"Sugar" Ray Seales, (born September 4, 1952) is an American former
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
. He was the only
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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
Marvelous Marvin Hagler (born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; May 23, 1954 – March 13, 2021) was an American professional boxer and film actor. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight divisi ...
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, where his father, who boxed in the U.S. Army, was stationed. The Seales family moved to
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...
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.][ :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
Donn Charles Nelson (born September 10, 1962) is an American basketball executive who previously held general manager and president of basketball operations roles for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the s ...
of Lowell, MA
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...
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
Zvonimir "Zvonko" Vujin (23 July 1943 – 8 December 2019) was a Serbian amateur boxer. He competed in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics for Yugoslavia and won bronze medals on both occasions. In 1967 he won a silver medal at the European championshi ...
(Yugoslavia) 5–0
*Final: defeated Angel Angelov
Anghei Anghelov (more frequently transliterated as Angel Angelov) ( bg, Ангел Ангелов) (born July 10, 1948) is a former boxer from Bulgaria, who won a silver medal in the light welterweight division the 1972 Summer Olympics
Th ...
(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
Marvelous Marvin Hagler (born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; May 23, 1954 – March 13, 2021) was an American professional boxer and film actor. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight divisi ...
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
Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professiona ...
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
*
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{{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