By Frank Warren

I was saddened to hear of the passing of the great trainer-manager Lou Duva this week, at the age of 94.

Lou, with his near 70 years in the game, was a proper old school boxing man and will be missed by all who knew him.

His work was recognised by his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, an honour which resulted from his involvement with some 17 world title holders, including f Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Tyrell Biggs and Mike McCallum.

To my mind, Lou was one of the great icons of boxing, a man who stood for no nonsense and was always in there fighting for his fighters. Sometimes literally!

There was the famous occasion at Caesars Palace in 1988 when he was in the corner of the legendary Vinny Pazienza who was fighting Floyd Mayweather’s jnr’s uncle, Roger Mayweather.

During the bout Lou protested that Mayweather was repeatedly head-butting and when he was awarded the decision he flew across the ring towards him. Mayweather thought Lou was going to assault him so he threw a punch which caught the the 64-year-old year old flush on the chin, and floored him.

At the press conference afterwards Lou sat rubbing his swollen jaw and mumbled: “What is it with fighters these days – punching old men!”

The great American scribe Ed Schuyler, doyen of the Associated Press, immediately quipped “Stop bellyaching Lou. Until the knockdown I had you ahead!”

Dear old Lou was one of the sport’s great characters, who knew the game inside out and was universally well respected in the business.

I send my condolences to his son Dino and the rest of the family.

There was good news on the fighting front this week with Tyson Fury revealing his intention to glove up again via a couple of posts on social media.

That Tyson is conquering the demons that led him to relinquishing his world titles is the main thing and his eagerness to make a return to the ring is a hugely positive sign.

He still has a couple of hurdles to clear with the authorities before he can officially be given the green light to fight again and his nominated date in May might be a little optimistic, but once the remaining issues are resolved there is no reason why he shouldn’t set about reclaiming his heavyweight crowns.

The focus of his trainer Peter will rightly be directed towards his son Hughie in coming weeks, ahead of his WBO world title challenge against Joseph Parker on May 6, but I am sure being around Hughie’s camp will provide Tyson with further stimulation to get back to where he belongs.

The fact he is back in training and working towards a return at some point in the coming months is good news for him and boxing fans.

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BoxNation viewers are in for a treat in the coming weeks and months as our schedule goes from strength to strength.

Last week we added the debut of Michael Conlan on March 17 to our fight guide, along with the big one from Madison Square Garden the following night.

Myself and Billy Joe Saunders will be ringside for the middleweight unification between the multi-belted Gennady Golovkin and the WBA regular champion Daniel Jacobs.

It should be quite a night and, while I would expect Golovkin to prevail, you can’t write off the chance of Jacobs because he can whack, no doubt about that.

Bill’s next move will become clearer when the arm of the winner is raised in New York.

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