Corrections_Today_November_December_2023_Vol.85_No.6

General Session

“Before I begin, I need to get something off my chest,” Leonard began. “When I was in the green room, I noticed there were a couple of guys that were sizing me up. I know exactly what you are thinking ... You are saying Sugar Ray is the champ but he’s not that big ... he’s older, slower ... I’ll bet I can beat him!” Leonard went on to describe some of his leg endary opponents and the way he prepared to meet these challenges. “It begins with your dreams, dreams are the window to your future,” he began. “Your goals are the vehicle that takes you there. Take away those dreams and you are stuck in a room without windows. Take away the goals and you don’t have a map to get to your dreams. Some of us are born with extraordinary size, strength, speed and talent but without determination that talent never fully develops. No one is born a world champion just like no one is born a brain surgeon” Leonard said. Sugar Ray illustrated his point about determina tion and “doing the road work” with clips from his bout with “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler. “The roadwork gives you the confidence to dig deep and perform under high pressure situations,” he noted. Leonard illustrated a point about believing in yourself with clips from his 1981 bout with Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns. “My left eye was nearly closed and I was

elements of success, self-esteem can be the most elusive,” he stated. But not every lesson was crowned with success. Leonard showed clips from his first professional loss against Roberto Duran and relayed how he had allowed him to make him lose his composure. “Losing your composure will be disastrous in all aspects of life,” he stated. He then showed clips from the rematch six months later which has gone down in boxing lore as the “No Mas” fight where Leonard so domi nated Duran that Duran quit. He concluded with some clips from his last World Championship victory over Donnie Lalonde. “I won that fight because I dreamed the dream. I had determination. I did the road work. I believed in myself. I stayed in control. I took the risk. I won that fight because I wanted victory. What is vic tory? Victory is accomplishing what you set out to do,” he concluded. President Robinson introduced a video presen tation from all the Past Presidents congratulating Executive Director Gondles on his many accom plishments as ACA Executive Director. Gondles was also presented with the Golden Eagle award. Gondles concluded by saying “Rob Green and I have worked together for the last 6 months. I’ve known this man for 30 years and he’s had a dis tinguished career in American corrections on the local level and the state level and he will do you proud.”

153 RD CONGRESS OF CORRECTION exhausted,” he recounted. “But I knew I had done the road work I had built up a hidden reservoir of strength. What separates the champion from the contender is self-esteem. At times, of all the

— KIRK RAYMOND

32 — November/December 2023 Corrections Today