By his mid-teens Leonard proved adept at boxing, and as an
amateur he won 145 of 150 bouts and garnered two National Golden
Glove championships (1973, 1974), two Amateur Athletic Union
championships (1974, 1975), and a gold medal at the 1975 Pan
American Games. Following his Olympic victory in 1976, he
announced his retirement from the sport but reentered the ring
as a professional on Feb. 5, 1977. Leonard weighed in at 5 feet
9 inches (1.75 m) and 147 pounds (66.7 kg). In November 1979 he
defeated the reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight
champion, Wilfred Benítez, only to lose the title in June 1980
in a famous match against Roberto Durán. Five months later
Leonard regained the title by defeating Durán, and he
successfully defended it thereafter, winning the World Boxing
Association (WBA) version of the title with a victory over
Thomas Hearns in 1981. Earlier that same year he had won the WBA
junior middleweight title with a ninth-round knockout of Ayub
Kalule. Long a popular figure, Leonard’s re