"Sugar" Ray Seales, (born September 4, 1952) is an American former boxer. He was the only American boxer to win a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. As a professional, he fought

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

champion Marvin Hagler three times. He is also the former NABF and USBA middleweight champion.

Family and early life

Seales was born in the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

, where his father, who boxed in the U.S. Army, was stationed. The Seales family moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1965. He is the half-brother of boxer Dale Grant and the brother of boxer Wilbur Seales.

Career

Seales was a product of the Tacoma Boys Club amateur boxing program, and was coached by

Joe Clough Joe Clough (10 November 1885 – 27 December 1976) was a taxi and bus driver. Clough was the first Black bus driver in London. In 2021, a play written by Neil Gore about Clough's life debuted at The Place Theatre in Bedford. Biography Jos ...

. :File:Joe Clough and Ray Seales.jpg Amateur record: 338–12 *1972 Olympic gold medalist (139 lbs.) *1971 National AAU light welterweight champion *1972 National Golden Gloves 139 pounds champion, defeating Donnie Nelson of Lowell, MA in the final

1972 Olympic results

*Round of 32: defeated Ulrich Beyer (East Germany) on points *Round of 16: defeated Jim Montague (Ireland) on points *Quarterfinal: defeated Andres Molina (Cuba) 3–2 *Semifinal: defeated Zvonimir Vujin (Yugoslavia) 5–0 *Final: defeated Angel Angelov (Bulgaria) 3–2

Pros

Seales was a contender for the middleweight title during the late '70s and early '80s, winning the regional level USBA and NABF titles in the process. In his two most memorable fights, he lost a narrow decision to future middleweight champion Marvin Hagler in July 1974, then drew with Hagler in a rematch three months later. After losing to European champion

Alan Minter Alan Sydney Minter (17 August 19519 September 2020) was a British professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 1981. He held the undisputed middleweight title in 1980, having previously held the British middleweight title from 1975 to 1976, and ...

in 1976, Seales remained on the outskirts of contention, until a first-round technical knockout at the hands of Hagler effectively ended his title hopes.

Retirement

In 1980, Seales injured his left eye in a fight with Jaime Thomas, and retired due to a serious retinal tear. He was subsequently declared legally blind, and was used as a cause célèbre along with Sugar Ray Leonard during the 1980s for those pushing for a ban on boxing.

Life after boxing

Years later, doctors operated and restored Seales' vision in his right eye, though he wears glasses. Seales later worked as a schoolteacher of autistic students at Lincoln High School in Tacoma for 17 years, retiring in 2004. In 2006, he moved to Indianapolis with his wife, and currently teaches at Indy Boxing and Grappling.

Honors

Seales was a 2005 inductee into the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame. On May 5, 2018, Seales was inducted to the Indiana Boxing Hall of Fame in their inaugural class.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Seales, Sugar Ray Living people 1952 births African-American boxers Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing Middleweight boxers Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Sportspeople from Tacoma, Washington Boxers from Washington (state) Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics American male boxers Sportspeople with a vision impairment 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople