Luxor host to talk at trainer’s funeral
Joe Frazier. Ron Lyle. And now Angelo Dundee. All gone in three months.
It's another sad week for boxing and Gene Kilroy, a longtime member of Muhammad Ali's inner circle.
Kilroy flies to Florida this week to deliver the eulogy Friday at the funeral of Dundee, Ali's Hall of Fame trainer. Dundee died Feb. 1 at his home in Tampa at the age of 90.
"I talked to him two hours before he died," said Kilroy, executive host at the Luxor hotel and casino.
Four hours later he got a call saying his close friend had died.
"He was Mr. Ambassador of boxing," said Kilroy, referring to Dundee's special relationship with the media.
Kilroy said Dundee had been excited about attending the Feb. 18 birthday salute to Ali at Keep Memory Alive's Power of Love gala at the MGM Grand Garden. The celebrity-filled event is a fundraiser for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
Ali, who turned 70 on Jan. 17, has been battling Parkinson's disease since 1984.
An approachable and colorful personality, Dundee helped elevate the popularity of boxing with his insights of one of the sport's greatest fighters.
Dundee described his days with Ali's ring family in his book "My View From the Corner: A Life in Boxing," a collaboration with boxing writer Bert Sugar.
Ali's playful side was always keeping the training camp atmosphere light, he wrote.
Sometimes Ali would have Kilroy, his business manager and facilitator, display his near-perfect imitation of the late Howard Cosell, the blustery boxing commentator.
Ali, ever the showman, loved to show off card tricks he learned from a master magician.
"It was always like that, a picnic every day with Ali. No, make that a never-ending banquet," wrote Dundee.
In the book, he credited Kilroy with helping Ali get college speaking engagements and a few commercials during the difficult days of his exile from boxing. Kilroy was "instrumental in making order out of a chaotic financial mess."
But Kilroy's biggest contribution, wrote Dundee, was getting Ali interested in the benefits of having his own training camp in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
The New York Giants' Super Bowl victory parade Tuesday had some local ties. Former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson was spotted on TV watching from his Ritz Carlton suite in Battery Park. Former KNTV-TV, Channel 13 sports anchor and reporter Mario Diaz co-anchored the parade coverage for three hours on WPIX-TV. He joined the station last year.
Nevada Supreme Court Justice Michael Cherry will officiate at a vow renewal ceremony for 16 married couples Friday at Willow Creek Assisted Living. Cherry officiated the wedding of tennis greats Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf on Oct. 22, 2001, in Las Vegas. ...
Here's how you end up with a classic misprint: While typing up a long list of pro sports star sightings at Haze (Aria) over Super Bowl weekend, I put down "Chicago Bears linebacker" but left out "Brian Urlacher." I added a comma and then typed in Charles Barkley's name and the rest of his cohorts. The comma was inadvertently removed during editing and the result: Chicago Bears linebacker Charles Barkley, who would call it a "turr-ible" Super blooper.
SIGHTINGS
Reality TV star Brody Jenner and Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, attending "Mötley Crüe in Sin City" on Sunday at The Joint inside Hard Rock.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Patriots coach Bill Belichick was not happy after the game. I haven't seen a man that miserable come out of Indiana since (David) Letterman." -- Jay Leno
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
