Ferdie Pacheco on Ali: "He was simply, the greatest of all time"

Ferdie Pacheco, "The Fight Doctor" in Muhammad Ali's corner for the majority of his career, issued a statement Saturday on Ali's passing.

The corner man was born in Ybor City, Florida before moving to Miami and linking up with famed trainer Angelo Dundee at the 5th Street Gym in the 1960's.

Pacheco ended his association with Ali after he asked the fighter to retire following a 1977 bout with Earnie Shavers. He then began a life in art and literature. Pacheco was inducted into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009.

Today, the 88-year-old Pacheco resides in Miami with his wife Luisita, who sent along his statement on the passing of the legendary boxer:

Sometimes, the hand of fate touches you—and if you’re lucky, you recognize that your life has changed.

I was touched by fate, when, as a doctor in Overtown, Angelo Dundee asked me to look over his new young boxer who was training at the 5th Street Gym. And so Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) became part of my life—and I became a part of his.

From January 1964 at the Miami Beach Convention Center to 1977, the second Ali-Frazier fight I was the Doctor in his corner. And just like the rest of us—sometimes you don’t like what the doctor prescribes. I told Ali he must quit because of the damage the doctors were seeing to his brain.

Of a wide spectrum of friendship that I’ve developed in sports he ranks far and above the best of all my friends. He grew up with a magic to his presence that is one of a kind. He was simply a great champion. He was so genuine that he sparked a confidence in everyone. If you were ever around him, you had the confidence, you had energy. I knew him form the time he was in his teens, …. He was a natural force. His radiance came from inside. You got the feeling of inner excellence, he felt from himself. It came from him. As he developed as a great champion it was apparent that this was a God given quality I never doubted. He was also the most genuine person I have ever known, his kindness and generosity cannot be overstated. He was simply, the greatest of all time.