Sugar Ray Leonard, one of boxing's all-time greats, has joined the team for NBC's pugilistic reality series "The Contender."

Leonard will star in the series, in which 16 aspiring fighters compete against one another for a shot at a professional boxing career. The 1976 Olympic gold medalist and winner of five world titles in five different weight classes will help train the fighters and advise them on the business of boxing.

"We are so glad to add Sugar Ray Leonard to our team," says Mark Burnett ("Survivor," "The Apprentice"), who's executive producing the show with Sylvester Stallone and DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg. "Our aspiring contenders will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to train with and be mentored by one of the greatest champions of all time."

Prentiss Byrd, a long-time associate of Detroit's legendary Kronk Gym, which produced Thomas Hearns, Michael Moorer and other fighters, has also joined the "Contender" team.

NBC has also announced open calls for would-be fighters in 10 cities. The casting calls will begin Friday, April 9 in Tulsa, Okla., and continue throughout April and May in Tunica, Miss., Dallas, Miami, Washington, Boston, Detroit, New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. More information is available at NBC.com.