TAMPA, Fla. (AP) _ One of boxing’s all-time great trainers has died.
Angelo Dundee, who helped groom Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard into world champions and became one of boxing’s most recognizable figures, died yesterday at age 90.
The genial Dundee was best known for being in Ali’s corner for almost his entire career. But those in boxing also knew him as an ambassador for boxing and a figure of integrity in a sport that often lacked it.
According to his son Jimmy, Dundee died with his family surrounding him. But not before being able to attend Ali’s 70th birthday bash in Louisville, Ky., last month.
“It was the way he wanted to go,” Jimmy Dundee said. “He did everything he wanted to do.”
A master motivator and clever corner man, Dundee was regarded as one of the sport’s great ambassadors.
He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994 after a career that spanned six decades, training 15 world champions, including Leonard, George Foreman, Carmen Basilio and Jose Napoles.
Boxing promoter Bob Arum said Dundee always put a positive spin on life, adding: “He was wonderful, he was the whole package.”