Why didn't Ray stick around with his ringside commentary? Most of the time, he was unbiased and very pinpoint with his analysis.
I’ve never heard him say why, but I figure he probably didn’t like the travel and ‘grind’ of going to fights or being in public for them (where people probably hounded him for autographs and such). It doesn’t seem like he feels the need to be in the spotlight and doesn’t make a ton of public appearances in his retirement. Also, he seems to have invested his earnings well (unlike many who have blown through millions of dollars with nothing to show for it) and just doesn’t need it.
I get the sense that he’s a lot different now to how he was in the 80s. I mean, saying that is completely obvious in that he was in his 20s/early 30s then and now he’s in his 60s but he’s obviously learnt a lot about himself through the inevitable mistakes he made in his life and being in the public eye and has also been honest about that (his autobiography sheds light on this). He’s probably just a lot more comfortable in himself and where his life is now that he doesn’t need the limelight as much. When people say they hate him, they’re taking about Sugar Ray Leonard the fighter from 40-something years ago, not the man he’s become now. That’s just my impression from the outside, though. I don’t know him personally so it’s not an informed opinion.
