Friday, February 10, 2012

Ali Attends Dundee's Funeral

Muhammad Ali attends Hall of Fame boxing trainer Angelo Dundee's funeral service Friday. The former heavyweight champion entered the Countryside Christian Center through an entrance not visible to the public. He was seated in the front row in front of the casket and a stage lined with flowers, pictures, a painting, and a pair of red boxing gloves sitting on a stool. Ali's wife, Lonnie, spoke on behalf of her husband, who has Parkinson's disease. "He used to call us all the time and say it doesn't cost nothing to be nice. It was like his mantra," she said. "Whenever we saw Angelo there was a smile of his face. He was always a happy guy." "When you think about the beauty of Angelo, when you think about the personalities that he had to coach and train, I actually have to start with Muhammad," Lonnie Ali said. "Muhammad's not an easy person when it comes to boxing because Muhammad thought he knew how to train himself. He had that ego. But Angelo somehow realized that the best way to make Muhammad great was to get out of his way, to let him do his thing. He really didn't have to coach him. He just had to come in and do the little things Angelo was able to do that with each and every one of his fighters." Dundee helped mold Ali into a world champion, and Ali was among several hundred people at the 80-minute service. Best known for being Ali's corner man for most of the former heavyweight champion's career, Dundee was a brilliant motivator who trained 14 other world champions, including Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman, Carmen Basilio and Jose Napoles. With the native of south Philadelphia in his corner, Ali became the first to win the heavyweight title three times. Dundee began working with Leonard late in Ali's career and trained him for many of the former welterweight champion's biggest fights, too. Dundee joined Foreman in 1994 to help him become the oldest heavyweight champion at age 45. Dundee's career, which led to his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992, spanned six decades. He last got together with Ali for The Greatest's 70th birthday party last month in Louisville, Ky., a visit that Dundee's son said meant a lot to his father.

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