HALL OF FAME Boxing COACH LOU DUVA PASSES AWAY AT 94
THE LEGENDARY COACH LOU DUVA HAS PASSED AWAY FROM NATURAL CAUSES REPORTED BY HIS FAMILY.
MR. DUVA HAS BEEN AROUND BOXING SINCE THE AGE OF 10 WERE HE WOULD HANG AROUND THE GYMS. BORN ON MAY 28TH 1922 MR. DUVA WAS FROM A LARGE ITALIAN IMMIGRANT FAMILY THAT SETTLED IN NEW YORK. LOU FROM THE AGE OF 11 OR 12 WOULD LOVE TO BOX IN THE STREETS WITH FRIENDS AND MIGHT HAVE BEEN A GREAT BOXER BUT LOU HAD TO DO ODD JOBS IN ORDER TO SURVIVE THE ROUGH TIMES. THIS TOOK AWAY ANY REAL TIME LOU HAD TO TRAIN. WHEN LOU WAS A YOUNG MAN HE JOINED THE US ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II. LOU WOULD GET INTO ALTERCATIONS WITH ARMY OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS WHICH LANDED HIM AT CAMP HOOD IN TEXAS WERE HE TOOK A JOB AS A BOXING INSTRUCTOR.
LOU CAME HOME FROM THE ARMY IN 1944 AND BEGAN HIS BOXING CAREER. LOU'S RECORD WASN'T IMPRESSIVE AT 6 WINS AND 10 LOSSES BUT MR. DUVA'S LOVE FOR THE GAME BECAME STRONGER. IN THE 1050'S LOU STARTED HANGING AT THE FAMOUS STILLMAN BOXING GYM WHERE HE WATCHED AND LEARNED. MR. DUVA NOW HAD HIS EYES ON OPENING HIS OWN GYM. LOU BY NOW HAD A GOOD BUSINESS
IN TRUCKING. LOU HAD WORKED HARD AND BUILT A FLEET OF OVER 30 TRUCKS. LOU THEN SOLD HIS BUSINESS AND DID A COUPLE OF ADVENTURES. THE FIRST, OF COURSE, WAS TO OPEN HIS NOW FAMOUS GYM THE GARDEN BOXING GYM. MR. DUVA BEING SMART ALSO OPENED A BAIL BOND SHOP AND WORKED AS A UNION REP IN NEW JERSEY. LOU DUVA WORKED HARD AND IN 1963 HE TOOK JOEY GIARDELLO INTO A MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT AND CAME OUT VICTORIOUS WITH THE BELT. BOXING SOON BECAME LOU'S NUMBER ONE OBSESSION AND IN THE LATE SEVENTIES WANTING THE REST OF THE WORLD TO SEE THE ACTION HE OPENED A BOXING MANAGEMENT CALLED MAIN EVENTS WITH HIS SON. NEW JERSEY AND MAIN EVENTS SOON BECAME HUGE ATTRACTIONS FOR BOXING. LOU BROUGHT A CERTAIN BIG SHOW ATTITUDE TO THE GAME AND THE PUBLIC LOVED IT.
THE NEW MANAGEMENT BUSINESS ATTRACTED MANY BOXERS AND SOON LOU WAS BUSY PUTTING ON BOXING MATCHES AND HELPING TO TRAIN QUALITY FIGHTERS.
IN 1981 MR. DUVA PROMOTED THE SUGAR RAY LEONARD AND THOMAS HEARNS FIGHT. THIS WAS THEIR FIRST FIGHT TOGETHER AND IT BECAME BOXING LARGEST GROSSING NON- HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHT EARNING $40 MILLION DOLLARS. THIS STYLE OF PROMOTING CHANGED BOXING FOREVER. THE STRESS LEVEL WAS ABOUT TO HIT THE ROOF WHEN MR. DUVA'S WIFE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS. THIS HORRIBLE TRAGEDY COMBINED WITH THE HEAVY WORK LOAD LANDED LOU IN THE HOSPITAL WITH A HEART ATTACK. THE DOCTORS ADVISED MR. DUVA TO TAKE IT EASY SO LOU SOLD EVERYTHING OFF ACCEPT FOR THE BOXING BUSINESSES. LOU THEN CONCENTRATED ON TRAINING FIGHTER AND LEFT THE PROMOTING TO HIS SON.
DUVA BEGAN PILING UP THE CHAMPIONSHIPS AND BY 1984 HE HAD FOUR CHAMPIONS AND A TON OF YOUNG TALENTED FIGHTERS SIGNED UP TO BECOME THE NEXT BEST THING IN BOXING. MR. DUVA'S EYE FOR TALENT LANDED HIM EVANDER HOLYFIELD, MARK BRELAND, MELDRICK TAYLOR AND PERNELL WHITAKER. THIS BEGAN THE MAKING OF A LEGEND. LOU WAS THEN CROWNED THE BOXING MANAGER OF YEAR. IN 1986 LOU TOOK EVANDER HOLYFIELD TO A TITLE FIGHT AND CAME OUT WITH ANOTHER CHAMPION BELT. THIS WOULD SOON BE ON THE BACK BURNER AS HIS LOVING WIFE PASSED AWAY FORM HER ILLNESS.
IN 1987 LOU WAS GIVEN THE TRAINER OF YEAR AWARD AS HIS FIGHTERS VINNY PAZIENZA AND MARK BRELAND BOTH WON TITLE BELTS. THE CHAMPIONSHIPS JUST KEPT ROLLING IN WHEN IN 1989 MAIN EVENTS AND LOU DUVA PRODUCED THREE MORE BELT WINNERS. LOU WAS ENJOYING SUCCESS AND WENT BACK TO PROMOTING BOXING.
TRAGEDY STUCK AGAIN WHEN IN 1996 HIS LOVING SON DAN DIED OF CANCER. THE FAMILY RALLIED TO HELP IN MANY WAYS RUNNING THE MAIN EVENT BUSINESS AND PROMOTING THE GYMS ENORMOUS TALENTED FIGHTERS. MR. DUVA'S FLAMBOYANT PROMOTING STYLE WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED AS WILL HIS ATTENTION TO DETAIL FOR HIS FIGHTERS. LOU THEN OPENED HIS SPORTS CLUB AND SEAFOOD GRILL CALLED SIMPLY LOU DUVA'S.
IN 1998 LOU WAS INDUCTED INTO THE BOXING HALL OF FAME. A FITTING PLACE FOR A MAN WHO FOUGHT WITH HIS FISTS AND HIS MIND TO ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST AWARDS IN A PROFESSION HE LOVED. MR. DUVA BROUGHT THE SPORT OF BOXING INTO OUR HOMES AND MADE IT A PART OF AMERICAN PASS TIME.
WHEN IT COMES TO CONVINCING YOURSELF THAT LOU DUVA IS A MAJOR PART OF BOXING'S HISTORY LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THE LIST OF BOXERS HE HAS TRAINED AND HELPED. NOTABLE FIGHTERS INCLUDE: EVANDER HOLYFIELD, HECTOR CAMACHO, VINNY PAZIENZA, ARTURO GATTI, LENNOX LEWIS, LIVINGSTONE BRAMBLE, PERNELL WHITAKER, MARK BRELAND, JOHNNY BUMPHUS, TONY TUCKER, JOHN JOHN MOLINA, FERNANDO VARGAS, ANDREW GOLOTA, ROCKY LOCKRIDGE, MICHEAL MOORER, DAVID TUA, MELDRICK TAYLOR AND MANY MORE. MR. DUVA SPENT HIS LAST DAYS HELPING YOUNG KIDS GET OFF THE STREETS AND SHOW THEM THE ROAD TO BOXING. MR. DUVA ALSO SPOKE FOR BOXER RIGHTS AND CONTINUED TO PROMOTE THIS WONDERFUL SPORT THAT HAS US SITTING ON THE EDGE OF OUR SEATS.
REST IN PEACE YOUR MOTIVATION AND FIGHT FOR LIFE LIVES ON!
