Sugar was born in 1937 in Washington D.C. and started out as a lawyer after earning a degree at Michigan. He then took up an advertising career in New York before purchasing Boxing Illustrated in 1969 as an outlet for his love of the sport. He worked with the magazine until 1973 and went on to become the Ring’s editor and publisher in 1979. He loved to hold court in hotel bars and stayed with Ring until 1983 before returning to Boxing Illustrated in 1988. In 1998 he founded another boxing magazine called Fight Game.
He was very opinionated and wasn’t afraid to express his views no matter what people thought of them. Two of his most famous books were Sting like a Bee and The 100 Greatest Boxers of All Time. Although Sugar was famous in boxing circles he was also quite knowledgeable in other sports such as football, horse racing, and baseball. His boxing expertise led to his work as a television and radio commentator and he also scored several small parts in movies such as Night and the City, Rocky Balboa, and The Great White Hype.
Sugar's wife and daughter were at his side when he passed away at Northern Westchester Hospital and it’s believed he was also fighting lung cancer at the time of his death. In 2005 Sugar was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and even though he was ageing, his opinion was still sought by various television networks when it came to boxing.
Jack Hirsch, who is the Boxing Writers Association of America’s president, said Sugar was a showman in every sense of the word and quite flamboyant, but also had a quiet side to him which the public rarely got to see. Hirsch added that his friend was an extremely modest individual. However, the boxing world and most of the public will remember Sugar as a fixture at many of the sport’s biggest fights. Many fans bet on the fighters Sugar had predicted to win in those contests and often came out with pockets full of winnings.
Sugar’s incredible sports knowledge, storytelling, and quick wit will be missed in boxing circles and the sport definitely won’t be as colorful without him around.
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