Boxing News

Son of the Star

(Photo: MATT WINKELMEYER/GETTY IMAGES)
THEN AND NOW: Ray Jr was right by his father’s side through the peak of his fame, and they remain close today
“I blamed myself for the Duran defeat as I thought I was his good luck charm”

BACK in the 1970s, while most kids were busy riding bikes around the block or playing with action figures, a young Ray Leonard Jr was living the life that others could only dream about – TV commercial appearances, rubbing shoulders with A-list celebrities, he even had a Nintendo computer game officially tested and endorsed by him. And all of this was by the tender age of eight.

The son of pound-for-pound great Sugar Ray Leonard saw so much so young in a rollercoaster life. He was brought into the world in 1973; his dad was just 16, his mum 15. Three years later, Leonard Sr bagged Olympic gold in the light-welterweight category in Montreal. As his dad’s star rose, life was about to become very different for the young boy

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