R.I.P. Angelo Dundee!

Angelo Dundee (L) and Muhammad Ali (R)
formed arguably the greatest boxer-trainer
 relationship in the history of the fading sport. 

If you’re over the age of 40, like me, then you’ve probably been a witness to a huge part of the career of late, legendary boxing trainer Angelo Dundee.

Well, consider yourself fortunate for both, having seen the greatest trainer in the history of boxing firsthand and for being old enough to remember boxing when it was actually a captivating – and mostly legitimate sport.

Dundee died in his apartment in Tampa, Fla., Wednesday night at the ripe old age of 90 and along with him – a part of boxing died too.

Dundee was with his family when he passed on, said his son, Jimmy.

"It was the way he wanted to go," the son said. "He did everything he wanted to do."

Jimmy Dundee said his father was hospitalized for a blood clot last week and was briefly in a rehabilitation facility before returning to his apartment.

"He was coming along good yesterday and then he started to have breathing problems. My wife was with him at the time, thank God, and called and said he can't breathe. We all got over there. All the grandkids were there. He didn't want to go slowly," the son said.

Angelo Dundee is regarded as the
greatest trainer in the history of boxing.

Dundee was the mastermind behind not only Muhammad Ali’s one-of-a-kind career, but he also guided Sugar Ray Leonard for a portion of his career and a host of other boxers he helped become world champions.

"To me, he was the greatest ambassador for boxing, the greatest goodwill ambassador in a sport where there's so much animosity and enemies," said Bruce Trampler, the longtime matchmaker who first went to work for Dundee in 1971. "The guy didn't have an enemy in the world."

Maybe it’s me Eye On Sports followers, but I’m thinking the world is a bit sadder place without Angelo Dundee.

R.I.P. good sir!