Former boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard is claiming that when he was a teenaged boy a “prominent” Olympic coach sexually abused him, according to The New York Times.

The newspaper said Leonard made the claim in his upcoming autobiography, "The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring."

Leonard, now 55, said he was first assaulted by the unnamed coach when he was 15 years old. Leonard said that after being haunted for years by the ordeal, he decided to reveal it in the hopes of furthering his own healing process.

"I realized I would never be free unless I revealed the whole truth, no matter how much it hurt," he wrote.

Many times, the black community is characterized as being homophobic. Some say that characterization contributes to the high incidence of sexual assaults against young boys going unreported. Tyler Perry and Don Lemon have both recently come out saying that as boys they too were sexually abused and kept it a secret.

QUESTION: Do you think that as more publicly respected figures come out and admit they were victims, the issue will be more openly addressed? Do you think more men will be encouraged to speak out? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Read More at Yahoo
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