This page is a hard one for me to write. Hank was my buddy & family friend for over 45 years. These are some of my memories of the greatest boxing person I know.
We’ve done so many things together, it’s hard to know where to begin. So, let’s start at the 5th Street Gym in Miami, 1963, when I first met Hank personally.When Hank would walk into the gym, he would be flocked by such fighters as Luis Rodriguez, Florentino Fernandez, Willie Pastrano, Prentiss
Born: April 15, 1919, Brooklyn, NY
Died: December 14, 2007 at 3:00 a.m. at his home in Kendall, FL
Buried: Mount Nebo Cemetery, West Miami, FL
Hank & my dad knew each other for several years before I personally met him. They traded boxing info & photos. Later they started the World Boxing Historians Assoc along with other great boxing men such as Guy Turpin, Harry Pegg, Billy Maroney, Bill Frietas, Al Nelson & Floyd Taylor. They also had a boxing museum in Al Nelson’s James J. Jeffries’s barn that had been located at Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California.
Through my association with Hank, I have had the opportunity to meet some great fighters over the years. He has also provided guidance to me in building my own collection. During his visit to Las Vegas in April 2006, Hank saw some of my collection. He was very pleased & ecstatic with what I had accomplished. Hank was especially impressed that I had found photos he didn’t have and that I had taken the time to obtain passenger manifests from the SS Florida during 1929 that carried boxers from Cuba to the US as this was one of the ships Hank had done decontamination work on.
After my dad passed away in 1987, Hank became like a father figure to me when it came to boxing. Being around Hank & the fight game was like being around one’s greatest idol. In the 45+ years I knew Hank, & the hundreds of people I have spoken with, there has never been a harsh word said about him. He & I spoke weekly on the phone, sometimes at great length. I will miss his conversations & guidance greatly.
Snipes and, at the time, Cassius Clay when he was training for his fight with Sonny Liston (a fight that Hank took me to). He’d take his pipe out, light it up and say, “Okay boys, let’s get back to training. Let’s see what you can do today.” The fighters loved Hank as he did them.
When word got out that Hank was in the gym, old timers such as Billy Soose, Beau Jack, Kid Gavilan, Vince Martinez, Tom Heeney & King Levinsky to name a few, would come to the gym to be with Hank. If one didn’t know better, one would think the gym belonged to Hank instead of Chris & Angelo Dundee. Angelo was fine with this, but it did cause some friction with Chris.
