'72 Olympic champ trains future champions - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The 1972 Olympics in Munich are remembered more for tragedy than triumph after the terrorist attacks on the Israeli Olympic Team. Some say the tragedy robbed an Indiana man of the opportunity for greatness.

Sugar Ray Seales won Olympic gold in boxing that year. Now, he teaches the sport in Indiana.

"I never knew I would be in Indianapolis, but here I am," Seales said. "We're gonna build champions out of this place."

Seales should know. He fought 430 bouts, losing just 19, with over 200 knockouts, but his success would come at a cost. He would have seven surgeries for detached retinas in his eyes.

He is now legally blind. Some say if he hadn't boxed, he would still have his sight.

"But where would I be? I got a story. I got a story for you. Where would I be?" he said.

He does have a story. One of eight children, he immigrated from the Virgin Islands to Tacoma, Washington in 1964. Eight years later, he would win a gold medal, but the success that catapulted other Olympic champions eluded Seales.

"Howard Cosell, we were like this, but then things changed. But it's okay, God kept me here for a reason. He didn't give me that shine, because maybe, like a lot of guys who are not here, they are gone," Seales said.

Marriage brought him to Indianapolis and, after 24 years, also brought him six children and 19 grandchildren.

So now, he is training a whole new generation, while another watches intently. He says Muhammad Ali told him service to others is the rent we pay for our room in heaven.

"The medal doesn't belong to me alone. When I was in Munich, you didn't know me, but on the back of my jersey, it said 'USA' and what were you saying? 'Get 'em USA. Get 'em USA.' And that's it," Seales said.

Seales may have never had the shine, but he still has the heart.

"Forever my name is up in stone. Here is the thing. In the professional ranks, you win the title and you lose it. Then you become a former champion. I will always be a champ," he said. "It says world champion, because I beat the best in the world."

It's almost ironic that the sport that would rob him of his sight, would also allow him to see things so clearly.