George Washington, who trained some of boxing's top names, including Riddick Bowe and Mark Breland, died on Sunday in Brooklyn, where he had long trained any would-be contender who came his way. He was 79.
The cause was congestive heart failure, said his son Kenneth.
Washington probably trained thousands of boys and girls from around New York City. In the early 1980s, his home base became the New Bed-Stuy Boxing Center on Marcus Garvey Boulevard, alongside two major city housing projects.
Nate Boyd, who at 40 had already trained and coached alongside Washington for nearly three decades, said that even though a number of the boxers Washington trained became stars, he was willing to train anyone interested in the sport.
Boyd himself was only 12 when he walked into the Broadway Gym in Brooklyn and heard Washington yelling out commands to fighters.
"I heard him saying `Throw the left jab, right hand, left hook' -- the cherry tree special, that's what he called it." Boyd said.
Boyd told Washington that he was interested in boxing, and Washington started him that same day.
"He put me in front of the mirror and taught me the basics," Boyd said. "He really had a heart for everybody."
"He was an old-school fighter," said Bruce Silverglade, who for 26 years has owned Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, also famous for training newcomers and professionals. "Old-school fighters learn how to fight with the basics. That's how he trained his kids; that's something that's lost on trainers today."
Some of the boxers he trained, including Breland, made it to the Olympics. Washington began his own boxing career in Birmingham, Alabama, then joined the Marine Corps, serving in both World War II and the Korean War. While in the service, he was a member of the Marine Corps boxing team.
He was a sparring partner of Joe Louis in 1945 and in 1946 became the champion of the South Pacific theater. Of the 114 fights of his career, he won 100, 80 of them as knockouts.
Throughout his career, Washington trained his boxers on a volunteer basis, while working at the Fedders Corp and then the Welbilt Stove Co until retirement.
Until about a month before his death Washington continued to go to the gym, shouting out the same sparring commands he had used for decades.
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