Angelo Dundee: 'Ali, by All Means, Should Have Been Fighting (Holmes)'

Angelo Dundee has zero regrets.

The 88-year-old, legendary former boxing trainer of Muhammad Ali, spoke to FanHouse on Monday on a variety of topics, including ESPN's upcoming documentary, Muhammad and Larry, which argues that the aging Ali's 1980 fight with a young Larry Holmes never should have happened. Dundee also addressed Ali's relationship with Joe Frazier, and his own feelings during Ali's condemnation of white people as a member of the Nation of Islam.

Check out the full Q&A after the jump.

FanHouse: What are your feelings concerning the Muhammad and Larry documentary, which argues that a 38-year-old Ali should not have fought Holmes?

Angelo Dundee: I haven't seen it, but I'm going to watch. But Ali, by all means, should have been fighting. He trained the hardest he'd ever trained. Larry was the better fighter that night.

FH: How much of how Ali looked in the fight was a case of being too old?

Dundee: You don't look for escapes. What happened happened. Shoulda, coulda, woulda -- you don't go into that kind of thing. Otherwise, you'd go nuts.

If you're a fight guy, you've got to be realistic. It just wasn't there, that's all. The tank was empty, that's why I stopped it after the 10th round.

FH: Why did you stop it at that moment as opposed to any other?

Dundee: That 10th round, Muhammad got hit with an uppercut. And he reared away, and I thought that possibly, his eye got hurt. And I figured, "what am I gonna do? Why do I want him to get injured, for God's sake?'"

And he wasn't firing back, literally. Muhammad, in the past, you would throw a shot at him, and -- Boom! Boom! -- he'd fire back. But the fire wasn't there, and the repeat wasn't there.

FH: What do you make of anyone who says that Muhammad Ali should not have been fighting?

Dundee: I can't help that. People have a right to their own opinion. My gut feeling will be this until the day that I die: I think that a fighter has a God-given right to do with his life what he wants to.

It's that tough of a profession, and I think that he has a right to make that decision. I don't like to play God.

FH: Do you believe that anything that you see on Tuesday's documentary will alter your opinion concerning when the fight should have been stopped?

Dundee: Oh, no, no, no. Nothing will change it. What's done is done. You're not a Monday morning quarterback. It's done. What's done is done.

You did it. I did it in good conscience and good faith, and I think I know this kid better than anybody in the ring. I've had the privilege of knowing him since he was 16.

I know his every reaction, I know what things that make him chip up, and what makes him down. We're friends to this day, man.

FH: What is your relationship with Ferdie Pachecho, who left Ali's corner long before he retired saying that he should have retired earlier, and who insists that Ali's Parkinson's syndrome is a result of punishment he received from boxing?

Dundee: Don't you know that I'm godfather to his daughter? I gave him the name, the moniker, for God's sake. Ferdie had two offices, and I would send the fighters to either one.

And I would call Ferdie and say, "Hey, Ferdie, this kid's got a headache. Please don't tell him it's a brain tumor." [Laughs.] The thing is, everybody's entitled to their stinkin' opinion. It's the world we live in.

It's a democracy. You don't fault it. That's my feeling and I'm sincere about it.

FH: What do you spend your days doing now?

Dundee: I'm busier now than when I had 26 fighters. I'm working on a documentary about Angelo Dundee, called, It Don't Cost Nothing to Be Nice.

I make personal appearances. I've been to Atlantic City, I go to Las Vegas. I wrote a book, The View From My Corner, which is the best selling hardback boxing book of all time.

FH: What was it like for you when Muhammad Ali joined the Nation of Islam and espoused the beliefs such as, "the white man is the devil?"

Dundee: We never had that conversation. That never entered into our relationship. I was his trainer. I never followed this kid home. When he used to go into Miami, he was a Muslim then.

I learned at an early age, "You don't mess around with a fighter's personal life or his religion -- it's none of your business." He never asked me if I was a Catholic.

We never had that. We strictly worked boxing, me and Muhammad, and we had a great time. What right do I have to ask anybody anything, it's his life. That's what I said to everyone, he's sincere in whatever he does.

Ali never said anything to me negatively. This kid and I never had an argument. We had a great relationship. This kid came to my house three Christmases in a row and entertained my friends -- Jews, Polish, Irish, it didn't make any difference.

He's a lovable human being, and the nicest kid I ever had. I never had to lift a finger to make him work. He was the first guy in the gym, last guy to leave.

FH: How do you believe Muhammad Ali feels about Joe Frazier?

Dundee: He never disliked Joe Frazier, it was a one-sided thing. Muhammad likes everybody. He got a kick out of it. He never meant any harm to the guy.

Somebody handed him a monkey, so it was like, "Hey, it's the thrilla in Manila with the gorilla." Most of the stuff we pulled before fights were preempted. We did it.

We planned it. Ernie Terrell was the giraffe, Floyd Patterson was the rabbit because he had his hands around his face. The washer woman was George Chuvalo. We made those things up. It sold tickets.

FH: How much do you believe boxing had to do with Ali's Parkinson's?

Dundee: Nothing, nothing. I thought that sincerely, the guy would lick it. I thought that he would beat Parkinson's, because he's that type of a guy. I see that Freddie Roach is fighting it. I see that that movie actor [Michael J. Fox] is fighting it.

Let me tell you about Muhammad, my friend, he's the happiest human being on this earth. He can get more with a blink than you and I can get from an entire, two-hour speech. He lights up a room for Christ's sake.

I used to call him the Pied Piper. Muhammad Ali don't want no pity, and he don't want nothing from anybody.