In a stunning revelation, Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard will disclose for the first time sexual abuse he endured at the hands of an Olympic coach in his new memoir “The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring.”
The book, to be released next month on Viking, details the inappropriate behavior began in 1971. Leonard does not name the coach, but states at 15 years old he and another fighter we made to take a bath together while the coach watched.
The NY Times confirmed that an advance copy of the book details the inappropriate nature of the relationship became physical right before Leonard’s gold medal win in the 1976 Olympics. While alone in a parked car, the coach informed Leonard about how important it would be to his career to win the gold medal.
“Before I knew it, he had unzipped my pants and put his hand, then mouth, on an area that has haunted me for life,” Leonard writes. “I just opened the door and ran.”
“That was painful enough [to write]. But last year, after watching the actor Todd Bridges bare his soul on Oprah’s show about how he was sexually abused as a kid, I realized I would never be free unless I revealed the whole truth, no matter how much it hurt.”
Leonard cites the incident as a personal demon that caused several of his adult problems such as an 80s cocaine addiction.
At press time, Leonard plans to discuss the incident next month when he officially kicks off his book tour.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 