Duva doesn't get much talked about anymore. Any thoughts on the man at all? I don't know all that much about him, was certainly a feisty and outrageous character!
He was pretty easy to irritate it seems lol. I almost never hear his name come up when great trainers are discussed, was just wondering why.
Yeah I guess he's mostly remembered for his work with the '84 Olympics guys & maybe Vinny Paz? I usually see Georgie Benton get his props as a trainer & he worked closely with Duva for years.
Duva was more of a cheerleader than a technically proficient boxing trainer. That's what he had George Benton for, who really does deserve the lion's share of the credit for the success of Duva's fighters.
I agree with this. Duva was a cornerman not a trainer. He was a motivator in that corner and he fought for his fighters, which I will give him props for. I laugh now when I was watching an old fight from MSG on youtube. It was between Florentino Fernandez and Stefan Redl. Fernandez stopped Redl - the ref intervening - and everyone was good with it because Redl was taking a hammering, except one guy in Redl's corner. The dude is screaming and hopping around and as I'm watching it I realize it was a young Lou Duva. You gotta give him credit, even back in the early 60s he was still the rambunctious cornerman fighting for his man.
If you watch any of those old fights of Pernell Whitaker and Evander Holyfield…you can see who’s really the brains
Yes he was. I heard several fighters were dropped the minute a world title was no longer viable for the company. So there may be a few out there harboring a grudge with his managerial skills