Howard Edward Davis Jr. (February 14, 1956 – December 30, 2015) was an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. 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 Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

, 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 The Val Barker Trophy is presented every four years to the most "outstanding boxer" at the Olympic Games. In theory, the award goes to the top "pound for pound" boxer in the Olympics. The winner is selected by a committee of International Boxin ...

at the Olympics, beating out such boxers as

Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as Sugar Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professionally between 1977 and 1997, winning quintuple c ...

Michael Spinks Michael Spinks (born July 22, 1956) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal ...

and

Leon Spinks Leon Spinks (July 11, 1953 – February 5, 2021) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1995. In only his eighth professional fight, he won the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1978 after defeating Muhammad Ali in a s ...

. 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. After retirement he became a trainer. Eventually he worked as boxing director at

American Top Team American Top Team (ATT) is one of the primary teams in mixed martial arts. The gym was founded by Dan Lambert, who brought in former members of Brazilian Top Team Marcus "Conan" Silveira, Marcelo Silveira and Ricardo Liborio, but there is no fo ...

Coconut Creek, Florida Coconut Creek is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Situated north of Miami, it had an estimated population of 57,348 in 2022. It is part of South Florida's Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area. The city seceded from Pompano Beach ...

, where he trained both amateur and professional boxers and MMA fighters. He was also a motivational speaker and a musician.

Amateur career

As an amateur, Davis was trained by his father, a former boxer. He had an outstanding amateur career. In 1976, Davis won the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medal in the lightweight division in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada. Davis was also named the Outstanding Boxer of the 1976 Olympics and given the

. His Olympic teammates included

and

. 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 Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Roberto Andino Roberto Andino (born October 4, 1956) is a retired boxer from Puerto Rico, who competed in the men's lightweight division (– 60 kg). He represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal, Canada. Andino captured ...

(Puerto Rico) on points **Defeated Rumen Peshev (Bulgaria) on points **Defeated

Eddie Ndukwu Eddie Ndukwu (born 1 June 1950) is a Nigerian amateur and professional bantam/ super bantam/featherweight boxer of the 1960s, '70s and '80s who as an amateur won the gold medal at bantamweight in the Boxing at the 1966 British Empire and Comm ...

(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 Thomas Hearns (born October 18, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Detroit, Motor City Cobra", and more famously "the Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and long arms and shoulders al ...

on points. *1976 Olympic Trials **Defeated

Aaron Pryor Aaron Pryor (October 20, 1955 – October 9, 2016) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 1990. He was a two-time light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 1980 to 1983, and the IBF title from 1984 ...

to qualify at 132 pounds *

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

– Gold Medal (132 lbs) and Val Barker Award winner for ''Most Outstanding Boxer of the Games'' **Round of 32: Defeated

Yukio Segawa is a Japanese former boxer. He competed in the men's lightweight event at the 1976 Summer Olympics. At the 1976 Summer Olympics, he lost to Howard Davis Jr. of the United States, who would go on to win the tournament. Professional career Car ...

(Japan) won on points **Round of 16: Defeated Leonidas Asprilla (Colombia) won by KO 2 **Quarterfinal:; Defeated

Tsvetan Tsvetkov Tsvetan Tsvetkov (born 23 January 1954) is a Bulgarian boxer. He competed in the men's lightweight event at the 1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded ...

(Bulgaria) won by TKO 3 **Semifinal: Defeated

Ace Rusevski Ace Rusevski (born November 30, 1956, in Kumanovo) is a retired Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonian boxing, boxer who represented Yugoslavia at the Boxing at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. There he ...

(Yugoslavia) won on points **Final: Defeated

Simion Cuţov Simion is a Romanian-language masculine given name. Notable people with this name include: *Simion Bărnuțiu *Simion Bughici *Simion Coman *Simion Cuciuc *Simion Cuţov *Simion Furdui *Simion Galeţchi *Simion Ghimpu *Simion Grişciuc *Simion Isma ...

(Romania) won on points

Professional career

Davis 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 Edwin "Chapo" Rosario Rivera (; March 15, 1963 – December 1, 1997) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1997. He was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC lightweight title from 1983 to 1984, ...

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 James Walter "Buddy" McGirt (born January 17, 1964) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1997, and has since worked as a boxing trainer. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF junior ...

. 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 "Dangerous" Dana Rosenblatt (born January 26, 1972, in Malden, Massachusetts) is a retired Southpaw stance, southpaw professional Boxing, boxer who held a variety of minor boxing titles. Rosenblatt began practicing martial arts at age 13 and earne ...

on April 13, 1996. He finished with a professional record of 36–6–1 with 14 KO's.

Honors

In August 1976, Davis' hometown of

Glen Cove, New York Glen Cove is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, New York (state), New York, United States. The city's population was 28,3 ...

honored Davis with a parade for his Olympic achievement, which was attended by Lt. Governor

Mary Anne Krupsak Mary Anne Krupsak (March 26, 1932 – December 28, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. She was the lieutenant governor of New York from 1975 to 1978. She was the first woman to hold the office. Early life Krupsak was born ...

. 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.

Personal life

In 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. Davis served as a boxing trainer to

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

fighters, including

Chuck Liddell Charles David Liddell (born December 17, 1969) is an American former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1998 to 2018, Liddell is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion (from 2005 to 2007) and i ...

and fighters from

. 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 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz'' (also known as ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Franklin'' for the final episode of the season) is the eleventh installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced re ...

. Davis' wife Karla Guadamuz-Davis served as his Publicist and Business Manager. Davis followed a strict

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

diet. Davis' son Dyah is also a former professional boxer, who transitioned to a coaching career and is a boxing coach at the

Death

In the summer of 2015 Davis learned that he had incurable, late-stage lung cancer. He died on December 30, 2015, from the disease at the age of 59.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Howard 1956 births 2015 deaths Boxers from New York (state) Boxers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Deaths from lung cancer in Florida Olympic boxers for the United States Lightweight boxers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers Sportspeople from Glen Cove, New York American male boxers African-American boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen