RIP Nick Charles

One of the most beloved boxing broadcaster’s Nick Charles passed away today in New Mexico at the age of sixty-four after a long and courageous fight with Bladder Cancer.

Charles was known for his work at CNN and more recently for his work on boxing cards for Showtime and Top Rank.

Charles was one of the classiest gentleman that this reporter had the honor to meet and his fight with the dreaded disease had been chronicled in many media outlets

Many fans got to witness his struggle as CNN recently ran a feature story with Charles revealing that he knew his end was near so he made future birthday videos for his now five year old daughter Giovanna.

“Nick was your friend from the moment you met him — and he stayed your friend forever,” said Rick Davis, one of Charles’ producers at CNN in the 1980s. “All of us who had the very good fortune to have been his friend have so much to remember about how he touched our lives in his own special way,” said Davis, who is CNN’s executive vice president of News Standards and Practices.

Charles recently called his last fight in March when HBO extended an invitation to Charles to call the Mikey Garcia – Matt Remillard fight in Atlantic City

Charles is survived by his wife, Cory, of 13 years and their daughter, Giovanna. He has three children from two previous marriages: Jason, 39; Melissa, 36; and Katie, 24.

“His passing is a loss to CNN, to the sports world and to the fans and friends everywhere who were with him to the end of his extraordinary life,” said Jim Walton, Charles’ field producer in his early days and current president of CNN Worldwide.

Portions of this article are taken from cnn.com