Famed for guiding Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard to greatness, Angelo Dundee is regarded as one of the best trainers in the history of the boxing.
Yet, despite working with some of the sport’s biggest names, Dundee had a shock answer when asked which of his fighters punched the hardest, before his 2012 passing.
Dundee first began working in the corners during World War II, at United States Air Force boxing tournaments, before partnering up with his brother, Chris Dundee, and operating out of the legendary Fifth Street Gym in Florida.
Beginning with Carmen Basilio, Dundee would go on to work with a total of 16 world champions, including Ali, Leonard, George Foreman and Jimmy Ellis, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992 after a phenomenal career in the corner.
When quizzed as to whom punched the hardest of all the fighters that he had worked with in a recently recovered interview with The Ring, Dundee didn’t choose the likes of Ali or Foreman, and instead named a man who never got his hands on world honours – Cuba’s Florentino Fernandez.
“I love boxers, but I’ve trained some bangers in my time. Pinklon Thomas could whack, but nobody could punch like [Florentino] Fernandez.
“He was the best puncher out of Cuba. He was a converted southpaw, so his left hook was murder.
“He broke Gene Fullmer’s forearm with a left hook during their middleweight title fight.
“He could hurt anyone with any kind of punch no matter where it landed.”
Fernandez lost to Fullmer by split decision in the solitary world title challenge of his career back in 1961, and retired with a record of 50-16-1 (43 KOs) in 1972, before passing away in 2013.
