Determination | Perseverance | Poverty | Self | Speech | Sports | Success | Understanding

SUGAR RAY LEONARD
He was one of seven children; he was a boxing champ. Sugar Ray Leonard grew up in poverty. “A lot of people think I come from a middle-class background, but I started from the bottom,” Leonard tells of some who comment on his language skills. They say that he must come from a background of wealth and prestige. Leonard is a high school graduate, but beyond that, it was his drive for self- improvement that was critical in developing his language skills. “I used to practice reading from a magazine before a mirror,” he explains, “so I could learn good grammar and enunciation and get out of the slang of the streets — from the dis and dats and Wha’s happen’, man. I knew if I was going to be more than just a fighter, I’d have to learn the language.”