Name/Title
Print, PhotographicEntry/Object ID
0324.05Description
Photo of Leo Randolph.
Leo Randolph likes to talk about his goals - when he set them and how he met them. It all started at the Boys and Girls Club. Driving a dump truck for a construction company? Yep. Becoming a supervisor at Pierce Transit? Did that. Volunteering once a week at Al Davies Boys & Girls Club in Tacoma? Uh-huh. On Friday June 8th, Randolph, 48, was honored at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y., for achieving his most publicly celebrated goal: winning a gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. It was the first time the team, which included Sugar Ray Leonard, brothers Leon and Michael Spinks and Puyallup native Davey Lee Armstrong, has gathered since capturing five gold medals that summer, he said. "It's exciting that after 30 years it still has an energy about it," said Randolph, who lives in Spanaway. The Olympic team is "perhaps one of the most outstanding U.S. teams that we've ever had," said Ed Brophy, executive director of the boxing hall of fame. "Many of them went on to become world champions, which makes it very unique for the team," he said, citing the professional titles won by Randolph, Leonard and the Spinks brothers. Randolph, who's spry and wields a punishing handshake, quit boxing in 1980, shortly after winning and then losing the world junior featherweight boxing title. He's been a bus driver for Pierce Transit since 1988, and has remained involved in helping Tacoma teens at Remann Hall juvenile jail and at the Al Davies Boys & Girls Club, where he learned to box. "I never had a killer instinct," he said of giving up the sport. "I had a sportsman's desire." At 9, Randolph and his cousin climbed into the boxing ring at the club and began to play and push each other. A club supervisor scolded them, and said if they wanted to box they'd have to come back Thursday. Randolph returned on Thursday, and for most Thursdays after that, learning how to fight. He began boxing regionally, and at 14 set his sights on winning an Olympic gold medal. Four years later, at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, an 18-year-old Randolph defeated Cuban Ramon Duvalon in a 3-2 decision to gain a gold medal in the 112-pound flyweight division. He then turned down the opportunity to turn professional in favor of finishing his senior year at Wilson High School in Tacoma. "I didn't want to turn pro. I wanted to finish high school," Randolph said. He drove a dump truck for a construction company before he became a professional boxer in 1978. As a pro, he had a 17-2 record, and in May 1980 claimed the World Boxing Association's junior featherweight championship. Randolph held the title until August 1980, when he lost in his first title defense to Argentinean Sergio Palma in Spokane. The following day he retired from boxing. Randolph said he wasn't in top fighting shape before his final match. He'd spent the night before running and taking steam showers to drop the few pounds necessary to qualify for the match. By the time he reached the ring, he was tired out. "I wasn't ready for the defense (match), but I signed the contract, so I couldn't back out," Randolph said. "He came out so fast that I couldn't recover." Randolph flirted with a comeback in 1984, but ultimately decided against it. After he stepped away from the sport, he worked at the Boys & Girls Club and Remann Hall before he landed at Pierce Transit, where he's worked since 1988, most of that time as a bus driver. Randolph's son, 24-year-old Leo Jr., is a bus driver at Pierce Transit, too. He also has a daughter, Moriah, 12, and three granddaughters. He recently earned the title of supervisor after he earned a management degree at Tacoma Community College, but gave it up to get behind the wheel again. He plans to go back to the college, and hopes to work for Pierce Transit's security department eventually. His drives route 204 on weekdays from Lakewood Towne Center to Parkland. Clint Wetzel, his boss at Pierce Transit, said Randolph "sets the mark for his peers on how an operator should be." "He's a humble guy, and he's always there to support just about anybody. If anybody needs a helping hand, he's there to help them out." Randolph has also stayed involved with Tacoma teens, spending Tuesday night's cutting hair at Remann Hall, and Thursdays at Al Davies Boys & Girls Club during the Tacoma Boxing Club's practices. Tom Mustin, who coaches the boxing club and has known Randolph since his pre-Olympic days, praised him for staying humble despite his Olympic accomplishment. "Some people who've done what he's done, seen what he's seen, they're kind of aloof," he said. "He's just an outgoing person." Mustin, who works in The News Tribune's circulation department, said young boxers respond to Randolph because of his experience. "Leo's been there and he knows about how hard an athlete's got to work to get there," he said. "It's just good that they can see a guy in the flesh who's been to the Olympics." On Tuesday evening, Randolph showed up at Remann Hall for his weekly visit carrying a bag with his clippers and hair-cutting supplies. In one of the facility's pods, the first of three boys sat down for a haircut from him. Randolph ran the hair clippers through the boy's thick brown hair. "You were a boxer growing up?" the 17-year-old asked. "Yeah, when I was a little guy I was a boxer," Randolph said, not breaking focus. "It's a good sport to do ". (excerpt from Tacoma News Tribune article).Relationships
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