Manager, cornerman built Main Events into powerhouse
ro Gatti and Vinny Pazienza. His first champ was middleweight Joey Giardello in 1963.
The son of Italian immigrants, Duva and his family built the promotional company Main Events, which was founded in 1978, into one of boxing’s powerhouses. Duva’s son Dan promoted the boxing cards, while the older Duva took care of the fighters by training and managing them. Dan Duva, who joined his father in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, died in 1996. Dan’s widow, Kathy, runs Main Events.
Lou Duva was voted “Manager of the Year” in 1985 by the Boxing Writers Association of America. In 1987, the World Boxing Association chose Duva as “Trainer of the Year.”
Duva’s passion to protect his fighters sometimes got the best of him. Duva had an infamous Las Vegas moment when he went after Roger Mayweather following Mayweather’s unanimous decision over Pazienza at the outdoor arena of Caesars Palace in 1988. Duva hit the canvas and sustained a cut on his left cheek from a Mayweather punch.
His loyal, aggressive attitude made him one of the most lovable boxing figures of all time.
“I love what I’m doing. It’s my life. When it’s time to go, I’ll probably be fighting to get out of the casket. I’ll be yelling at the priest instead of a referee,” Duva said in his 2016 biography “A Fighting Life: My Seven Decades in Boxing.” The book was written by Tim Smith, a Las Vegas resident.
“Lou was a walking encyclopedia,” Smith said. “I met him in 1984, when he was training Evander Holyfield for the Olympics. From that first meeting, we became friends and I learned a lot from him. This is a guy who watched Joe Louis spar and knew Rocky Marciano. Lou was a treasure to everyone in boxing.” The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-3830492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.