By Jake Donovan
Fond recollections continue to pour in regarding the life that was for Howard Davis Jr., who passed away Wednesday evening following a 10-month battle with Stage 4 lung cancer.
Most boxing-related obituaries will point out that Davis Jr., 59 years of age at the time of his passing, was regarded as one of the best U.S. amateur boxers in history. The four-time Golden Gloves winner from the Glen Cove section of Long Island, New York amassed an amateur mark of 125-5, having learned the sport from his father Howard Sr. as the oldest of 10 siblings.
His incredible amateur career was capped by his winning a Gold medal during the 1976 Montreal Olympics, though with a heavy heart as his mother passed away three days prior to his first win.
“To give an idea of just how great he was, to get to the Olympics he (beat) Thomas Hearns, Aaron Pryor and Hilmer Kenty,” legendary New York-based matchmaker Ron Katz pointed out to BoxingScene.com. “As a person, there was none better.”
Not only did he serve on perhaps the greatest U.S. Olympic team of all time, but also earned the Val Barker Award for the most outstanding boxer. Davis won the honors over a field that included legendary Cuban amateur Teofilio Stevenson and a loaded U.S. squad that included Michael and Leon Spinks and “Sugar” Ray Leonard.
Katz worked with Davis Jr. towards the end of his career, including his final pro fight – a 2nd round loss at 40 years of age versus then-unbeaten contender Dana Rosenblatt in 1996. Like most, he always remembered Davis Jr. as a gifted boxer and beyond the ropes an incredible soul.
It came as a shock when Davis Jr., who never drank or smoke a day a day in his life, was struck with lung cancer. He learned of the development this past February, one week before his 59th birthday. He fought the good fight outside the ring, but simply ran out of time in attempting to conquer the disease at its advanced stage.
In his passing he lives behind his wife Karla Guadamuz-Davis, who earlier this year formed the Howard Davis Jr. Foundation in efforts to collect funds to offset the costly expenses that came with chemotherapy and additional treatment. The family is accepting donations to the foundation in lieu of flowers.
He is also survived by his eight remaining siblings and ten children, including current super middleweight Dyah Ali Davis.
More so than the achievements he earned in the amateurs and pros was the friendships formed through the years. Nary a bad word was there to be said about Davis Jr., fittingly born on Valentine’s Day in 1956 as he was known as a giving man and a kind soul. His level of sincerity and generosity had a major impact among those with whom he came in contact.
High among that list was his old Olympic teammate in Leonard, as the two remained friends from their first encounter until his passing.
“Howard Davis was indeed a special friend of mine,” Leonard recalled to BoxingScene.com, his fondest memories of his old teammate coming well beyond the ropes. “Our most cherished moments were spent talking about family and other special and fun moments in our lives.”
Both boxers were wildly celebrated upon entering the pro ranks. Davis Jr. inked an exclusive deal with CBS, one of the first at the time to sign with the free-to-air network which came with a $1.5 million signing bonus.
Leonard managed to do alright for himself, putting the prize in prizefighter in becoming the first ever to amass $100 million in ring purses, not including his plethora of sponsorship deals. The Hall-of-Fame boxer won world titles in five weight classes and to this day remains high among the greatest in boxing history.
Davis Jr’s career never quite reached that mark in the pro ranks. He led a respectable career, going 36-6-1 (14KOs) through 19 years as a pro, though coming up short in three separate bids at becoming the first-ever boxer from Long Island to win a world title. His final attempt came versus the man who would actually achieve that feat, as James ‘Buddy’ McGirt outpointed Davis Jr. in his lone successful title defense in 1988.
Despite failing to capture a world title, Davis Jr. managed to remain relevant at the world class level through at least two generations. Among the more telling moments of his career was a 1986 crossroads bout with Meldrick Taylor, 12-0 at the time and two years removed from a Gold medal run during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Davis was 30 years old at the time and 32 fights into his nine-year pro career, but fought on even terms with the 19-year prodigy, who would go on to defeat McGirt two years later for the super lightweight crown.
He stuck around the pro ranks for another 10 years, though the strong showing versus Taylor proved to be his great in-ring moment. Following his retirement in 1996, Davis Jr. went on to become a trainer in boxing and mixed martial arts, as well as forming his own company Fight Time Promotions after moving to South Florida in 2003.
Even in his relocation, Davis Jr. is forever a New Yorker. The local government in Glen Cove named a street in his honor in 2009, with July 10 known in the Nassau County city as “Howard Davis Day.”
As significant an honor, it’s just a small part of the impact he left behind.
“We both shared incredible periods of our careers but most importantly about where we were and where we wanted to end up because it was all about making a difference in someone else's life,” Leonard fondly recalls.
“Howard my friend, you've impacted many people outside the ring. Love and miss you my friend.”
A service was held on Thursday in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Additional services will be held in his native New York, with specific dates and locations to come shortly in the New Year.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
