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Howard Edward Davis Jr. (February 14, 1956 – December 30, 2015) was an American professional boxer. Growing up on Long Island as the eldest of 10 children, Davis first learned boxing from his father. After being inspired by a movie about Muhammad Ali, Davis embarked on his amateur career. He won the 1976 Olympic gold medal one week after his mother died. He was also awarded the Val Barker Trophy at the Olympics, beating out such boxers as Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks and Leon Spinks.[1]
 Davis with Chuck Liddell, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Howard Edward Davis Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 14, 1956 Glen Cove, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | December 30, 2015 (aged 59) Plantation, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 60 kg (132 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Boxing | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight class | Lightweight and Featherweight | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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He turned professional after the Olympics and went on to compile a professional record of 36–6–1 with 14 knockouts. He retired in 1996.[1] After retirement he became a trainer. Eventually he worked as boxing director at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, where he trained both amateur and professional boxers and MMA fighters. He was also a motivational speaker and a musician.
Amateur career
editAs an amateur, Davis was trained by his father, a former boxer. He had an outstanding amateur career. In 1976, Davis won the Olympic gold medal in the lightweight division in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Davis was also named the Outstanding Boxer of the 1976 Olympics and given the Val Barker Trophy. His Olympic teammates included Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks and Leon Spinks.
His Olympic victory came just one week after his mother died of a heart attack.
Davis had an amateur record of 125–5.
Amateur accomplishments include:
- 1973 National AAU Champion (125 lb)
- Defeated Leroy Veasley of Detroit in the final
- 1974 World Championships (125 lbs) in Havana, Cuba
- Defeated Roberto Andino (Puerto Rico) on points
- Defeated Rumen Peshev (Bulgaria) on points
- Defeated Eddie Ndukwu (Nigeria) on points
- Defeated Mariano Álvarez (Cuba) on points
- Defeated Boris Kuznetsov (Soviet Union) on points
- 1976 National AAU Champion (132 lbs)
- Defeated Thomas Hearns on points.
- 1976 Olympic Trials
- Defeated Aaron Pryor to qualify at 132 pounds
- 1976 Summer Olympics – Gold Medal (132 lbs) and Val Barker Award winner for Most Outstanding Boxer of the Games
- Round of 32: Defeated Yukio Segawa (Japan) won on points
- Round of 16: Defeated Leonidas Asprilla (Colombia) won by KO 2
- Quarterfinal:; Defeated Tsvetan Tsvetkov (Bulgaria) won by TKO 3
- Semifinal: Defeated Ace Rusevski (Yugoslavia) won on points
- Final: Defeated Simion Cuţov (Romania) won on points
Professional career
editDavis turned professional in 1977. After winning his first thirteen fights, he challenged Jim Watt for the WBC lightweight title in 1980. Watt won by a fifteen-round unanimous decision. In 1984, with a record of 26–1, Davis fought Edwin Rosario for the WBC lightweight title. Rosario retained his title with a twelve-round split decision. His final attempt to win a world title came in 1988. Davis was stunningly knocked out in the first round by IBF junior welterweight champion Buddy McGirt. He retired after the fight. In 1994, Davis launched a comeback as a middleweight. He retired for good after losing by second-round knockout to Dana Rosenblatt on April 13, 1996.
He finished with a professional record of 36–6–1 with 14 KO's.[2]
Honors
editIn August 1976, Davis' hometown of Glen Cove, New York honored Davis with a parade for his Olympic achievement, which was attended by Lt. Governor Mary Anne Krupsak.
In July 2009, Glen Cove honored Davis by naming a street after him. The Mayor also proclaimed July 10 as Howard Davis Day in honor of both father and son.[3]
Personal life
editIn 1981, Davis had his Olympic Gold Medal stolen from his home, only to be found years later by a landscaper on the side of the road. After discovering the true value of the medal, the landscaper returned the medal to Davis.[4]
Davis served as a boxing trainer to MMA fighters, including Chuck Liddell and fighters from American Top Team. He also worked as a sports commentator, a public speaker, and a promoter for Fight Time Promotions. Davis was a boxing coach/trainer for Chuck Liddell on The Ultimate Fighter 11.[5] Davis' wife Karla Guadamuz-Davis served as his Publicist and Business Manager.
Davis followed a strict vegetarian diet.[6]
Davis' son Dyah is also a former professional boxer, who transitioned to a coaching career and is a boxing coach at the American Top Team.[7]
Death
editIn the summer of 2015 Davis learned that he had incurable, late-stage lung cancer.[8] He died on December 30, 2015, from the disease at the age of 59.[9]
Professional boxing record
edit| 43 fights | 36 wins | 6 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 14 | 2 |
| By decision | 22 | 4 |
| Draws | 1 | |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | Loss | 36–6–1 | KO | 2 (12), 2:00 | 13 Apr 1996 | For the WBU Middleweight Championship. | ||
| 42 | Win | 36–5–1 | PTS | 10 | 29 Jun 1995 | |||
| 41 | Win | 35–5–1 | UD | 10 | 4 May 1995 | |||
| 40 | Win | 34–5–1 | UD | 10 | 19 Jan 1995 | |||
| 39 | Win | 33–5–1 | TKO | 7 (10) | 17 Nov 1994 | |||
| 38 | Loss | 32–5–1 | KO | 1 (15), 2:45 | 31 Jul 1988 | For the IBF Super Lightweight Championship. | ||
| 37 | Win | 32–4–1 | UD | 10 | 28 Apr 1988 | |||
| 36 | Win | 31–4–1 | UD | 10 | 25 Mar 1988 | |||
| 35 | Win | 30–4–1 | TKO | 9 (10), 2:15 | 21 Jan 1988 | |||
| 34 | Loss | 29–4–1 | UD | 10 | 2 May 1987 | |||
| 33 | Win | 29–3–1 | UD | 10 | 27 Feb 1987 | |||
| 32 | Draw | 28–3–1 | SD | 10 | 16 Aug 1986 | |||
| 31 | Loss | 28–3 | UD | 10 | 28 Feb 1986 | |||
| 30 | Win | 28–2 | TKO | 4 (10) | 16 Oct 1985 | |||
| 29 | Win | 27–2 | UD | 10 | 14 Dec 1984 | |||
| 28 | Loss | 26–2 | SD | 12 | 23 Jun 1984 | For the WBC Lightweight Championship. | ||
| 27 | Win | 26–1 | TKO | 2 (10), 1:48 | 16 May 1984 | |||
| 26 | Win | 25–1 | RTD | 8 (10), 3:00 | 3 Mar 1984 | |||
| 25 | Win | 24–1 | TKO | 8 (10), 2:36 | 18 Jun 1983 | |||
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | UD | 10 | 10 Apr 1983 | |||
| 23 | Win | 22–1 | UD | 10 | 27 Feb 1983 | |||
| 22 | Win | 21–1 | UD | 10 | 12 Nov 1982 | |||
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | UD | 10 | 16 Oct 1982 | |||
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | TKO | 6 (10) | 26 Aug 1982 | |||
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | RTD | 3 (10) | 22 Jul 1982 | |||
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | UD | 10 | 3 Jun 1982 | |||
| 17 | Win | 16–1 | UD | 10 | 16 Apr 1981 | |||
| 16 | Win | 15–1 | RTD | 8 (10), 3:00 | 26 Jun 1981 | |||
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | UD | 10 | 6 Dec 1980 | |||
| 14 | Loss | 13–1 | UD | 15 | 7 Jun 1980 | For the WBC Lightweight Championship. | ||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | UD | 12 | 23 Feb 1980 | |||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | UD | 10 | 14 Sep 1979 | |||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | KO | 7 (10), 2:50 | 17 Jun 1979 | |||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | KO | 3 (10), 0:28 | 20 Apr 1979 | |||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | UD | 10 | 4 Nov 1978 | |||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | UD | 10 | 9 Jul 1978 | |||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | SD | 10 | 13 May 1978 | |||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | UD | 8 | 4 Feb 1978 | |||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | TKO | 4 (8) | 13 Sep 1977 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | TKO | 8 (8), 2:17 | 17 Jul 1977 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | UD | 6 | 11 May 1977 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | KO | 3 (6), 1:35 | 20 Mar 1977 | |||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | UD | 6 | 15 Jan 1977 | Professional debut |
References
edit- ^ a b "HOWARD DAVIS JR". howarddavisjr.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-22.
- ^ "Howard Davis Jr.: Boxing Let's Talk" Archived 2017-02-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Olympic Champ Howard Davis Jr. is honored in Hometown of Glen Cove, NY"
- ^ Kay, Jennifer (2016-01-01). "Howard Davis Jr., boxer who won Olympic gold while in mourning, dies at 59". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
- ^ ""The Ultimate Fighter 11" debut". mmajunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2010-03-06. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
- ^ Wong, Nick. (2016). "Boxing Gold Medalist and MMA Coach Howard Davis Jr. Dies at Age 59". Vice Sports. Retrieved 6 Feb. 2019.
- ^ Mike Straus (May 2, 2019). "ATT boxing coach Dyah Davis opens up on his work with Dustin Poirier". bjpenn.com.
- ^ "Boxing great Howard Davis Jr. calls cancer battle 'fight time'". The Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 2015-12-31.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Howard Davis, most outstanding boxer at 1976 Olympics, dead at 59". Yahoo Sports. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
External links
edit- Boxing record for Howard Davis Jr. from BoxRec (registration required)
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Howard Davis Jr". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20.