don’t have.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Although it was a great accomplishment to win a gold medal, as soon as they put it on you, that’s it; your career is over.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Except for Ali, fighters had never been marketable.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Boxing was the only career where I wouldn’t have to start out at the bottom. I had a good resume.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“They say that I’m stubborn, and my wife says that, too, but it’s paid off so far.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“If I hadn’t had the talent, the networks wouldn’t have televised my fights. No one has made me; I made myself. I paid my dues.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I fought tall fighters, short fighters, strong fighters, slow fighters, sluggers and boxers. It was either learn or get knocked off.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I want my fights to be seen as plays that have a beginning, a middle and an end.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“I think I’ve become one of the best finishers in boxing; if I hurt a guy, I normally take him out.”― Sugar Ray Leonard
“Boxing brings out my aggressive instinct, not necessarily a killer instinct.”― Sugar Ray Leonard