Pacheco, Ali ‘fight doctor,’ dies at 89
Ferdie Pacheco, “the fight doctor,” a boxing presence for four decades as the physician in Muhammad Ali’s corner and later a ringside television analyst, died Thursday at his home in Miami. He was 89. In the early 1960s, Mr. Pacheco’s love of boxing drew him to the gritty 5th St. Gym in Miami Beach, where Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, was among the young fighters honing their skills under trainer Angelo Dundee.
Mr. Pacheco joined with Dundee when Ali rose in the pro ranks and remained with Ali during most of his reign as the heavyweight champion.
But Mr. Pacheco became alarmed by the blows Ali took over the years. After Ali took a beating in his decision over Earnie Shavers in 1977, Mr. Pacheco said he sent letters to Ali and his camp urging that he retire. He received no response.
“When Ali wouldn’t quit the exciting world of boxing, I did,” he wrote in “Muhammad Ali: A View From the Corner” (1992). “If a national treasure like Ali could not be saved, at least I didn’t have to be part of his undoing.”
Almost five months later, CBS hired Mr. Pacheco to be a TV analyst for Ali’s fight with Leon Spinks. He went on to become NBC’s director of boxing and ringside analyst, as well as a commentator for Showtime and the Spanish-language network Univision. He won two Emmy Awards, one for a series on Ali. College football: Quinton Flowers threw two touchdown passes and No. 23 South Florida held off visiting Tulsa 27-20 to remain in contention for a berth in the American Athletic Conference championship game. Flowers ran for 119 yards and threw for 142 to send the Bulls (9-1, 6-1) into next week’s regular-season finale against No. 14 UCF. Luke Skipper scored on first-half runs of 12 and 9 yards for Tulsa (2-9, 1-6).
Soccer: Sean Bowman assisted on USF’s first goal, by Bryce Kaminski in the 50th minute, and scored the game-winner in the 79th minute as the Dons upset host Cal 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA men’s tournament. Aravind Sivakumar gave the Bears (11-7) the lead by scoring 39 seconds into the game. USF (10-8) will play at fourth-seeded Louisville in the second round Sunday.
Toronto forward Jozy Altidore’s one-game suspension was upheld, and he will miss the first leg of his team’s MLS Eastern Conference final at Columbus on Tuesday.
Tennis: In his ATP Finals debut, Jack Sock joined Roger Federer in the semifinals. Sock, the first American to reach the final weekend at the season-ending tournament since Andy Roddick in 2007, beat Alexander Zverev 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to advance from his roundrobin group in London.
Federer ended up 3-0 after a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Marin Cilic and won the group.