FanHouse Angelo Dundee

LAS VEGAS -- Boxing is alive and thriving, and you can see it in the nationalistic pride that enveloped Las Vegas on Friday. The Filipinos and Puerto Ricans descended on The Strip with their colorful flags and chants, and they queued in orderly groups -- Manny Pacquiao's publiko/bayan here, Miguel Cotto's publico/paisanos there -- for a raucous weigh-in Friday afternoon at the MGM Grand Garden.

So much excitement, for two 145-pound boxers standing on a scale. But Pacquiao-Cotto is the biggest thing to happen to boxing since Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya. Or Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton.

You get the idea.

With Thursday being the 15th anniversary of his 10th-round knockout of Michael Moorer -- which made him, at age 45, the oldest man to become heavyweight champion -- George Foreman reminisced about his comeback from a 10-year hiatus from boxing.

An evangelist for his non-denominational, Church of Jesus Christ, Foreman, 60, recalls the reaction of his wife, Mary, to the news that he was un-retiring, how trainers such as former light heavyweight champion, Archie Moore and Angelo Dundee, re-structured and modified his style, and how a victory over Steve Zouski began a run of 24 straight wins, including 23 knockouts during this, the second installment of a four-part Q&A series.

Boxing publicist Bill Caplan has known George Foreman forever.

Caplan was there when an 19-year-old Foreman won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics, and through Foreman's two stints as world heavyweight champion.

Caplan was there when a 45-year-old Foreman became the division's oldest champion by stopping Michael Moorer 15 years ago this coming Thursday. And of course, Caplan was there in Zaire, 35 years ago, when Foreman was dethroned by Muhammad Ali's "Rope-a-Dope" in Kinshasa, Zaire.

After the jump, Caplan, 74, talks about Foreman's journey to, and their experience in Zaire, and how it ties into his achievement against Moorer.

Angelo Dundee has zero regrets.

The 88-year-old, legendary former boxing trainer of Muhammad Ali, spoke to FanHouse on Monday on a variety of topics, including ESPN's upcoming documentary, Muhammad and Larry, which argues that the aging Ali's 1980 fight with a young Larry Holmes never should have happened. Dundee also addressed Ali's relationship with Joe Frazier, and his own feelings during Ali's condemnation of white people as a member of the Nation of Islam.

Check out the full Q&A after the jump.

Oscar De La Hoya is favored to beat Manny Pacquiao on December 6 mostly because De La Hoya is the bigger man: They're fighting at 147 pounds, which is closer to De La Hoya's preferred weight of 154 than it is to Pacquaio's preferred weight of 130 or 135.

But the Hall of Fame trainer Angelo Dundee, who was introduced as a new member of De La Hoya's camp today, doesn't buy it.

"The weight thing is a bunch of baloney," Dundee told me today. "Weight won't be a problem."

Instead, Dundee thinks De La Hoya will win simply because he's a better boxer.

"Both these guys are tremendous pros, but the greater fighter is De La Hoya," Dundee said. "De La Hoya is just the guy to beat Pacquaio. He's got the style, the way he trains, he will beat Pacquaio. It's a great fight because of the two fighters, but De La Hoya will beat Pacquaio."

Oscar De La Hoya's company, Golden Boy Promotions, has said it will have a major announcement on Thursday about a new member of De La Hoya's team.

That announcement will apparently be the presence of the legendary trainer Angelo Dundee in De La Hoya's corner for his December 6 fight against Manny Pacquiao.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reports that Dundee is expected to serve as a consultant for De La Hoya while he trains in Big Bear for the fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Dundee will work alongside Nacho Beristain to train De La Hoya.

Dundee, a member of the Boxing Hall of Fame, has been a trainer for more than half a century. He's best known for training Muhammad Ali and has also worked with Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman, among others.