Editing Sugar Ray Leonard (section)

==Amateur career==
Leonard started boxing at the Palmer Park Recreation Center in 1969. His older brother, [[Roger Leonard|Roger]], started boxing first. Roger helped start the boxing program, urging the center's director, Ollie Dunlap, to form a team. Dave Jacobs, a former boxer, and Janks Morton volunteered as boxing coaches. Roger won some trophies and showed them off in front of Ray, goading him to start boxing.

In 1972, Leonard boxed in the [[featherweight]] quarterfinals of the National [[Amateur Athletic Union|AAU]] Tournament, losing by decision to Jerome Artis. It was his first defeat. Later that year, he boxed in the Eastern Olympic Trials. The rules stated that a boxer had to be seventeen to box in international competition, so Leonard, only sixteen, lied about his age.<ref name= noble>{{cite book |title=Sugar Ray Leonard and Other Noble Warriors |first=Sam |last=Toperoff |year=1987 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=0-07-065003-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sugarrayleonardo00tope}}</ref>{{rp|1}} He made it to the [[lightweight]] semifinals, losing a disputed decision to Greg Whaley, who took such a beating that he wasn't allowed to continue in the trials and never boxed again.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3U4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3639,2945747 |first=Phil |last=Musick |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |title=Ex-Foe Sees a Big Win for Leonard |via=news.google.com |date=June 17, 1980 |access-date=November 4, 2011}}</ref>

Sarge Johnson, assistant coach of the US Olympic Boxing Team, said to Dave Jacobs, "That kid you got is sweet as sugar". The nickname stuck. However, given his style and first name, it was probably only a matter of time before people started calling him Sugar Ray, after the man many consider to be the greatest boxer of all time, [[Sugar Ray Robinson]].<ref name= noble />{{rp|7–8}}

In 1973, Leonard won the National [[Golden Gloves]] Lightweight Championship but lost to Randy Shields in the lightweight final of the National AAU Tournament. The following year, Leonard won the National Golden Gloves and National AAU Lightweight Championships. Leonard suffered his last two losses as an amateur in 1974. He lost a disputed decision to Anatoli Kamnev in Moscow, after which, Kamnev gave the winner's trophy to Leonard. In Poland, local fighter [[Jan Kwacz]] was given a disqualification victory over Leonard after being knocked down three times in the first round but the referee ruled that Leonard had punched after the bell.<ref>{{cite news |editor-first=Gay |editor-last=Flood |url=http://www.geocities.ws/pedrinet/leonard.html |title=Ray Charles LEONARD |website=geocities.ws}}</ref>

Leonard won the National Golden Gloves and National AAU [[Light Welterweight]] Championships in 1974. The following year, he again won the National AAU Light Welterweight Championship, as well as the Light Welterweight Championship at the [[Pan American Games]].

In 1976, Leonard made the U.S. Olympic Team as the light welterweight representative. The team also included [[Leon Spinks|Leon]] and [[Michael Spinks]], [[Howard Davis Jr.]], [[Leo Randolph]], [[Charles Mooney]], and [[John Tate (boxer)|John Tate]]. Many consider the 1976 U.S. team to be the greatest boxing team in the history of the Olympics.<ref>{{cite web |last=Iole |first=Kevin |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/ki-usabox082008.html |title=One USA Boxing team stands above the rest by Kevin Iole |publisher=Yahoo! Sports |date=August 20, 2008 |access-date=December 7, 2021}}</ref>  Leonard won his first four Olympic bouts by 5–0 decisions. In the semifinals, he faced Kazimierz Szczerba and won a 5–0 decision.

In the final, Leonard boxed the great Cuban knockout artist [[Andrés Aldama]], who scored five straight knockouts to reach the final and would go on to win the gold medal at the [[Boxing at the 1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Summer Olympics]]. Leonard landed several good left hooks in the first round. In the second, he dropped Aldama with a left to the chin. Late in the final round, he again hurt Aldama, which brought a [[standing eight count]] from the referee.

With only a few seconds left in the fight, a Leonard combination forced another standing eight count. Leonard was awarded a 5–0 decision and the Olympic gold medal.  Afterward, Leonard announced, "I'm finished...I've fought my last fight. My journey has ended, my dream is fulfilled. Now I want to go to school." He was given a scholarship to the [[University of Maryland]], a gift from the citizens of [[Glenarden, Maryland|Glenarden]], Maryland.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Pat |last=Putnam |url=https://vault.si.com/.amp/vault/1976/08/09/oh-brothersthey-put-punch-into-it |title=Oh Brothers—They Put Punch Into It |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=August 9, 1976 |access-date=December 7, 2021}}</ref> He planned to study business administration and communications.<ref name= noble />{{rp|42–43}} He finished his amateur career with a record of 165–5 and 75 KOs.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060720083909/http://boxing-records.com/palm/voirpalma.phtml?boxeur=leonarra.html Sugar Ray Leonard Amateur Record] at the BoxingRecords. Last updated : March 1, 2006.</ref>

===Achievements===
*1973 National Golden Gloves Lightweight Champion, defeating [[Hilmer Kenty]]
*1973 National AAU Light Welterweight Championship runner-up, losing to Randy Shields
*1974 National Golden Gloves Light Welterweight Champion, defeating Jeff Lemeir
*1974 National AAU Light Welterweight Champion, defeating Paul Sherry
*1974 North American Championships Gold Medalist, defeating Robert Proulx
*1975 National AAU Light Welterweight Champion, defeating Milton Seward
*1975 North American Championships Gold Medalist, defeating Michel Briere
*1975 Pan American Games Light Welterweight Gold Medalist, defeating Victor Corona from Cuba
*1976 Olympic Light Welterweight Gold Medalist, defeating [[Andrés Aldama]], also from Cuba.

;Olympic results
*1/32: Defeated [[Ulf Carlsson (boxer)|Ulf Carlsson]] (Sweden) by unanimous decision, 5–0
*1/16: Defeated [[Valery Limasov]] (Soviet Union) by unanimous decision, 5–0
*1/8: Defeated [[Clinton McKenzie]] (Great Britain) by unanimous decision, 5–0
*1/4: Defeated [[Ulrich Beyer]] (East Germany) by unanimous decision, 5–0
*1/2: Defeated [[Kazimierz Szczerba]] (Poland) by unanimous decision, 5–0
*Finals: Defeated [[Andrés Aldama]] by unanimous decision, 5–0<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/leonard.htm |title=Sugar Ray Leonard |publisher=Cyber Boxing Zone |date=May 17, 1956 |access-date=November 4, 2011}}</ref>