Eddie Futch
Born: August 11, 1911 in Hillsboro, MS, USA
Died: October 10, 2001 in Las Vegas, NV, USA (natural causes)
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Boxing Career
Eddie Futch boxed out of Detroit as an amateur, winning the Detroit Athletic Association Championship (1932) and the Detroit Golden Gloves (1933) as a lightweight. He was prevented from entering the professional ranks due to a heart murmur. He was a stablemate and sparring partner of highly-rated welterweight and middleweight Holman Williams and future World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis, before leaving the sport for over a decade.
Trainer of Champions
Futch re-emerged as a trainer of amateurs and professionals in the 1950s. He guided his first pupil, Don Jordan, to the World Welterweight Championship in 1958. Futch was the trainer for both Joe Frazier and Ken Norton and prepared both Frazier and Norton with a strategy that lead to Muhammad Ali's first two defeats. Ultimately, he trained 21 world champions before retiring in 1998. He proclaimed Joe Frazier as his favorite fighter.
Stable Trained:
- Paul Andrews - 1959
- Alexis Arguello
- Trevor Berbick
- Maurice Blocker
- Duane Bobick
- Riddick Bowe
- Marvin Camel
- Bruce Curry
- Lester Felton
- Patrick Ford
- Bob Foster
- Joe Frazier
- Antonio Gomez
- Montell Griffin
- Leroy Haley
- Virgil Hill
- Larry Holmes
- Eddie Jones
- Don Jordan
- Hedgemon Lewis
- Tony Licata
- Mike McCallum
- Wayne McCullough
- Willie Monroe
- Walter Moore
- Ken Norton
- Cubanito Perez
- Armando Ramos
- Freddie Roach
- James Shuler
- Michael Spinks
- Marlon Starling
- Johnny Tapia
- Roscoe Toles
Awards & Recognition
- From the Boxing Writers Association of America:
- Manager of the Year (1975)
- Long and Meritorious Service (1982)
- Trainer of the Year (1991, 1992)
- Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (1994)
- At the 75th anniversary of The Ring in 1997, Futch was named the best trainer of the past 75 years.
Sources
- Great Boxing Trainers - Ronald Fried
- In The Corner - Great Boxing Trainers Talk About Their Art - Dave Anderson
- Metro Detroit Boxing - Lindy Lindell Published 2001
- The Independent 13 October 2001
- The Ring July 1997
