מעיינות קולורדו, Lap. (אפריל 9, 2020) — Imagine being the lone boxer from your country to capture an Olympic gold medal, only days after the infamous Munich massacre. Now imagine also having won a remarkable 338 של 350 משחקי חובבים, having fought a trilogy as a professional with “נפלא” מרווין Hagler, being declared legally blind in both eyes (having entertainer Sammy Davis, ג 'וניור. pickup a six-figure medical bill), regaining sight in one eye, then working as a teacher of autistic students for 17 שנים.
“סוכר” Ray Seales has truly lived a surreal life, to say the least, and he’s still involved in boxing at the age of 67, as a successful coach of amateur boxers in Indianapolis.
Born in Saint Croix, מתגורר בארה"ב. Virgin Island as one of eight children in a family whose father was a boxer there as a member of the U.S. Army team, Seales started boxing at the age of nine. “I have three brothers and we always beat the crap out of each other,” he spoke about his start in boxing. “Learning how to box, בשבילי, was all about fighting to be the first to eat. I had gotten hit in my left eye playing dodgeball and my uncle, who was stationed at Ft. לואיס (בטאקומה, WA), told my mother there was a special doctor there who could help with my eye. My father was stationed all over and in 1964, when I was 12, my mother moved us to Tacoma, וושינגטון.
“I had boxing in my system. I went with my brothers to the Downtown Tacoma Boys Club, which was only one block from our home, and my mother could watch me walk from our house to the gym and back. I was the first from there to win a Golden Gloves title. I wanted to be a winner and finished with 14 (אלוף) jackets. I couldn’t speak English. I knew Spanish and spoke Spanish and English together. The first word I said in English was box. We used to fight three or four times a day and we built the Tacoma Boxing Club. I went on to have a 338-12 amateur record and I’ve been in boxing ever since.”
Seales developed into a champion, taking top honors at the 1971 National AAU and 1972 National Golden Gloves championships. בגיל 19, Seales enlisted in the U.S. חיל האוויר, but his mother made some calls so Ray would be able to compete in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, גרמניה.
She succeeded and the rest, כמו שאומרים, is history. And when he came home from the Olympics, he was told that there was no need for him to report to the U.S. חיל האוויר, because he had done enough in terms of service as the only American boxer to win a gold medal.
The 1972 אולימפיאדה, עם זאת, was overshadowed by the killing of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, as well as a West German police officer at the Olympic Village by terrorists on Black September.
“I had just turned 20,” Seales remembered. “Boxing was heavy when we went there. Some of my family, my coach from Tacoma, and Tacoma teammate (and 2-time U.S. אולימפי)דייבי ארמסטרונג were in Germany. I didn’t know anything at first. I had to get the attention of my parents to let them know not to go there, because there were terrorists with sub-machine guns in the Olympic Village. I was the only American boxer left to fight.”
Seales defeated Bulgarian Angjei Anghhelov, 5-0, in the light welterweight championship to capture an Olympic gold medal, the only member of the U.S. team to do so. His teammates included Armstrong, Duane Bobick, and Olympic bronze medalists Jesse Valdez, מרווין ג'ונסון ו Ricardo Carreras.
Sugar Ray Seales’s dedication to USA Boxing is second to none,” אמר כריס tofflemire, מנהל בוגרי אגרוף בארה"ב. “His pride, patriotism, and devotion to helping our next generation of champions is what makes him such an inspiring figure.”
ארגון בוגרי איגרוף ארה"ב
נוצר על אלופת לכל החיים, הדדית יחסים מועילים בין ארה"ב אגרוף ו בוגריה, –מתאגרפים, פקידי, מאמנים ואוהדי אגרוף — ארגון הבוגרים מתחבר דורות של אלופים, השראה ולתת בחזרה אלופי איגרוף העתיד של איגרוף ארה"ב, ובמחוץ לזירה.
איגוד בוגרי האיגרוף בארצות הברית פתוח לכל מי שיש לו אהבה לאגרוף ורוצה להישאר מחובר לאיגרוף חובבים. לחברים ניתנת גישה למגוון רחב של אירועים מיוחדים המארחים על ידי איגוד הבוגרים, כולל הול ארגון בוגרי אגרוף ארה"ב השנתית שלה של קבלת התהילה.
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Seales turned pro in 1973, winning an 8-round unanimous decision over Gonzalo Rodriguez בטאקומה. “Sugarman” won his first 21 קרבות פרו, until he lost a 10-round decision to 14-0 middleweight prospect and future Hall of Famer Marvin Hagler. שני קרבות מאוחר יותר, Seales fought Hagler in Tacoma to a 10-round draw (99-99, 99-99, 98-96).
“Everybody wanted a shot at the Olympic gold medalist,” Seales explained.” I went to Boston and we fought in a TV studio (WNAC). It was freezing in there. I was shivering when I went into the ring, Marvin came out dripping sweat. I knew I was losing after seeing that, but I hung with him and went the distance (10 סיבובים). I was having management problems and three months later I fought Hagler again, only this time at home in Tacoma. I beat him but it ended in a 10-round draw. He knows I beat him!”
Seales completed his trilogy with Hagler, but it was five years later, when Hagler was 42-2-1 and avoided by most of the world’s top middleweights. “I was the USBA (United States Boxing Association) and North American Boxing Federation (NABF) middleweight champion and Hagler needed to win a title to get a world title shot,” Seales noted. “I lost our third fight in the first round, but that’s the only thing shown on television in our three fights. We were two left-handers, but he switched to right-handed, and he caught me with a hook. I got paid and they bought him a world title fight.”
Seales has coached two different amateur teams in Indianapolis during the past 11 שנים, זכייה 10 Golden Gloves team championships, and he’s still in charge in Indy of Team IBG.
After he retired in 1984 after suffering detached retinas in both eyes, Seales was introduced in Las Vegas to Sammy Davis, ג 'וניור. (בתמונה למטה), who paid Seales’ $100,000 medical bill for his damaged eyes. Davis had lost his left eye in a 1952 car accident
“I’m a teacher,” Seales concluded. “I see the way that so many boxers want to fight likeפלויד Mayweather. Their head is tilted, they can’t throw a jab. I teach them to have the right foot behind the left (for a right-handed boxer), and to walk in straight, not tilted or peaking. Heel toe, heel toe every time you pivot is your stance.
“My advice for the boxers who hope to compete in the 2020 Olympics is to focus on what you’re doing and listen to how to get it done. What I really want to do is to coach the USA Olympic Boxing Team 2024.”
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