The names read like a who's who of the best in boxing history.
Carmen Basilio, Willie Pastrano, Ralph Dupas, Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali, Louis Rodriguez, Sugar Ray Leonard and Jimmy Ellis are just some of the noted boxing figures the late, great trainer Angelo Dundee guided through historic bouts.
There is though, that Bahamian connection also, that has been very special in the overall progress of boxing in The Bahamas.
Angelo Dundee passed away on Wednesday in Tampa, Florida and left to mourn along with a multitude of associates throughout the boxing world are those of us whose early positive boxing activities were crafted by the legendary one.
From South Philadelphia originally, Dundee spent a lot of years in New York being mentored and following the boxing manoeuvrings of older brother Chris, very closely.
When Chris moved to Miami Beach in Florida prominently and became a promotional fixture as early as the 1950s, Angelo came right along. Together, they made the Fifth Street Gym on the Beach one of the more fabled boxing locations in the history of the sport.
The proximity of this country to South Florida was an easy fit for locals who became closely associated with boxing.
Gomeo Brennan, one of those superb athletes who hailed from Bimini, turned professional in 1956 and soon found himself under the guidance of Angelo. That relationship would lead to Brennan becoming one of the great fighters of the Commonwealth and a world top-rater for years in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.
The high points of that relationship of course were four championship victories on the two occasions that he held the British Commonwealth middleweight title and a world title fight near the end of Brennan's career. He fought Vicente Rondon for the World Boxing Association's light heavyweight crown and lost when the referee became concerned after the 13th round about swelling around Brennan's eyes.
I remember in particular Angelo's frustration on many occasions during the fight when Brennan just was not able to unleash his famous powerful right hand when the openings came. Our guy had lost a little of that edge overtime. That's all it takes in the ring to be unable to pull the trigger.
I recall at the end, Angelo embracing Brennan and telling him how proud he was of him to go on so valiantly with swollen eyes.
Then, there was Baby Boy Rolle. Angelo steered the Exuma native to his best ever ring appearance. It happened on the night of October 23, 1973 in a ring in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom. It was Rolle's finest moment in a solid career. For 15 rounds he stood up to John Conteh and was not once in trouble. In fact in the fifth round he came very close to one of the all time great upsets.
Angelo had arranged for me to substitute for him as he was busy with two other fighters whose bouts sandwiched the Rolle/Conteh event. I asked my other boxing mentor, Charlie Major Sr., to accompany us. Charlie and I were in Rolle's corner. Rolle and Boston Blackie had mastered a punch that we called the overhand bolo. The Cuban, Kid Gavilan, had introduced the underhand bolo during a fabulous career that saw him become a welterweight champion in the 1950s.
Against Conteh, we told Rolle to hold back on the "bolo" until round five. Rolle left the corner, walked across the ring to his opponent and let go with a vicious overhand right. Conteh just barely got under the blow, receiving the full impact on his back. He stayed away from Rolle for the rest of the fight, content to utilize his better speed and win on a majority decision.
Angelo also factored significantly in the rise of Elisha Obed to world championship success.
In June of 1971 when Obed won a decision over Ray Minus Sr. to capture the Bahamas welterweight crown, he was handled then by the Steve Acunta group, of New York. Dr. Norman Gay had made that arrangement for Obed. However the cold climate and some other circumstances became uncomfortable for Obed. He knew of my close association with Chris and Angelo and asked for me to make contact.
I called Angelo and he said he would get back to me. He called later to inform that the situation with Acunta had been resolved and Chris had agreed to monitor the career of Obed. The veteran Moe Fleisher would be the trainer and Chris' son Mike would be registered as manager. (Let me emphasize here that Mike is the son of Chris Dundee, not Angelo. Even Wikipedia has it wrong).
Of course, the rest is history.
With Angelo watching from a distance and sometimes from close-up, Obed went on to defeat Miguel de Olivera on November 13, 1975 for the World Boxing Council's junior middleweight crown.
Angelo paid close attention to the Bahamian boxing scene and interacted as well over the years with Sugar Cliff, Jimmy Mackey, Ray Minus Sr. and Ray Minus Jr.
He also played an interesting and noteworthy role for amateur boxing in the country.
Multiple local heavyweight champion Bert Perry came up with the idea about an amateur boxing program in The Bahamas. He solicited the support of Charlie Major Sr., Virginius Knowles, Amos Ferguson and this journalist. They all told me that I would have to make the connection with the international body.
What did I do?
I reached out to Angelo and he pointed me in the right direction. Some 40-plus years later the amateur boxing program is going on marvelously.
His impact on Bahamian boxing has indeed been tremendous. For this the Bahamian boxing fraternity is grateful.
Farewell Angie!
Sleep on and may your soul forever rest in peace.
To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at fredericksturup@gmail.com
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