Legendary Muhammad Ali trainer Angelo Dundee dies at 90

Angelo Dundee, who was most famous for training Muhammad Ali, died in his apartment in Tampa, Fla., Wednesday night at the age of 90.

His son, Jimmy Dundee, said that Angelo Dundee died with his family surrounding him. Dundee said that his father was hospitalized for a blood clot last week; he was briefly in a rehabilitation facility before returning to his own apartment.

From Jimmy Dundee: “He was coming along good yesterday and then he started to have breathing problems. My wife was with him at the time, thank God, and called and said he can’t breathe. We all got over there. All the grandkids were there. He didn’t want to go slowly."

However, the elder Dundee managed to do one thing that was high on his list: attending Muhammad Ali's 70th birthday celebration in Louisville, Ky., in January. Ali turned 70 on January 17.

Angelo Dundee was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994 following a career that spanned six decades, during which he trained 15 world champions, including Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman, Carmen Basilio and Jose Napoles.

It was, however, his time with Ali that will be most memorable for many. Dundee's autobiography, "My View From the Corner: A Life in Boxing." says that his partnership with Ali began in 1959, in Ali's hometown of Louisville, Ky. when the boxer, then known as Cassius Clay, called Dundee's hotel room, asking for five minutes of the trainer's time. At the time, Dundee was in Louisville with light heavyweight Willie Pastrano

Clay was then a local Golden Gloves champion and the five minutes lasted for 3 1/2 hours, according to the book, as he continued to ask both men questions about boxing.

That was just the beginning; the pair didn't "work together" until later, however. In fact, Ali turned down Dundee. When the boxer returned from Rome with his boxing gold medal from the the 1960 Olympics, Dundee invited him to come to Miami Beach to train, but Ali declined. Just a few months later, in December, Dundee was called by one of Ali's handlers, asking if Dundee would like to work with Ali. After Ali won his first professional fight, Dundee agreed.

On Feb. 25, 1964. Ali claimed the heavyweight title for the first time, when Sonny Liston quit after the sixth round during their fight in Miami Beach. Dundee and Ali never split after that, despite controversy such as Ali defying the draft at the height of the Vietnam War, thus losing 3 1/2 years from a career then at its prime.

Angelo Dundee was born Angelo Mirena on Aug. 30, 1921, in south Philadelphia. He eventually changed his surname to Dundee, as did his brothers Chris and Joe, so their parents would not know they were involved in boxing.

After his wife of more than 50 years, Helen, fell, Dundee moved to the Tampa suburb of Oldsmar in 2007 so he could be closer to his two children . She died three years later.

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Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

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