Howard Davis, Jr., American boxer, Died at 59

Howard Edward Davis, Jr. was born on February 14, 1956, and died on December 30, 2015.

He was an American amateur and professional boxer.

Howard grew up on Long Island as the eldest of 10 children, Davis first learned boxing from his father.

He was trained by his father as an amateur boxer, in which he was very successful.

At a young age he was influenced by a movie casting Muhammad Ali, Howard embarked on his amateur career.

Howard has won the Olympic gold medal, in 1976, a one week after his mother died.

Davis, Jr was also awarded the Val Barker Trophy at the Olympics, he fought against such boxers Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks and Leon Spinks.

Davis, Jr turned professional after the Olympics and went on to compile a professional record of 36–6–1 with 14 knockouts.

The fighter retired in 1996.

When Davis, Jr retired, he became a trainer.

However he gained the position of boxing director at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, where he trained both amateur and professional boxers and MMA fighters.

He has defeated Roberto Andino (Puerto Rico) on points, Rumen Peshev (Bulgaria) on points and also defeated Eddie Ndukwu (Nigeria) on points.

He loved motivational speaking and was somewhat a musician.

He has won the Olympic gold medal in the lightweight division in 1976, in Montreal, Canada.

He also received the Outstanding Boxer of the 1976 Olympics and was given the Val Barker Trophy. His Olympic teammates included Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks and Leon Spinks.

He made his Olympic debut in 1976.

Howard Davis, Jr. passed away at 59 yrs old.