In this February 1962 photo, then-Cassius Clay (soon to be Muhammad Ali) works with longtime trainer Angelo Dundee. The two were most recently together for Ali’s 70th birthday party on Jan. 17.
Angelo Dundee, 1921-2012
Associated Press
In January 2012, Muhammad Ali celebrated his 70th birthday with old friend Angelo Dundee at a fund raiser for the Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, Ky.
by Jon Saraceno,
Hall of Fame boxing trainer Angelo Dundee, 90, collapsed and died unexpectedly Wednesday night at a rehabilitation facility in Clearwater, Fla., according to son Jim Dundee.
The trainer worked with more than two dozen world champions during a long and distinguished career, including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Carmen Basilio.
“To me, he was the greatest ambassador for boxing, the greatest goodwill ambassador in a sport where there’s so much animosity and enemies,” longtime matchmaker and former Dundee employee Bruce Trampler told the Associated Press.
“The guy didn’t have an enemy in the world.”
Dundee and his brother and promoter, Chris, made South Florida a boxing destination when Chris opened the 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach in the early 1950s.
In addition to Ali, other Dundee-trained fighters who trained at the 5th Street Gym and also became world champions included Luis Rodriguez and Willie Pastrano.
“Angelo was a mentor to me,” South Florida-based promoter Ramiro Ortiz told The Miami Herald. “When we first started doing shows in the 1980s, he gave us tremendous advice and support.
Jim Dundee said his father had returned on a flight two weeks ago from Louisville, where he celebrated Ali’s 70th birthday.
Doctors had warned him before the trip that flying might prompt a clot, which it did. He was hospitalized for a couple of days but apparently had recovered and was planning on visiting friends in Las Vegas.
“He had been doing great, that’s the terrible part,’’ Jim Dundee said. “He was a special guy who cared about everybody.’’
During Ali’s birthday celebration, Dundee talked to The (Louisville) Courier-Journal’s Rick Bozich about his relationship with the great fighter, who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease.
“We’re like family,” Dundee said of his relationship with Ali. “We’ve always been family and we’re always going to be family. He’ll say, ‘Angie, I want to come and train. That’s what I miss the most. Being in the gym. Working up a sweat.’
“I’ll say, ‘Me, too, kid. Me, too. We can’t do that. But what I can do is make sure you know that I love you.’”
Dundee’s longtime wife, Helen, passed away a little more than a year ago.
Funeral plans are pending.
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Contributing: The Associated Press, The Miami Herald