Laid low with blindness, Sugar Ray Seales was lately found dwelling in a homeless shelter. Right here, Eric Armit delves into the story of a proud boxer with a gold-standard Olympic pedigree who fought Hagler, Palomino, Minter and extra.
Born: 9 April 1952 (different sources counsel 4 September 1952) Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Isles
File: 68 fights, 57 wins (34 by KO/TKO), misplaced eight (three by KO/TKO towards Marvin Hagler, Alan Minter and Dwight Davison) three attracts.
Division: Middleweight
Stance: Southpaw
It culminated in 1972 Olympic gold: Sugar Ray Seales’s Beginner Profession
Received Olympic gold medal on the 1972 Video games. The one USA fighter to win a gold medal on the Video games. He was a gold medal winner on the 1971 US Nationwide Championships and on the 1973 Nationwide Golden Gloves. Within the US Nationwide Championships in 1971, he beat Carlos Palomino within the semi-finals, and in 1972 misplaced to Palomino within the gold medal bout. Within the US Olympic Trials, Seales beat Pete Ranzany, who had eradicated Palomino.
Seales turned skilled in January 1973 in Tacoma, profitable an eight-rounder on his debut
1973 – Had 14 fights, profitable all of them, beating 100-fight veteran Chucho Garcia and Britain’s Dave Coventry.
1974 – Had 10 fights, profitable 8, beating David Love and dropping, then drawing with Marvin Hagler.
1975 – Had 7 fights, profitable 6, beating Mike Dixon, Mike Lancaster and Renato Garcia however dropping to Eugene Hart.
1976 – Had 4 fights, beating George Cooper and Bobby Hoye however dropping to Alan Minter.
1977 – Had 11 fights, dropping to Ronnie Harris in March, then profitable 10 in a row, together with victories over Tony Gardner, Vincente Medina, Mike Hallacy and Doug Demmings.
1978 – Had 7 fights, beating Sammy Nesmith, drawing with Willie Warren and dropping a majority resolution to Ayub Kalule in Denmark.
1979 – Had three fights, together with a loss towards Marvin Hagler and a draw with Mike Colbert.
1980 – Was 4-1, Beating 31-0 Artwork Harris however dropping to Dwight Davison. Outpointed Jamie Thomas in a battle that finally led to Seales retiring.
1981 to 1983 – Received 7 of his 8 fights, beating Sammy Nesmith and John LoCicero however dropping to unbeaten James Shuler. He had his final battle in January 1983 stopping Max Hord within the first spherical.
The Story of Sugar Ray Seales
Seales was born in St Croix, US Virgin Islands, the place his father served within the US Military. He was certainly one of eight kids whose father had been a part of the US Military boxing workforce. The household moved to Tacoma, Washington, in 1965.
He and his brother Wilbur joined the Tacoma Boys Boxing Membership. Beginner boxing within the Pacific Northwest was booming on the time, producing future champions akin to Rocky Lockridge, Leo Randolph, and Johnny Bumphus.
BoxRec reveals Seales beginning out in 1966 within the 95-lb division and dealing up by means of the weights, profitable the Tacoma Golden Gloves, Seattle Golden Gloves, Inland Empire State Golden Gloves, Oregon Golden Gloves, and Western Area Golden Gloves.
He gained a bronze medal on the 1970 Golden Gloves at 132 lbs earlier than profitable the 1971 Nationwide title at 139 lbs, beating Carlos Palomino on his method to the ultimate.
He misplaced to Palomino within the 1972 Nationwide remaining however rebounded to win his means by means of the US Olympic Trials. The Video games have been held in Munich, and in his first bout, Seales beat German hope Ulrich Bayer. Simply 19 years outdated on the time and by then within the US Air Drive, Seales fought his method to the gold medal.
Nonetheless, the Video games have been overshadowed by the homicide of 11 Israeli coaches and athletes and a German policeman by terrorists of the Black September group who invaded the athletes’ quarters.
It appeared doable that the Video games could be deserted, however they continued with Seales being the one member of the US Boxing Group to win a gold medal. Seales turned skilled, however his signing-on bonus was a mere $1000 (for profitable a gold medal in 1976, one other Sugar Ray -Leonard- was paid $40,000).
BoxRec reveals Seales as having a 48-8 report as an newbie, however this could omit his fights as a junior and membership reveals, and many others., and a few sources, together with Seales, give his newbie report as 338-12.
He gained his first 21 paid fights earlier than dropping on factors to 14-0 Marvin Hagler in August 1974 in Boston. They fought once more in November 1974 in Seattle and the consequence was a majority draw with one decide having Seales the winner and the opposite two scoring it a draw.
Losses to Eugene Hart, Alan Minter and Ronnie Harris nearly derailed Seales however he rebounded by going 15-0-1 in his subsequent 16 fights. In November 1978 in Denmark, he misplaced a majority resolution to future WBA light-middleweight champion Ayub Kalule.
Any desires Seales had of a title shot led to February 1979 when he was floored 3 times and stopped within the first spherical by Hagler. In 1980, a stoppage loss towards Dwight Davison was an extra blow, however an much more damaging blow got here in his subsequent battle in August 1980. He scored a factors win over the very modest Jamie Thomas however was thumbed within the left eye and suffered a indifferent retina.
Stellar firm: Seales fought Marvin Hagler 3 times, together with a 1974 draw. (Picture by Albert Foster/Mirrorpix/Getty Pictures)
Seales already had issues together with his proper eye however he efficiently coated up each accidents and continued to field with very restricted imaginative and prescient, profitable seven of his subsequent eight fights earlier than his issues have been leaked and he was pressured to retire. The attention injury was so critical that he was dominated legally blind. He went by means of seven operations, which resulted in a slight enchancment in his proper eye imaginative and prescient.
The operations swallowed all the cash Seales had and he was pressured to file for chapter with the decide in his case writing of Seales that, “he couldn’t even pay the chapter submitting payment”. Makes an attempt have been made to placed on a profit present for Seales in Tacoma however regardless of the attendance of Muhammad Ali, Hagler, Ray Mancini and others, solely 4,000 tickets have been offered, successfully elevating no cash.
When Seales’s plight had first grow to be identified Sammy Davis Jr stated Seales was affected by three B’s: black, blind and broke. Davis had been a major mover in getting the profit exhibit the bottom, and after it failed, Davis donated $100,000 to clear Seales’s money owed. That gave Seales the prospect to begin his life anew.
From 1984, he spent 17 years working with autistic kids in faculties within the Tacoma space earlier than retiring and transferring to Indianapolis so his spouse may very well be nearer to her household. Inevitably, Seales made his method to a neighborhood gymnasium and commenced to work with younger boxers there, together with the at the moment unbeaten light-weight world contender Frank Martin.
Seales was inducted into the Indianapolis Boxing Corridor of Fame in 2018 and the US Virgin Islands proclaimed 14 April 1984 to be Sugar Ray Seales Day. After his spouse died, Seales moved again to Tacoma the place a few of his siblings nonetheless lived. He’s 71 now and proud that he by no means let his misfortune beat him down. One factor you will be positive of is that Sugar Ray nonetheless carries his gold medal with him each time he leaves the home.
He reveals the medal to any younger aspiring boxer he meets and never simply to boxing individuals. He recognises the joys it should give to be pictured with a gold medal. Life might have taken away most of his imaginative and prescient, however nobody can ever take away the gold medal he gained in 1972.
