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Angelo Dundee has had a hugely successful career. He first earned acclaim by helping Muhammad Ali become heavyweight champion of the world -- not once, but three times. He worked with world champions Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman (in his second, pudgier incarnation as "Big George," boxing's teddy-bear-with-fists-like-Mack-trucks). In 1994, he was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

My View from the Corner is Dundee's blow-by-blow account of his half-century in boxing. Born in Philadelphia in 1923, Dundee followed two older brothers into the sweet science, getting his start at the bottom of the ladder in such jobs as bucket carrier in late-1940s New York City. This was back when the sport teemed with trainers "talking through clenched teeth and half-chewed cigars," meeting in nightspots like Jack Dempsey's Restaurant and Toots Shor's, mingling with famous entertainers like Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Gleason.

Dundee began training fighters in 1952. He only hit the really big time after the 1960 Rome Olympics, when he started training the gold medalist fighter then known as Cassius Clay. Dundee went on to work Ali's corner for more than two decades, including his defeat of Sonny Liston in 1963, his three fights with Joe Frazier (which made theirs one of the greatest rivalries in sports history), 1974's "Rumble in the Jungle" against the seemingly invincible George Foreman and Ali's embarrassing 1980 heavyweight title loss to Larry Holmes.

As Dundee tells the story of his life, we learn about the art and science of being a cutman. We learn that Ali's boastful shtick was inspired by flamboyant pro wrestler Gorgeous George. We learn that, in his loss to Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran never uttered the words which will forever stick to his reputation: "No mas." And we learn that world-class trainers are equal parts psychologist, dietician, strategist, plastic surgeon and storyteller.