Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard "Boxing's Best" Dancer Partner: 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! Photo credit: Debra Wald
Wendy Williams "Talk's Biggest Talker" Dancer Partner: Tony Dovolani
Called a "breakthrough in daytime" by The New York Times, Wendy Williams burst onto the national talk show scene in 2009 with the launch of her daily, syndicated program, The Wendy Williams Show. Touted by People as one of the "best shows of 2009," the critically-acclaimed series now has the distinction of being destination television.
A mother, wife and bestselling author, Wendy built a devoted following from her years as one of radio's most popular personalities. In addition to her daytime TV success, Wendy will host GSN's new original series Love Triangle, slated to premiere April of 2011.
Wendy was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame (only the second African American woman to be honored by the organization) in November of 2009. She is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, Wendy's Got The Heat and The Wendy Williams Experience. Well, Wendy's next experience has her taking center stage on Dancing With The Stars. Can't wait to see her in action! Photo Credit: Karl Giant / The Wendy Williams Show
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Tagged in Dancing With The Stars