Lou Duva

Louis Duva (May 28, 1922 – March 8, 2017) was an American boxing trainer, manager and boxing promoter who handled nineteen world champions. The Duva family promoted boxing events in over twenty countries on six continents. Duva was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, and The Meadowlands Sports Hall of Fame.

Duva was born in New York City to Italian immigrants, the sixth of seven children. After spending time growing up in Little Italy, Manhattan, his family then moved to Saint James Place in Totowa, a suburb of Paterson, New Jersey. Duva's childhood was an impoverished one and he had to do many jobs to try to help his family.

Duva's 23-year-old brother, Carl Duva, introduced him to boxing when he was 10 years old, and by age 12 he was both an amateur and barroom brawler. However as a boxer he did not have much luck, although that might have been due to the fact he barely had time to train, having to go out to the street and perform many types of jobs to try to help his family make ends meet.

In 1938 Duva tried to join the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Applicants were required to be at least 18, but he was only 16, so he changed his birth certificate and all his personal information and they accepted him, believing that he had been born in 1920. The CCC sent him to Boise, Idaho, and then to Walla Walla, Washington, where he learned to drive trucks.

Duva went to the U.S. Army after World War II broke out. He went to Jackson, Mississippi, to train, but was dismissed from the base after many fistfights with fellow soldiers. After that, he was sent to Camp Hood in Texas, where he was given a job as a boxing instructor.

He went back home in 1944 to help run a restaurant and to begin a career as a professional boxer, compiling a record of 6 wins, 10 losses and one draw. After retiring, he started a trucking company. Soon after, he met his wife Enes while he was performing as a clown at a ministry. They married in 1949.

Duva spent a good portion of the early 1950s at Stillman's Boxing Gym, which attracted a large number of celebrities from Hollywood and the boxing world. It was here Lou began friendships with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Frankie Valli, and other celebrities.

Duva's trucking business was doing well, so he opened his own gym, named Garden Gym. After he sold his fleet of 32 trucks, he became a bail bondsman. Around this time he also worked as a union representative in North Jersey.