Customer Reviews

My View from the Corner: A Life in Boxing

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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

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.

An execrable job of juvenile and intrusive overwriting by "as told to" writer Bert Sugar. On the other hand, Dundee's likeability comes through as does some very good stories. The best of those, of course, concern Ali, Frazier, and Foreman, the three great boxers of the latter third of the 20th century.

Dundee seems to have parted on bad terms with Sugar Ray Leonard, and Leonard does not emerge as particularly likeable. Ali and Foreman do.

The most interesting insight is Ali's love of training and hard work. His last few years as a boxer tend to ruin his image in this regard. But it is Ali's extraordinary hard work and mental toughness that made him the greatest. Also interesting is Foreman's regret over not getting up from the knockdown in the Ali fight and the motivation that gave for his comeback.

Despite Bert Sugar's best efforts to the contrary, the book is worthwhile for boxing fans and those old enough to remember the true fight of the century on March 8, 1971.

Im a former Boxer & had the pleasure of using the Main st Gym a few years after it open, Mr Dundee (Angelo) was young & was just starting in the fight Game (early 50s) as I. Im so happy that I read this Book & it is the most Interested & honest picture of the Boxing World. He tells it like it is. Hi brother Was a great man & help me out with one of my 1st Bout (4 Rounds) Being a not to well known @ the time. Beleave me, this Bio is the best. Thank you Regards Norman Gautreau Inducted to the canadian Boxing Hall Of Fame 1987

Angelo Dundee is famous for being the trainer for Muhammad Ali and for Sugar Ray Leonard. But he also worked with Carmen Basilio, Willie Pastrano, Luis Rodriguez, and later with George Foreman.

The book is alternately humorous and inspiring, as Dundee spins yarn after yarn from his years as an illustrious trainer. The bulk of the book is about his years with Ali, and he clears the air as to what really happened between the fourth and fifth rounds of the fist Henry Copper fight, as well as what was up with the loose ropes in Zaire in the 1974 Ali-Foreman fight. Ali fans will have heard all this before, and Dundee doesn't give you an unbiased opinion of the Ali years. He still thinks that the second Leon Spinks fight was a vintage Ali performance (when in fact, Ali looked terrible and Spinks was worse).

Dundee rarely has a bad thing to say about anyone, but he did have problems with Leonard's manager Mike Trainer, who was always trying to withhold money from Dundee.

And it sounds like Dundee didn't get paid as much for his years with Ali as a person might have expected.

Bert Randolph Sugar helped Angelo to write this book, and it shows every time the text tells us that someone "beat the bejabbers" out of another guy (a favorite and overused expression by Sugar).

But the book is nostalgic and fun and a recommended read! Long live Angelo Dunde!

I started getting into boxing about year ago and this is by far the best book on boxing I've ever read.

OK, maybe 1 star isn't exactly fair, but this really could have been a THE boxing book. After-all, Dundee has been at the heart of boxing for 60 years. He must have seen and heard sooooooo much more than is in this book.

Sure there are some interesting anecdotes, and cute stories but there is nothing insightful or revelatory. He goes to great pains to make sure no dirt is spread on anyone. I mean, he doesn't even address the issue of a Ali continuing to fight with certified brain damage. The only mention of his first hand encounters with the ever present mob is when he said 'hello' to Carbo at a restaurant. And when an interesting tidbit slips through the filters nothing comes of it. Like when he mentions in passing that everyone in Buster Douglas' camp was terrified of Douglas. It would have been nice to know why and what happened.

The depth of story telling is on par with what you would hear on Jonathan Ross or Jay Leno.

So I guess my one star comes from my huge disappointment that the book has been so thoroughly neutered and sanitized.

Plenty of info on the life of a man in the center of the boxing world for many years. Well written and a fun read, but overall I enjoyed "Facing Ali" more.

Anyone who even considers buying or reading this will agree that Dundee is one of the most interesting of all boxing figures and his lead fighters (Ali, to name just one), are enough to make this a compelling read. Bert Sugar, who wrote much of the book with Dundee's cooperation, proved to be the book's strength. In the same vein as boxing's greatests writers, Plimpton and Mailer, this book is in the same league. It's a literary masterpiece, which surprised me. If you like reading and love boxing, this will be one of the best books you've ever read.