LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Each year, the Kentucky Derby Festival celebrates the start of Derby season with a kick-off luncheon, and this year's featured speaker packs a punch.
Sugar Ray Leonard, legendary boxer, Olympic Gold Medalist and Hall of Famer, was selected as the speaker for the annual "They're Off!" kick-off luncheon on Friday, April 19.
Known for his "charismatic personality" and "excellence outside the ring," organizers said Leonard is also a philanthropist. He founded the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation 14 years ago, which funds "life-changing research for pediatric type 1 and type 2 diabetes" and helps kids build healthy habits early, according to a news release.
Having learned to box at age 14, Leonard won championship titles in five weight divisions in his 20-year professional boxing career. He's also a best-selling author for his first autobiography "THE BIG FIGHT: My Life In and Out of the Ring," and has served as a TV personality and ringside analyst, according to a brief biography provided by KDF.
Additionally, Leonard holds three National Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union championship and the 1975 Pan-American Games crown. He earned his gold medal in boxing at the 1976 Olympic games before going professional in an effort to "help his family defer mounting medical bills incurred" from his father's illness.
According to KDF, the late Howard Cosell once dubbed Leonard the "new Muhammad Ali."
"We're excited to welcome Sugar Ray Leonard back to Louisville to help us kick off this year's Kentucky Derby Festival," Matt Gibson, president and CEO of KDF, said in a news release. "He is a champion both inside and outside the ring and we know he'll have some inspiring stories to share."
The "They're Off!" luncheon was first held in 1957 and serves as one of the kick-offs to each year's Derby Festival as the 2nd-oldest event on the KDF schedule, officials said.
The luncheon is held the day before Thunder Over Louisville, on Friday, April 19, at 11:30 a.m. at the Galt House Hotel. It's been held there since 1974.
Also during the event, KDF will announce the recipients of the Volunteer of the Year Award and the Silver Horseshoe Award for service to the community.
Previous featured speakers include Magic Johnson, Terry Bradshaw, Dr. "J" Julius Erving, Boomer Esiason, Erin Andrews, Dick Vitale, Robin Roberts, Larry King, Bob Costas and James Earl Jones.
Tickets are on sale for the luncheon. They cost $130 each or $1,040 for a table of eight. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.
More Kentucky Derby Festival Coverage:
- Winner of Derby Burger Challenge says it's a love letter to the Kentucky Derby Festival
- Fairdale man named Thundernator for this year's Kentucky Derby Festival
- Kentucky Derby Festival's touring parade to travel around Louisville parks on April 6
- $15,000 bottle of Woodford Reserve, track upgrades will help to commemorate Kentucky Derby 150
- Gallopalooza horses will soon appear throughout Louisville, but you can see them all in one spot
- 'Louisville shines' | Kentucky Derby Festival seeking volunteers to help pull off city-wide events
- Kentucky Derby Festival adds new events to this year's lineup
- More than 300 drones will take center stage at this year's Thunder Over Louisville
- Kentucky Derby Festival unveils marathon medals adorned with a rose in honor of Derby 150
- 'Celebrating Derby 150' | Organizers announce theme, air show lineup for Thunder Over Louisville
- Backside workers at Churchill Downs make their mark on Gallopalooza horse for Kentucky Derby 150
- Kentucky Derby Festival's Tour de Lou has new start, finish line in NuLu
- 'Liberated' | Kentucky Derby Festival unveils 2024 official poster
- Bleacher seating free this year for Kentucky Derby Festival's Pegasus Parade
- Kentucky Derby Festival unveils 2024 Royal Court ahead of 150th Kentucky Derby
- KDF unveils 2024 Pegasus Pegasus Pin celebrating Derby 150
Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
