Anyone who follows the sweet science knows that trainers are just as pivotal to the sport as the boxers themselves. Sure, there are some sports where great athletes can have mediocre coaches and still find success, but in boxing that could get you killed. So, when it came time for some of the all-time greats like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, and George Foreman to have their most career-defining moments, it's no surprise that they all turned to Angelo Dundee.
The numbers don't lie: 70 years of experience and the training of 15 world champions. But despite his work with other great fighters, it would be Dundee's partnership with Ali that he'd become best known for. Dundee worked with The Greatest from the days when the boxer was still going by Cassius Clay and fighting guys like Archie Moore in 1962, right though Ali's last win in a title fight in 1978 when he defeated Leon Spinks.
He'd later help Sugar Ray Leonard become welterweight world champion in his match against Wilfred Benitez and would continue to lead him to victory in classic bouts against Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler. One of Dundee's last great accomplishements came in 1994 when he helped Goerge Foreman defeat Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history.
Dundee died from natural causes in Tampa, Fla. on Wednesday.
[via ESPN]
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