Sugar Ray Leonard is a professional boxer known for being the first to earn more than $100 million in purses.  His passion for boxing began after seeing his older brother win some trophies.  He won the world title in five weight divisions and was named “Boxer of the Decade” for the 1980s.

It was on this day, November 9, 1982, that Sugar Ray Leonard announced his retirement at a charity event in Baltimore, Maryland.  After discovering that he had detached retina, an eye condition, he underwent surgery twice and decided to call it quits after that.  Leonard contended that his eye was full healed, but that he was not passionate about boxing anymore.

One year after that, Leonard announced that he was returning to boxing and fought Kevin Howard on May 11, 1984.  Leonard was knocked flat onto his back, a first for his professional career, and again announced his retirement after that match.