Sugar Ray Leonard Reveals He Was Sexually Abused

In his upcoming autobiography, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/sports/in-book-sugar-ray-leonard-says-coach-sexually-abused-him.html">'The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring,'</a> boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, who won titles in five different weight divisions during his storied career, reveals that he was sexually abused as a teenager by a "prominent Olympic boxing coach."

According to the book, Leonard was in a car with the coach discussing his Olympic future, when, "Before I knew it, he had unzipped my pants and put his hand, then mouth,  on an area that has haunted me for life. I didn't scream. I didn't look  at him. I just opened the door and ran."

The 55-year-old said he decided to write about what had happened after years of keeping it to himself, because, as he writes, "I realized I would never be free unless I revealed the whole truth, no matter how much it hurt.”

[<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/sports/in-book-sugar-ray-leonard-says-coach-sexually-abused-him.html?pagewanted=1">NY Times</a>]