Tacoma boxing legend leaves Hilltop shelter for a fresh start. ‘It’s like being free’
Sugar Ray Seales finally has a place of his own.
Five months after the legendary boxer left Indianapolis and returned to Tacoma, in the aftermath of the death of his longtime wife, the 1972 Olympic gold medalist is right where he should be, he told me.
“It’s like being home again. It’s like being free,” Seales said on Wednesday, a day after moving into a nondescript one-bedroom apartment in Central Tacoma.
“This is like a penthouse, man, coming from where I was.”
Last month, I met Seales, for the first time, in a far different location: the homeless shelter for single men at Shiloh Baptist Church on Hilltop. He had been staying there for roughly three weeks, he told me, after Shiloh Baptist pastor Gregory Christopher found him living, night-to-night, at a cheap hotel on South Hosmer Street. What little money Seales had — mostly from his monthly social security disbursement — was nearly gone.
Seventy and legally blind — one of the many lasting effects of a career that included 350 amateur fights and more than five dozen more as a pro — Seales wasn’t angry or discouraged. But he was also adamant: “It’s not supposed to be like this,” he said.
When we spoke by phone this week, Seales — who’s led a life of incredible highs and lows — took a broader view.
Yes, he expected more when he packed up and headed back to Tacoma. But he also acknowledged that, in retrospect, his hasty exit from Indianapolis, while still grieving the death of his wife, gave friends and family little time to prepare for his arrival.
Besides, everything happens for a reason, the old boxer believes, and from where he sits today he wouldn’t change a thing.
“It all took time. You couldn’t rush it,” said Seales, who told me he attempted to serve as a mentor for other men staying at the Shiloh Baptist during his stay at the shelter, drawing on his background as an instructor and coach.
“So I can’t complain.”
According to Christopher, even if Seales envisioned a warmer welcome in Tacoma, the response he received — once the community learned of his plight — provides proof of the goodness in people.
For instance, a GoFundMe campaign launched on Seales’ behalf quickly raised more than $8,000 — money that will go toward the ongoing cost of housing. After The News Tribune wrote about his struggles, calls flooded into Shiloh Baptist, most made by people trying to help.
Meanwhile, Seale’s extended family members stepped up, playing an instrumental role in helping to get him housed, Christopher said.
Christopher, who described the decision to track Seales down and help him get back on his feet as a “no-brainer,” said the outpouring of support was “overwhelming.”
At the same time, the longtime Hilltop pastor vocalized a truth that might be tempting to overlook in an otherwise feel-good story: If this wasn’t the great Sugar Ray Seales, just another guy at the shelter in the same situation, getting him housed this quickly would have been nearly impossible.
“I was elated. I was just really, really happy for him, because of his character and his willingness to still pour into people,” said Christopher of his reaction to Seales securing an apartment.
“But, yeah, if it was someone else, it would have been a much longer process.”
Sitting in his new living room, it’s a reality that’s not lost on Seales. He said he’s grateful for the help he received, and now that he’s settled, he hopes to repay the generosity. He credits Christopher with saving him.
One day, hopefully soon, Seales would like to open a boxing gym of his own, he said.
He wants to help a new generation of Tacoma kids, the same way the city has lifted him up — time and time again — over the years.
“Muhammad Ali said to me before he died, ‘Service to others is the rent we pay for our room in heaven,’” Seales recalled.
“So what are we supposed to do? We’re supposed to give, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
