My View from the Corner: A Life in Boxing [Hardcover]

Angelo Dundee (Author), Bert Sugar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 007147739X | ISBN-13: 978-0071477390 | Publication Date: October 1, 2007 | Edition: 1

"Dundee is one of the greatest innovators in the annals of the sweet science…guiding world champions as diverse in gladiatorial gifts and mind-sets as Carmen Basilio, Willie Pastrano, Luis Rodriguez, Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman (in his comeback) and, of course, Muhammad Ali…Bert Randolph Sugar has superbly captured Dundee’s unique diction...by the end the reader will know precisely what it is like to listen to the Bill Walsh of boxing hold court on the exotic art of the cornerman.”--The New York Times

Angelo Dundee has lived a half-century of boxing history. During that period he trained a record-breaking fifteen world champions and countless top contenders--wiping away their sweat and blood and instilling whatever it took to win.

My View from the Corner is his story in his own words. It is also the story of the legendary ring warriors he has forged into champions, including all-time greats Muhammad Ali, "Sugar" Ray Leonard, and George Foreman, as well as champs such as Willie Pastrano and Carmen Basilio.

But you won't just read about prize fighters. Dundee can't tell his tale without including an amazing cast of characters who could only exist in the larger-than-life world of professional boxing. You'll find engrossing stories involving everyone from sportscaster Howard Cosell to artist LeRoy Nieman to mobster Frank Costello. Muhammad Ali also contributes a foreword of his own--delivering his personal insights on Dundee--the man, the friend, and the boxing trainer.

The veteran trainer gives you a ringside seat and the inside scoop into what really happened during such classic sports moments as:

The Ali-Liston rematch, which even today many believe was "fixed"
The Rumble in the Jungle (Ali vs. Foreman) where Dundee was accused of loosening the ring ropes in order to let Ali perform his now famous "rope-a-dope"
The second Leonard-Duran fight known for Duran uttering the infamous "no mas"--Dundee reveals Duran never actually spoke those words
Foreman vs. Moorer where George Foreman made history by becoming the oldest man to win the Heavyweight Championship
Leonard vs. Hagler, which ended with one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history

For the first time, Dundee also candidly discusses his feelings about Ali's conversion to Islam, the mob and its influence on boxing, training Russell Crowe for Cinderella Man (which Dundee also appeared in), the psychology of training fighters, and much more.

My View from the Corner is filled with the depth and insight that can only come from a man who truly loves what he does . . . and is unquestionably the best in the world at it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dundee, a Hall of Fame corner man who has worked alongside 15 world boxing champions, recalls his life and times at ringside with the help of Sugar, renowned boxing storyteller and editor. Together they trace a corner career that has taken Dundee (born in 1923) from boxing's first televised bouts to the heavyweight pay-per-view spectacles of today. Dundee brings to the corner a unique and wide set of skills, acting as trainer, doctor, coach and psychologist all at once. Between tales of the last century's biggest title bouts, the authors provide an in-depth look at sparring, psyching out an opponent, closing and dressing cuts, the politics of weigh-ins and the science of opponent selection. Pulling no punches in this memoir, Dundee readily addresses rumors that he loosened the ropes before the Rumble in the Jungle, allowing Ali to pull off the now famous rope-a-dope victory against Foreman. He references legends like this in the same humorous and spirited voice with which he admits to spraying goo on his head to cover up his baldness, until it started to melt under the hot ringside lights and freaked out one of his fighters. This book's appeal lies in Dundee's colorful and punchy personality, as he enlivens the prose with entertaining, Yogi Berra–like jokes, tautologies and euphemisms. It's no surprise that Dundee helped Ali develop his famous rhymes. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Back Cover

"The book is written in a highly conversational tone, and by the end the reader will know precisely what it is like to listen to the Bill Walsh of boxing hold court on the exotic art of the cornerman."
--New York Times Book Review

"Nobody in boxing has more or better stories."
--Dave Anderson, New York Times

"For fight fans this is peaches and cream. Read it and see for yourself."
--Bill Gallo, New York Daily News

"[H]ere's one for the fans: an as-close-up-as-you-can-get view of boxing's biggest, baddest personalities and poundings."
-Men's Journal

"The teaming of esteemed boxing trainer Angelo Dundee and Bert Randolph Sugar, perhaps the best boxing writer around, produces a lively and insightful look at professional boxing in the second half of the 20th century… His fascinating portraits of Ali, Leonard and Foreman make this a terrific read."
--Library Journal

"Versatile boxing writer Bert Randolph Sugar and Angelo Dundee have put together a story that has the crispness of a Leonard jab and the bombast of an Ali news conference-snappy, brassy and sarcastic. It's a powerful tale, with a few Berra-isms thrown in for good measure."
--Tampa Tribune

"This book's appeal lies in Dundee's colorful and punchy personality, as he enlivens the prose with entertaining, Yogi Berra-like jokes, tautologies and euphemisms. It's no surprise that Dundee helped Ali develop his famous rhymes."
--Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007147739X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071477390
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #757,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( A ) > Ali, Muhammad

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And in this corner, November 6, 2007

By 

Leonard Fleisig "Len" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My View from the Corner: A Life in Boxing (Hardcover)

Boxing trainer Angelo Dundee is on my list of people I would most love to sit in a saloon with so I could just listen to them talk. He always seemed like one of those guys who can tell a story, and then another story, and then another story each one better than the last until the bell rings for last call and you get up off your bar stool and make your way home. And that is the feeling I got reading Dundee's "My View from the Corner: A Life in Boxing."

This is or has the feel of an `as told to' book with famed boxing writer (and great story teller in his own right) Bert Randolph Sugar. We have Angelo Dundee talking to Bert Sugar about boxing, the universe, and everything and the result is a book that makes you feel as is you really were sitting next to Dundee and Sugar in your local bar.

The book is roughly divided into three parts. In the first, we hear about Dundee's youth and introduction (through his older brother Chris) into the world of boxing and his early stable of fighters, most notably light heavyweight Willie Pastrano. The second and biggest part takes us through Dundee's years with Muhammad Ali, from his days as Cassius Clay, through his last days as a fighter. The third and final part covers Dundee's post-Ali years with Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman (during his second stint as the lovable, heavy, old timer).

Dundee's style is conversational and reads more like the transcript of his conversations with Sugar than it does a conventional piece of writing and I think this works perfectly. It isn't pretentious or smug; it is just Dundee being Dundee and that's pretty darn good.

Dundee's discussion of his relationship with his fighters, particularly Ali, is the heart of "My View from the Corner". I don't think any reader will be disappointed. Dundee was extraordinarily loyal to the fighters under his care and it shows. However, he doesn't shy away from discussing the flaws of those same fighters, including Pastrano, Ali, and Leonard. He is one of life's realists who knows that even our sporting heroes can have feet of clay so when he talks about some of those flaws it doesn't come across as bitter or angry. It simply comes across as a glimpse of a real human being.

Dundee, as you would expect, also gives a great account of his view of some of the great fights of the last 50 years including the two Ali-Liston fights, Ali-Frazier I and III, Ali-Foreman, and the two Duran-Leonard bouts amongst others. I've been watching fights since the days of the Gillette Friday Night Fights and just about all of the big fights that Dundee describes. For me, Dundee brings a view of his fighters' famous and not so famous bouts that I just never would have seen as just a fan even those I've watched time and time again.

I think any boxing fan, even readers with just a passing interest in the sport, will love this book. L. Fleisig

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A KNOCKOUT COMBINATION!, November 5, 2007

By 

Todd Sentell (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My View from the Corner: A Life in Boxing (Hardcover)

As a longtime boxing fan and recreational boxer, my heart skipped a beat ... just like when you see that hard right hand quickly heading toward your nose ... when I saw this wonderful book on the bookstore shelf. And what great timing. I have long imagined what Dundee, along with the great boxing writer and historian Sugar, would put together ... and it's a book I read with utter fascination.

Dundee's years with Ali are the highlight of the memoir, but his beginnings in training and his life working with other fighters, famous and not so famous, are just as satisfying. Here's a man who devoted nearly his entire life to training the finest athletes in the world ... professional boxers ... and the result, knowing he's retired now, is a beautiful and bittersweet rendering of his life in the gym and in the corner ... and the lives of those who won a lot because of Angelo Dundee.

Hell, I personally know how hard it is just to land one solid punch in three rounds of sparring. Now here's a book that wins you over on every page. What a treat. What a boxing education. Thanks, Angelo and Bert. You both get your arms raised by me.

Reviewer Todd Sentell is the author of the wildly irreverent and hilarious social satire, TOONAMINT OF CHAMPIONS

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Knockout? Well, maybe a TKO, January 14, 2008

By 

Todd Gack "sizzzzlerz" (Milpitas, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My View from the Corner: A Life in Boxing (Hardcover)

As as-told-to books go, this one was better than most simply because Angelo Dundee has led such an interesting life as a boxing trainer for some of the greatest boxers in the latter half of the 20th century. The writer, Burt Sugar, however, injects far too many modern cultural references that I just don't believe a man like Angelo would say, making the effort look contrived and phony. That aside, however, this is a fascinating read for those who even have a passing interest in boxing.

The book divides his life and career into three phases: pre-Ali, Ali, and post-Ali. While there is plenty of boxing in the storyline, it doesn't provide blow-by-blow accounts of every fight. Instead, the lead-up to the fight is discussed followed by a few key observations about the fight itself making the book flow at a quite snappy pace. In fact, you have to read closely in places as 2 or 3 years can elapse between paragraphs which you might otherwise pass right over.

The bulk of the narrative centers upon Angelo's long relationship with Muhammmed Ali, spanning the years when a young Cassius Clay meets Angelo through the last of his several retirements. By far, these pages are the most interesting of the book. They really help turn Ali into a likeable person who seems like he would be very entertaining to be around.

The first and third sections aren't so interesting. The first because he talks about his work with fighters of whom I have never heard. The last part, which really focuses upon Sugar Ray Leonard, was OK but he just didn't really depict Leonard as much beyond being a greater fighter.

All-in-all, this is a very readable book about an interesting person who was associated with interesting people. Except for the cultural references I mentioned before, this is a very good read.