Angelo Dundee was champion of champions

There was good reason for Sugar Ray Leonard to fear Thomas "Hitman" Hearns considering only two of Hearns' first 32 opponents had managed to go the distance against him. But in the week leading up to their classic welterweight title fight in 1981, Leonard's trainer, Angelo Dundee, insisted to anyone who would listen, "I've got the banger."

Such optimism was typical of Dundee, the Hall of Fame trainer, who died on Wednesday at 90. He was the Norman Vincent Peale of cornermen when it came to his belief in the power of positive thinking. As the trainer of the two greatest fighters of their eras, heavyweight Muhammad Ali and Leonard, some believed Dundee's real skill was being in the right place at the right time to ride those two comets.

But the truth is that, without Dundee in their corner in their most dire moments of need, Ali and Leonard might not have soared as far and high as they did. Just as he charmed the boxing media with his constant good humor, Dundee gained his fighters' complete trust by working his way into their psyche to find what made them tick.

"He was a major asset in my career," Leonard said when contacted at his Los Angeles home following Dundee's death.

Dundee's role in Leonard's corner was sensitive in that he only came in about two weeks before fight time to "touch up or perfect things" that Leonard said full-time trainers Janks Morton, Dave Jacobs and Pepe Correa had worked on. Yet, his relationship with Dundee, Leonard said, "was very, very extremely special. There was no B.S. with Angelo.

"To me, Angelo was my greatest asset when it came to those defining moments in the ring against Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler. He said the right things at the right time, great sound bites, if you will. He could just say a few words without showing the frustration or the desperation on his face."

Nobody was cooler or more clearheaded than Dundee when things were falling apart. When Ali fought Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title in 1964, it was Dundee who got him off the stool for the fifth round after he was temporarily blinded by some caustic substance. In the late rounds of the Thrilla in Manila in 1975, Dundee kept Ali from quitting until Joe Frazier failed to answer the bell for the 15th round.

Dundee's signature moment with Leonard came in that epic first fight with Hearns, who had taken control in the middle rounds and was comfortably ahead on all cards at the end of 12 rounds. Before the 13th, Dundee delivered his famous exhortation: "You're blowing it, son! You're blowing it."

Dundee knew it was time to prove he, indeed, did have the banger. "He gave me that boost, which activated that reservoir of strength. People ask me to this day, 'How the hell could you throw that many punches that late in the fight?' I don't know, but I truly believe Angelo had a lot to do with that."

Last October, Leonard met Dundee in Chicago for a 90th birthday celebration. "All we did was hug and reminisce," Leonard said. "When I heard the news he died, it was like someone stepped on my chest. I love Angelo Dundee."