Bert Sugar, who was as much a part of the fight racket over the past 50 years as the boxers he loved to cover, died Sunday at a hospital in Mount Kisko, N.Y., of cardiac arrest, following a long battle with cancer.

Sugar, 75, was never seen anywhere without his fedora and his large stogie. He often wore brightly colored clothes, particularly loud pants, and was easily recognizable in any crowd. He loved boxing and was a throwback to an era when it was one of the three biggest sports in the country, along with baseball and horse racing.

In addition to loving boxing, he loved talking about it and helping others to understand its history. He was a regular on talk radio shows around the country and had worked for HBO Sports in recent years promoting pay-per-view cards by doing a series of interviews.