Sugar Ray Leonard Has Never Seen the Episode of Seinfeld That Mentions Him

Notes on an excursion to Bristol.

There's a great episode of Seinfeld in which George says to his boss, "Anyone ever tell you you look a lot like Sugar Ray Leonard?"

The boss doesn't take it as a compliment, though, and says, "I suppose we all look alike to you, right Costanza?"

For the rest of the episode, George tries, unsuccessfully, to convince his boss that he's not racist. It comes down to a final scene at a restaurant where George angers his boss so much that the boss storms out. Then George goes to pay the check, and the waiter, who's black, says, "Hey, Sugar Ray Leonard can eat here on the house."

Today I met Sugar Ray Leonard. He was in Bristol to promote The Contender, but I had to ask him about Seinfeld. And it turns out that although Ray likes Seinfeld, he's never seen that episode. I described it to him, and he laughed long and hard, and asked his publicist to get the episode for him on DVD. I have no doubt that Ray, who's just as likable in person as he is on TV, will enjoy it.