Top 143 Quotes & Sayings by Sugar Ray Leonard
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American boxer Sugar Ray Leonard.
Last updated on November 22, 2024.
Ali's belief in himself was something I picked up on, and it's become my own philosophy.
Boxing brings out my aggressive instinct, not necessarily a killer instinct.
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.
Holyfield is nothing but class, and I think he's a breath of fresh air for the sport.
Joe Frazier was the epitome of a champion. I mean, here is a guy who was total old school, blue collar, who would fight anybody. You know, he didn't tell you he was the best fighter pound for pound.
You don't appreciate things until they're gone. For me, I miss my friends; I don't miss boxing, I miss the camaraderie.
To be the best, you need to spend hours and hours and hours running, hitting the speed bag, lifting weights and focusing on training.
I went through real darkness, but the ring was my light. That was the one place I felt safe. I could control what happened in the ring. My heart turned icy.
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.
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.
I'm a free agent. I haven't allowed any promoters to have exclusive options on my fight. I don't need a promoter.
I always expect unexpected challenges. Boxing is not an easy sport.
Aaron Pryor wants to get into the ring with me. He wants to be able to retire, and he will. For health reasons.
Before I fight, I always pray that no one gets hurt.
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.
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.
Generally, the more weight you put on, the less effective you are.
It's different when you become a professional, because you also have to become a businessman, and that takes something away from it.
I watched Muhammad Ali, how when he would speak, how it was such a thing of beauty. It sounded so wonderful. And I wanted to be like him.
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.
Duran always disturbs me. The guy is just weird. Before our first fight, both Duran and his wife gave my wife the finger.
I came from nothing and achieved humungous fame and fortune. But I worked hard. I had discipline and determination. I had that ice in me.
Boxing's a poor man's sport. We can't afford to play golf or tennis. It is what it is. It's kept so many kids off the street. It kept me off the street.
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.
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.
At 14, I was the most disciplined guy around. I would get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and run five miles, and then go to school. Sometimes I would run behind the school bus, and the kids thought I was just crazy. I knew what I wanted.
When I turned pro, Muhammad Ali was laying back, and I was able to fill up an area that was empty.
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.
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.
I wanted to win the gold medal and then go home and further my education in college. I had no intentions whatsoever to become a professional fighter because I had heard horror stories about former boxers who made money but, in the end, ended up with nothing. I didn't want to be one of those guys.
When I was fighting, I would look to excite the crowds with a bolo punch or something taunting. Looking back, they were legal - but not sportsmanlike. I don't recommend another boxer try them. But we looked more to make the robot fights dramatic first and realistic second.
I don't hold any regrets whatsoever about my life besides hurting people I loved.
I was painfully initiated into boxing, because the guys I fought were a lot bigger than me.
To say what I would have been if I wasn't boxing, I don't know why, but I always wanted to be an x-ray technician or a substitute teacher. Those two occupations always stuck with me, maybe because my substitute teacher didn't give us homework, or because I've always had x-rays of my hands.
When I'm not in training. I'll walk around the streets at 153, but it's not solid; it's my socializing weight.
I didn't excel too highly in school, but I felt that I was moving ahead - and not just in boxing - but in life.
No one but myself thought I could beat guys like Tommy Hearns or Roberto Duran.
I've never believed in tying myself up in a long-range contract, and I've been very outspoken on that subject.
Boxing was the only career where I wouldn't have to start out at the bottom. I had a good resume.
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.
I'll think, If this is his first punch, how are the others gonna feel? That's the only fear I have for myself.
I wanted to be like Bruce Jenner.
For some reason, I was drawn towards boxing. Or maybe boxing drew me towards it - because once I put those gloves on, after about six months, boxing was my life.
Success is attaining your dream while helping others to benefit from that dream materializing.
I learned to run backwards from Muhammad Ali. He told me about running backwards because you try to imitate everything you do in the ring, so sometimes you back up. So you have to train your legs to go backwards.
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.
We're all given some sort of skill in life. Mine just happens to be beating up on people.
Before the start of the '76 Olympics, I'd had 160 amateur fights. I won 155 and lost five.
They say that I'm stubborn, and my wife says that, too, but it's paid off so far.
I fought tall fighters, short fighters, strong fighters, slow fighters, sluggers and boxers. It was either learn or get knocked off.
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.
You just don't heal that easy unless you're young.
It's hard to talk about yourself.
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.
I want my fights to be seen as plays that have a beginning, a middle and an end.
Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities.
I'm not religious, but I believe that what I have is a gift, and I respect it and live up to it.
I think I've become one of the best finishers in boxing; if I hurt a guy, I normally take him out.
Without boxing, because of my neighborhoods, who knows what would have happened to me. It was always about following the leader. And I definitely was not a leader. Boxing gave me discipline; a sense of self. It made me more outspoken. It gave me more confidence.
Except for Ali, fighters had never been marketable.
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