In sad news it has been reported how Ferdie Pacheco has passed away at the age of 89. Known universally as “The Fight Doctor,” Pacheco was of course the physician of the great Muhammad Ali. According to Pacheco’s daughter, who spoke with The Miami Herald, Pacheco died in his sleep in his home in Miami.
One of the last surviving members of the Ali inner circle (Gene Kilroy is still with us, along with a few more members), Ferdie saw Ali himself pass away last June, while Ali’s great trainer Angelo Dundee left us in 2012.
Pacheco, who met Dundee in Miami and soon began working with him at the legendary 5th Street Gym, was impressed with the speed, grace and sheer confidence of the young Cassius Clay almost instantly – as Pacheco recalls in Thomas Hauser’s seminal work, ‘Muhammad Ali: his life and times,’ published in 1989.
Pacheco was there almost at the very beginning of Ali’s journey to the pinnacle of the boxing world – Ferdie becoming Ali’s personal doctor – and he was there almost until the very end. It was almost the end, not quite the end, because, as fans may know, Ferdie made the brave decision to leave Ali in 1977; shortly after the gruelling and punishing Earnie Shavers fight (Ali winning a close, damaging 15 round decision).
Noticing the faded reflexes of “The Greatest,” along with the fact that his kidneys were “falling apart,” Pacheco strongly advised Ali to quit the ring right then and there. Instead, to Pacheco’s dismay, Ali fought on for four more fights over as many years. By the time Ali finally retired, in late 1981, it was too late. If only Ali had listened to the man who had his best interests at heart.
Pacheco later spoke out over the ill-fated Ali-Larry Holmes fight of 1980 – going as far as to say how “everyone involved in that fight should have been arrested.”
After leaving Ali (the two remaining friends until the end) Pacheco became the voice of boxing for the Showtime network; calling hundreds of classic fights. An author of a number of books and in later life becoming a proficient painter, Pacheco also appeared in countless boxing documentaries and specials.
He spoke his mind, he cared about fighters, Ali especially, and he loved boxing. May Ferdie rest in peace.