Lou Duva – R.I.P.

By David Martinez / dmboxing.com

On March 8, 2017, Lou Duva  passed away from natural causes at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Patterson, New Jersey. He was 94 years old.   

Lou had a remarkable career as a trainer, handling nineteen world champions. Some of the boxers, just to name a few, that Lou was involved with were Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor, Michael Moorer, Arturo Gatti, Mark Breland, Lennox Lewis, Rocky Lockridge, Bobby Czyz, Johnny Bumphus, Tony Tucker, Mike McCallum, Vinny Pazienza, Hector Camacho, Fernando Vargas, Andrew Golota, Alex Ramos, Livingstone Bramble, Tony Ayla Jr., and Joey Giardiello who was his first world champion  in 1963.

Although I did not know Lou personally, my many boxing associates that knew him said he was a most charismatic, down-to-earth, and serious trainer as there ever was. Among his achievements and awards were: his family owned promotional company, Main Events, founded in 1978; Manager of the Year in 1985 by the Boxing Writers Association of America; Trainer of the Year in 1987 by the World Boxing Association; World Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, 1991; International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, 1998; New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, 1998; and National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and the Meadowlands Sports Hall of Fame inductee, as well.

Lou Duva will truly be missed by the boxing world. May his soul rest peacefully in heaven with the Lord.

One thought on “Lou Duva – R.I.P.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *