Sugar Ray Leonard & Anna Trebunskaya - Season 12

[MFWalkoff]

Sugar Ray Leonard
"Boxing's Best"

Pro: Anna Trebunsakaya

Sugar Ray Leonard is a legendary sports icon. His very name epitomizes boxing and conjures the image of a true champion.

Ray was host and mentor for the first three seasons of the TV series, The Contender, on NBC and ESPN. Regarding the big screen, Ray appeared in the The Fighter and served as a consultant on the upcoming film Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman.

Having learned to box at 14, Ray's career includes three National Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union championships and the 1975 Pan-American Games crown. After winning a boxing gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games, he turned pro to help his family defer mounting medical bills incurred because of his father's illness.

Howard Cosell dubbed Ray the "new Muhammad Ali." In 1977, at age 20, Leonard won his first pro fight. He went on to defeat some of the finest boxers of the modern era, including Wilfred Benetiz, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler, from whom Ray won the world middleweight title.

During his 20-year professional career, Ray also won world titles in the welterweight, junior middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. He was the first boxer to win world titles in five different weight classes, a record that stands to this day.

Ray has been a successful TV broadcaster for NBC, ABC, HBO and ESPN and has fostered commercial endorsement relationships with companies including EA Sports, Vartec Telecom, Track Inc., Ford, Carnation, 7-Up, Nabisco, Coca-Cola and Revlon.

Ray is also among the most sought after motivational/inspirational speakers in the world. His speech, entitled "POWER" (Prepare, Overcome, and Win Every Round), is consistently booked with major Fortune 500 companies worldwide. Ray will release his first autobiography entitled The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring on June 7, 2011, which he developed with veteran author Michael Arkush.

Ray has always been devoted to the community and for many years has been the international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk for a Cure. He also participates in a variety of national and international causes benefiting children's charities. Ray has four children and lives in Southern California with his wife, Bernadette.

We know all about Sugar Ray Leonard's moves in the boxing ring. Now we can't wait for him to knock us out in the dance floor!

Cast Bios - ABC.com

Meet the Cast video - ABC.com

[moflan]

Anna's head looks Photoshopped on in this picture. It's such a weird angle, it looks like it's twisted on backwards.

[MFWalkoff]

It's her official ABC photo from their website. Guess the photographer was in a hurry that day.

[Dicechick]

Anna's head looks Photoshopped on in this picture. It's such a weird angle, it looks like it's twisted on backwards.

I had barbies that looked like that.

[GoingInCircles]

Oh, please, please, let Sugar Ray be a good dancer! I like him, and I want Anna to go far this time. I agree with the others, her picture up there is terrible

[karalott]

I think that's an old photo of Anna.

From the little bit of rehearsal footage I've seen, Sugar Ray is impressing me more than I was expecting. He seems fun, and I love Anna. So I'd love to see him do well. I'm hoping for a Warren Sapp style surprise Their first dance is the foxtrot, so it might hide any flaws easier than a latin dance would. Of course he still has a latin dance to get through the second week.

[DancingDad]

When he was in his prime Sugar Ray had the fastest footwork of anyone around. It was one of the keys to his success in the ring. I hope he still has that quickness and that is translates well onto the dance floor.

I'd love to see Anna get a win. She has been one of the most fun pros. She never complains or pouts, but you always know what her feelings are. True class.

[Love_Me]

Anna really grew on me these last few seasons. I wasn't really a big fan when the show first started. She is a beautiful dancer and Sugar Ray looked better then I thought he would.

[Love_Me]

Sugar Ray being a boxer I thought for sure would have had better footwork, but he has the potential to be good.

[JavaJo]

He is such a sweetheart!