Leon's death calls to mind the '76 U.S. Olympic team. Leon @ 178, Michael @ 165, Ray Leonard @ 139 w/ a pic of his gf on his sock. Leo Randolph of Tacoma, Wash, Big John Tate of Nashville, & Howard "John John" Davis of Glen Cove. Louis "Howdy" Curtis of Greater DC. Five took gold

They had a BOAT. Howard Davis won Boxer Of The Tournament. Leonard was the media darling, & promised to enroll @ U Maryland after the Games, in retirement. Leon threw non-stop punches, was a former Marine. Cosell chronicled their bouts.

The '76 squad was a huge deal, because the '72 contingent had disappointed in Munich. Sugar Ray Seales, Duane Bobick, Jesse Valdez. Granted, some of them were robbed. Plus '76 was the bicentennial year. Cubans provided the main opposition. Leon & Michael were glory tales

Up from Pruitt-Igoe. In those days ABC telecast the summer Olympics uninterrupted from torch to closing ceremony. Munich had featured murders. Montreal was a relief. No one could know @ the time, the U.S. would not send a boxing team in '80. & '79 team perished in a plane crash

Leon's amateur boxing style is best described as "Imagine a 178 lb. Aaron Pryor". Pryor actually was in contention to make that squad- but he fought in Leonard's classification

Leon was the star of the heavier classes, since Big John Tate didn't really stand a chance vs. Teofilo Stevenson. Stevenson had an overhand chop like Joe Louis. The amateur light heavy class is wild, as it's three pounds heavier than the pro classification. Ali was an Olympic LH

The success of the bicentennial U.S. Olympic team kicked off a boxing craze across the country, marked by a rise in gym memberships, sales of gear & equipment, dudes slapboxing in the street, training programs, fight movies & magazine sales

That December, a film about a bicentennial superfight, entitled "Rocky", debuted in U.S. theatres. A fight hungry audience ate it up. That '76 team inspired a lot of youth to explore or enter the game. It changed sportswear forever. That was the impact they had in a 3 network era