By the time he was 20 years old, Ray Charles “Sugar Ray” Leonard had won an Olympic gold medal, three National Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union championships and the 1975 Pan-American Games crown. Then he turned pro, winning world titles in five weight categories.
Today he’s a grown 64-year-old man who takes a more moderate approach to physical activity. Even former high-performing athletes feel their age at some point. Now running the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation, which raises funds for juvenile diabetes research, giving motivational speeches and doing some acting, Leonard talks about his life, how aging affects athletes and what it’s like to be Sugar Ray.
“There’s nothing I can’t do. I do things more in moderation. I listen to my body a lot more than I used to. When my body tells me to slow down, I heed that advice.”
But back in his heyday, Leonard was living two lives.