Boxing champ Sugar Ray Leonard is simultaneously afraid for and afraid of his son Daniel Leonard, whose years-long drug addiction is turning him violent, according to a restraining order request he filed last month.
“I love my son but he has become a danger not only to himself but to his family!” Leonard, 70, wrote in the application obtained by TMZ.
“My wife is extremely afraid, along with my daughter Camille! His behaviour has gotten worse every day. We haven’t had a day of peace in nine years, which is the reality of his addiction! Scared for my family!”
The youngest of Sugar Ray’s four children, 25-year-old Daniel has totalled five cars over the past year and “stolen extreme amounts of money, valuable items” over the course of his “at least” seven- to eight-year addiction, his father alleged.
“He basically steals every day for years!”
In addition, Daniel has overdosed four times, including twice when he had to be “brought back to life” at the hospital, his father said.
Leonard first obtained a temporary restraining order after Daniel pushed him in the heat of a May 19 altercation, forcing him to call police. Daniel violated the order the next day when he was arrested attempting to enter the family home, TMZ reported.
That prompted the boxing great to request the current restraining order, which would kick Daniel out of the house and forbid him to come within 100 yards of his wife, Bernadette Robi, and their daughter, Daniel’s 29-year-old sister Camille.
He must also keep the same distance from Leonard’s residence, place of employment, pets and vehicles, TMZ cited.
A judge approved the order, though without including Camille, saying that more information was needed regarding her need for protection.
Daniel Leonard has two court dates set for next month to address his arrest and his father’s restraining order request.
Sugar Ray Leonard won world titles in five weight classes during his career, snagged the 1976 Olympic gold medal in light-welterweight boxing in Montreal, and was the first fighter to make US$100mil in prize money. He has been open about his own past addictions to cocaine and alcohol. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
