Lou Duva, one of boxing's most celebrated trainers, passed away on March 9 in a New Jersey hospital due to natural causes. He was 92 years old.
Dino Duva, Lou's son and an executive with Roc Nation Sports' boxing division, announced his death in a statement.
"The overwhelming number of calls and sympathy wishes from so many friends and associates shows how much our father was loved and respected," he said. "We sincerely appreciate the support from everyone."
Lou Duva, who was born in New York City on May 28, 1922 to Italian immigrants, was introduced to the sport of boxing at the age of 10.
After World War II, when he coached boxing at Fort Hood in Texas, he began promoting boxing cards in New Jersey with his first major fight that he promoted being the Joey Giardello vs. Dick Tiger middleweight world title fight in 1963, when Giardello became Duva's first world champion.
Below is a list of notable boxers who have trained under Duva:
- Pernell Whitaker
- Michael Moorer
- Arturo Gatti
- Meldrick Taylor
- Mark Breland
- Lennox Lewis
- Joey Giardello
- Rocky Lockridge
- Bobby Czyz
- Egerton Marcus
- Livingstone Bramble
- Johnny Bumphus
- Tony Tucker
- Mike McCallum
- Vinny Pazienza
- Darrin Van Horn
- John John Molina
- Eddie Hopson
- Hector Camacho
- David Tua
- Fernando Vargas
- Evander Holyfield
- Andrew Golota
In 1978, Dan Duva, Lou's late son, founded Main Events Promotions and Lou signed on to serve as a manager and cornerman for many of the fighters the company promoted. In 1984, Main Events signed several members from the U.S. Olympic team which included Holyfield, Whitaker and Taylor.
Duva was in Holyfield's corner when Holyfield defeated Buster Douglas to become the undisputed world heavyweight championship in 1990 and had been a fixture on many other world title bouts as a promoter and trainer.
One of those times included Taylor being stopped by Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. with just two seconds remaining after Taylor was leading in the cards in their first encounter in 1990. The fight was for the unified IBF, WBC and lineal light welterweight titles and Duva was irate, going to the referee and yelling at him for stopping the fight.
Lou Duva, who was predeceased by wife Enes, is survived by his son Dino, daughters Donna, Deanne Boorman and Denise Duva, 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
