Olympic medal record Men's Boxing Gold 1976 Montreal Light Welterweight Sugar Ray Leonard (born May 17, 1956) is an American retired professional boxer. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles. Leonard was the first boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses, and he is widely considered to be one of the best boxers of all time, winning world titles in five weight divisions and defeating future fellow International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Wilfred Benítez, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Durán and Marvin Hagler. Leonard was named "Boxer of the Decade" for the 1980s, due to his accomplishments..