Friday 3rd February, 2012 13

In this Sept. 23, In this May 10, 1966, file photo, World 2012, file photo, Heavyweight champion , right, looks on as his gestures during an hands are being taped by trainer Angelo interview at the Dundee, left, before sparing with Jimmy opening of the new Ellis during a training session at the 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach, Fla. Territorial Army Centre in White City, (AP Photo/Wilfredo London, England. Dundee, the trainer Lee) who helped groom Ali and into world champions and became one of boxing’s most recognis- able figures, died Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. He was 90. (AP Photo/Kemp)

retirement, Dundee quickly jumped into that never came gave Ali a few extra sec- , BY TIM DAHLBERG , the corner for an emerging star named onds to recover. Ali pounded Cooper’s Sugar Ray Leonard, who Dundee called cuts in the fifth and was “a smaller Ali.” Dundee trained Leonard stopped, keeping Ali’s title shot alive. ngelo Dundee, the brilliant motiva- In an age of boxing when fighter-manager relation- for many of his biggest fights — includ- Many boxing commissions would soon tor who worked the corner for ships rarely last, Dundee and Ali would never split. ing bouts against Wilfred Benitez, require extra gloves to be kept at every AMuhammad Ali in his greatest Roberto Duran and — fight. fights and willed Sugar Ray Leonard to When Cassius Clay angered white America by joining and helped him become one of the most Dundee never held back the one-lin- victory in his biggest bout, died the Black Muslims and became Muhammad Ali, recognised champions in ers in the corner, either, saying anything Wednesday in Tampa, Fla. He was 90. Dundee never wavered. When Ali defied the draft at history. he could to get his fighters charged. The genial Dundee was best known the height of the Vietnam war, losing 3 1/2 years from Dundee later teamed up with Dundee also loved to tell the story of for being in Ali’s corner for almost his Foreman in 1994 to help him become the the night he was in the corner for a little- entire career, but those in boxing also the prime of his career, Dundee was there waiting for oldest heavyweight champion at the age known heavyweight named Johnny knew him as an ambassador for boxing the heavyweight’s return. And when Ali would make of 45 when he beat Michael Moorer. In Holman. Remembering that Holman’s and a figure of integrity in a sport that bold projections, spewing poetry that made headlines one last attempt to help a big fighter win dream was to buy a house, Dundee tried often lacked it. a big fight, Dundee helped train Oscar De to motivate Holman when he said, “This He died with his family surrounding across the world and gave him the nickname “The La Hoya for his Dec. 6, 2008, fight with guy’s taking away your house from you. him, said son, Jimmy Dundee, but not Louisville Lip,” Dundee never asked him to keep quiet. pound-for-pound king . He’s taking away those shutters from before being able to attend Ali’s 70th “Through all those days of controversy, and the many Dundee did not work the corner on fight you. He’s taking away that television set night, and perhaps the 35-year-old from you.” Holman would come back to birthday bash in Louisville, Ky., last that followed, Angelo never got involved,” Ali wrote in month. “Golden Boy” could have used Dundee. win — and get that house.

“It was the way he wanted to go,” the foreword to Dundee’s book. “He let me be exactly De La Hoya declined to answer the bell After living in the Miami area for

Jimmy Dundee said. “He did everything who I wanted to be, and he was loyal. That is the rea- for the ninth round. decades, Angelo Dundee moved to the

he wanted to do.” son I love Angelo.” Always a slick strategist and fierce Tampa suburb of Oldsmar in 2007 to be Promoter Bob Arum said he had been competitor, Dundee developed countless closer to his two children after his wife tricks to help his fighters win. of more than 50 years, Helen, died. planning to bring Dundee to Las Vegas , for a Feb. 18 charity gala headlined by , If he thought a referee might stop a Ali. He called Dundee a legend in the fight because of a gash on his fighter, sport, someone who worked the corner to hire Dundee. After Ali won his first know they worked in boxing. Dundee would stand between boxer and for some of the greatest fights of the pro fight, Dundee accepted. He learned to tape hands and handle referee, preventing the official getting a times. He helped Ali claim the heavyweight cuts as a corner man in the late 1940s, peek into the corner, and allowing him to “He was wonderful, he was the whole title for the first time on Feb. 25, 1964, building his knowledge by watching and conceal the wound before the bell. If a package,” Arum said. “Angelo was the when quit on his stool after learning as a “bucket boy” in fighter was tired, Dundee would do any- greatest motivator of all time. No matter the sixth round during their fight in for trainers like Chickie Ferrara, Charlie thing he could to buy time, once untying how bad things were, Angelo always put a Miami Beach. Goldman and Ray Arcel among others. a boxer’s shoes after every round only to positive spin on them. That’s what Ali In an age of boxing when fighter-man- Word of Dundee’s expertise spread, and slowly retie the laces each time. loved so much about him.” ager relationships rarely last, Dundee seasoned fighters lined up to have him in Dundee also went well beyond the Arum credited Dundee with persuad- and Ali would never split. their corner. usual tricks of smelling salts to revive ing Ali to continue in his third fight When Cassius Clay angered white He worked major boxing scenes with fighters. against when Frazier was America by joining the Black Muslims Chris, with stops at the famed Stillman’s If his man was dazed, Dundee would coming on strong in the “Thrilla in and became Muhammad Ali, Dundee Gym in New York and Miami Beach’s 5th often drop ice down the fighter’s shorts Manilla.” Without Dundee, Arum said, never wavered. When Ali defied the draft Street Gym. Dundee’s fun-loving attitude to take their attention off injuries. Ali may not have had the strength to at the height of the Vietnam war, losing 3 combined with his powerful Philly During Ali’s 1963 fight against Henry come back and stop Frazier after the 14th 1/2 years from the prime of his career, accent made him a joy to be around. His Cooper, Dundee pulled off a stunt that round in what became an iconic fight. Dundee was there waiting for the heavy- lifelong love and respect for the sport took him decades to publicly acknowl- Dundee also worked the corner for weight’s return. And when Ali would earned him praise from those across the edge. Leonard, famously shouting “You’re make bold projections, spewing poetry boxing world. After Cooper dropped Ali and left him blowing it son. You’re blowing it” when that made headlines across the world and “He is the only man in boxing to dizzy at the end of the fourth round, Leonard fell behind in his 1981 fight with gave him the nickname “The Louisville whom I would entrust my own son,” the Dundee alerted the referee to a small rip Tommy Hearns — a fight he would rally Lip,” Dundee never asked him to keep late sportscaster once on Ali’s gloves — a split Dundee would to win by . quiet. said of Dundee. later admit he noticed before the fight — A master motivator and clever corner “Through all those days of controver- In the late 1970s, with Ali nearing and the search for replacement gloves man, Dundee was regarded as one of the sy, and the many sport’s great ambassadors. He was that followed, inducted into the International Boxing Angelo never got Hall of Fame in 1994 after a career that involved,” Ali wrote spanned six decades, training 15 world in the foreword to champions, including Leonard, George Dundee’s book. “He Foreman, and Jose let me be exactly Napoles. who I wanted to be, But he will always be linked to Ali as and he was loyal. one of the most successful fighter-trainer That is the reason I relationships in boxing history, helping love Angelo.” Ali become the first to win the heavy- Born Angelo weight title three times. The pair would Mirena on Aug. 30, travel around the world for fights to such 1921, in south obscure places as Ali’s October 1974 bout Philadelphia, in Zaire against Foreman dubbed “The Dundee’s boxing Rumble in the Jungle,” and Ali’s third career was pro- fight against Frazier in the Philippines. pelled largely by his “I just put the reflexes in the proper older brother, direction,” Dundee said in a 2005 inter- Chris, a promoter. view with The Associated Press. After returning Their partnership began in from World War II Louisville, Ali’s hometown, in 1959. — “We won, but not Dundee was there with because of any- when the young Ali, then thing I did” — he known as Cassius Clay, called their room joined Chris in the from a hotel phone to ask if he could boxing game in have five minutes. Clay, a local Golden New York, serving Gloves champion, kept asking the men as his “go-fer” and boxing questions in a conversation that getting the tag lasted 3½ hours, according to Dundee’s “Chris’ kid broth- autobiography, “My View From the er.” Angelo and Corner: A Life in Boxing.” Chris followed After Ali returned from Rome with a another brother gold medal at the 1960 Olympics, Dundee Joe, who was a ran into him in Louisville and invited fighter, in changing him to come to Miami Beach to train. Ali their surname to declined. But that December, Dundee got Dundee so their a call from one of Ali’s handlers, seeking parents wouldn’t