By Guy D. Garcia

When former Welterweight Champion Sugar Ray Leonard, 27, began training for a comeback match with Kevin Howard in Worcester, Mass., boxing fans were both ecstatic and uneasy. Leonard had been forced into retirement in 1982 because of a detached left retina. Fearing that he might damage his sight during the fight, scheduled for Feb. 25, the Massachusetts Boxing Commission barred Sugar Ray from entering the ring until he had been okayed by an ophthalmologist. Acting on the results of that new eye examination, Leonard last week underwent a preventive procedure to protect his right retina. This started a fresh round of speculation that he might never box again. After a second examination last week by Leonard's own doctor, however, the ex-champ called a press conference, asserting that fears about his eyesight had been "blown out of proportion." Said he: "I'm fine. I feel great. I didn't think there was a major problem." The match with Howard will be rescheduled and Leonard is expected to resume training in about two weeks.

At a White House ceremony marking National Crime Prevention Week, "McGruff" the bloodhound dropped in on President Ronald Reagan, 73, to shake paws. The 6-ft. trench-coated pooch (played by Sgt. Winston Cavendish of the St. Tammany Parish, La., sheriffs department) was attending in his capacity as "spokesdog" for the National Exchange Club, a 1,300-member crime-prevention organization. Citing a 4.3% drop in the 1982 crime rate, Reagan said the statistics demonstrated "a reaffirmation of American values, a sense of community, fellowship, individual responsibility, caring for our family and friends and a respect for the law." After his speech, Reagan was given a reward for his crime-prevention efforts: a small, stuffed McGruff for installation in the White House.

According to one count, Diana, Princess of Wales, attended 76 public functions last year, including the opening of six hospitals and a marmalade factory. This year may prove considerably more momentous: the princess, 22, is pregnant again. The first Britons to cash in on the news were the bookmakers, who offered odds of 10 to 11 on a girl, even money on a boy and 50 to 1 against twins. In their first public appearance after the Buckingham Palace announcement, Diana joined Prince Charles in a visit to a Jaguar factory. Said Charles to an assembly-line worker: "Your production is going well." Replied the worker with a grin, "Your production line is going well too."

Determined to overcome a lifelong fear of flying, Brooke Knapp spent 60 hours in 1978 preparing for her first solo flight out of Santa Monica. "I was crying so hard, I couldn't even see the mountains near by," she recalls. "But I've loved flying ever since." Last week Knapp, who now heads her own charter-plane company in Los Angeles, circled the globe in 45 hr. 32 min. 53 sec., setting a new record for all classes of civilian aircraft. The 23,340-mile trip in a Gulfstream III, which began and ended in Washington, included stops in Moscow, Peking, Tokyo and London. Says Knapp of her aerial feat: "It's the most exhilarating thing I've ever done. It's like winning the Indianapolis 500 or the triathlon."

They met 18 months ago on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where he was recording the funky album Too Low for Zero; but as they emerged from an Anglican church in a prosperous suburb of Sydney, Australia, Elton John, 36, and his bride, German-born Sound Engineer Renata Blauel, 30, were singing anything but the blues. "I really love Renata," John told reporters. "And yes, I'm nervous." John, who once described himself as a "male Betty Boop," reportedly gave his beloved a large heart-shaped necklace with 26 diamonds before flying to New Zealand, first stop on a global concert tour. Said John, who was born in Pinner, England: "I'm really pleased I got married in Sydney because it meant none of my relatives could be here."

--By Guy D. Garcia