By Terence Dooley

The problem with idols and models of goodness is that they tend to infuriate people so much the instinct is to smear or in some way denigrate them.  If one person comes out and says a person was as close to perfection as is possible another person will come out with a negative story of some kind.  Pure goodness is a model, something to shoot for and in boxing we are blessed with few such models of goodness and integrity. 

Well for me, a person who has followed boxing for many a year and through many a scandal, the model of integrity is Eddie Futch.  Here is a man who trained at the top-level for decades and who was being eulogised during his lifetime and is fondly remembered in death.

A fighter called Donovan Smillie once wearily he told me that boxing is a dirty business with the fighter being used by the promoter in much the way a pimp uses a prostitute.  It seemed a bleak view so to tamper it he also told me that the purest relationship in boxing is that between boxer and trainer, boxers can lose a promoter and function but the loss of a long-term trainer-boxer relationship can often be painful.  When it is done right the boxer-trainer bond can be analogous to the father-son relationship.  The feeling of pain and loss can be a two-way street also; I recently wrote an article on Riddick Bowe lamenting the loss of his peak years and was pleasantly surprised when I received a comment on my work from Eva Futch telling me that Riddick had broken her husband’s heart.

The relationship between Bowe and Eddie had always seemed fascinating, the nickname Bowe bestowed upon Eddie, ‘Papa Smurf’, to me speaks volumes as to the perception Eddie’s fighters had of the man himself.  ‘Papa Smurf’ invokes ideas of paternity and wisdom.  Eva graciously answered my questions about Bowe and agreed to share her thoughts about Eddie, as well as some of his recollections, with Boxingscene.

Like so many grand journeys the road to greatness taken by Eddie was a path carved out by an accident of fate.  Eddie was a gifted amateur and won the prestigious Golden Gloves tournament - as a lightweight in 1933.  A heart murmur prevented Eddie from taking his skills into the pro game; here Eva takes up the story: ‘Eddie didn't have regrets about having a heart murmur; he was devastated at first when the Fight Doctor broke the news to him. This is why he couldn't go "Pro". However, he fought as an amateur for four years and became a golden Gloves champion in 1933 (Light weight) which was a nice accomplishment given the big competition at the time. (At that time there was only two major sports in America; Baseball & boxing. There was a lot of pride in boxing which is why it was called "Prize fighting".)’

Eddie was a link, a bridgehead to glorious times and eras, most people know that Eddie trained some great fighters during some great eras but he also spent time in the gym with the likes of Joe Louis (Louis sparred with Eddie and proclaimed: “If I can hit you I know I’m sharp.”) and the highly rated Holman Williams.  Perhaps this fostered in Eddie a streak of steel which ensured that his fighters gave him maximum respect, he even threw a certain Walter Smith (you may know him as Ray Robinson) out of his gym when the young man was not treating it with respect, later in his life Eddie would walk away from fighters as big as Mike McCallum and Marlon Starling prompting them to ask him to return: ‘Eddie sparred with some great Fighters and he was respected. His nickname was Eddie "Papa" Futch due both to the fact he was married with children while still a teenager but also for his paternal quality. Once a Trainer he had respect to a certain degree but it took many years for people to truly appreciate his gift, I believe.’

Even over time, decades after he began his journey with that piece of medical misfortune, Eddie’s name resonates throughout the boxing community.  He has been gone for a short while yet he still shines so brightly and with so much warmth it is enough to make the man in the moon smile.  He once stated that “It has been my passion for the past six decades to help other young men make something of themselves.”  So what awakened this passion in Eddie: “He was motivated and driven to help young men make something out of themselves. This I know for sure and a lot of that stemmed from the suffering of living in a segregated society.” 

As Eddie said: ‘Boxing helped me create a life for myself out of the ghetto.’

I often wondered if Eddie had room in his life for other pursuits and whether the thrill of training had satisfied the urge to box: “Yes, he was satisfied training Fighters but he also got a lot of joy from Music and the arts, especially poetry. He knew most of the great black Jazz Musicians personally since they usually "roomed" or barnstormed together during the segregation.”  

It comes as no surprise that Eddie appreciated the jazz trendsetters of his time and when he began training in earnest boxing was in the midst of a great period, his first Champion came in 1959 when Don Jordan won the Welterweight crown by decisioning Virgil Atkins.  A steady succession of successful fighters followed and included such luminaries as Joe Frazier, Ken Norton (Eddie guided, and in Frazier’s case helped guide, both men to wins, the first wins in fact, over Muhammad Ali), Riddick Bowe, Virgil Hill, Bob Foster, Larry Holmes, Marlon Starling and Michael Spinks plus many more.  To have so many excellent fighters trained by one man is quite an achievement so what was Eddie’s proudest moment: ‘In terms of pride he felt that raising a great family was his greatest accomplishment.’

In the corner Eddie was a trainer's trainer, all who locked horns with him spoke glowingly of the experience, as a trainer Eddie was a strategist not a cheerleader and he came up with many fight winning strategies for his guys: “In terms of strategies [his favourite was] Frazier & Norton, he had such a vast career and all the stuff he went through with Don Jordan (his first Champion) in 1958 was much more interesting and complicated!  Mike McCallum, Michael Spinks & Larry Holmes all benefited from special strategies at critical times in their careers. Back to Frazier and Norton - with much respect to the late Yank Durham, Eddie didn't take a public profile about how much he meant to Joe's career. He started doing matchmaking for Joe in 1966 and after Joe got knocked down by Bonavena he devised Joe's bob 'n weave style to avoid getting hit (& also to make Ali throw the uppercut). While Joe was Eddie's favourite Fighter & person I think he took some pride in Norton's win over Ali  (he felt Norton won all three fights) because Norton was such an underdog. Eddie's words at the Press conference afterwards brought the house down: "Oh yea of little faith.” ‘

Many modern readers may recall the strategic plan Eddie implemented to deprive Roy Jones of his ‘0’ when Jones met the highly-rated Montell Griffin, Montell had beaten James Toney but he was facing the very best in Roy Jones - a P4P monster with skills to burn.  Griffin upset the Jones equilibrium to such an extent Jones hit out at Griffin when Montell was down.  Jones was coming slowly into the fight but had been befuddled by the dipping and rolling low-equilibrium strategy of Montell, a fight plan that worked wonders as attested by Jones transgression:

‘Roy Jones vs. Montell Griffin took place on the date of our wedding anniversary! (3-21-97). There was a lot of drama leading up to the fight.  Eddie felt that there was a fear factor in Roy Jones and told Montell to feint a lot (to throw Jones off guard). Also, to keep pressing forward and pin Jones up against the ropes. Well, you saw the result. It is too bad Montell's manger manoeuvred to get Eddie "out of the picture" for the second fight because Eddie had another strategy that I think would have worked beautifully!’

Some might say it is improbable that Eddie would have been able to get Montell the second win over Jones yet bear in mind, as previously stated, that Futch had twice brought defeat to Muhammad Ali’s door.  Certainly it seems fair to assume that with Futch in his corner Montell would not have walked into the Jones bombardment that saw Griffin lose the rematch in the first stanza. 

Continuing on the Eddie versus Ali theme I asked Eva the question that Eddie must have been asked every day for the rest of his life, how hard was it to stop that wonderful third Frazier versus Ali encounter in Manila: ‘[Eddie] was ringside SEVEN times when Boxer's died so to him boxing was life & death. He had anguished over the stoppage for some years and it strained his relationship with Frazier but toward the end of his life - there was no regret. Joe forgave Eddie eventually by the way.  Toward the end of that fight, Eddie told Joe that no one would forget what he had done that day.’ 

The fourteenth round stoppage really needs no justification, Frazier was swollen and blinded, he was done and putting himself at risk due to his sheer bravery; Eddie later confided that it was the thought of Joe not being able to be around his children that prompted him to stop the fight.  It was a very tough decision, Eddie did not have access to the scorecards, he did not know Ali had all but won the fight and the decision to end the fight must have been a real wrench.  Watching the footage again attests to the fact it was the correct call to make, Frazier slumped into his stool when the fight was called-off and only his sheer bravery would have kept him going.

Eddie refused to name a favourite fighter from his roster yet it is understandable that after that night in Manila Joe Frazier held a special place in Eddies heart: ‘Eddie didn't like to have a favourite Boxer, he felt it was unfair to all the other great Fighters but toward the end of his life he said: “Every Fight Trainer & Manager ought to have a Joe Frazier come along at least once in their career.” ‘

One fighter Eddie did have come along was the gentle giant Riddick Bowe.  I am not alone in thinking that Bowe could have become a great, perhaps the greatest, heavyweight.  Big, mobile, a fierce puncher and gifted up close Bowe was a fabulous specimen of a fighter.  After he beat Holyfield to take the linear title people sat back and predicted a big reign for ‘Big Daddy’ yet it never worked out that way, two semi-defences versus Michael Dokes and Jesse Ferguson lead Bowe to a return clash with a fired-up Evander Holyfield, the less-than fired-up Bowe lost contentiously and although we did not know it then his career had peaked prematurely. 

He subsequently showed us flashes of the old Bowe only to be destroyed in all but the results in two wars versus Andrew Golota. Golota twice threw away the win with low-blows but in the process Bowe was given a damaging trouncing: ‘To say that Eddie was "upset" about Riddick Bowe is calling it lightly; it broke his heart. Eddie felt that Rock Newman derailed Bowe's career by using Bowe for his own political purposes, by taking him out of the Gym on those long trips to see the Pope and Mandela. Bowe lost his fire and was never the same; it was a steady down hill slide. Eddie flew to DC in '94 to warn Newman about all of this but to no avail.’ 

A funny, and ironic, aside is that when Bowe did get to meet the great Nelson Mandela the first question the South African statesman asked of Bowe was: “Where is Eddie Futch?” 

Watching Bowe in the second Andrew Golota fight is one of the most moving sights in boxing, Riddick had boiled down to his prime weight but it left him on unsteady spaghetti legs, only his heart kept him going in the face of Golota's wild bombs and after the fight a slurring, barely coherent Bowe was interviewed, it must have broken Eddies heart anew.  He was truly the one who got away: ‘Eddie went through many hardships over the years with his Fighters and the people around them. He also had a lot of empathy for other Trainers and the things they went through. He would mention Kenny Adams (Great Trainer here in Las Vegas) and how he could relate to having gone through similar issues years before.’

Probably the greatest compliment given to Futch is the fact he sent out a veritable group of training disciples who continue his methods and approach, one of these is Freddie Roach: ‘Yes, I am proud & happy to see Freddie Roach carry on Eddie's principles. He is the one who really embodies Eddie's teachings. It is almost a bit spooky for me sometimes, seeing Freddie in the corner. He channels Eddie's spirit!’

So Eddie has a legacy in boxing via his trainers yet Eva was clear that he also had another legacy out of the ring: ‘The legacy of Eddie Futch is one of decency, hard work, passion & integrity. His life & legacy lives on in my heart and in the many others, whose life's he touched.’  Again it is easy to put the great men of the past on a pedestal but in Eddies case the glowing words spoken about him attest to his enduring legacy in boxing. 

‘Eddie was loved in the sport of Boxing and many people call him the greatest Trainer ever. This I think is offensive to all the other Trainers out there, past and present. However, when the Ring Magazine celebrated their 75th anniversary in 1997 they awarded Eddie a belt as "their Trainer". Some Writers called it "Trainer of the Century" I think this is very fitting when you think of his whole life and how it played out. As Angelo Dundee said at the time of Eddie's death: "he was a class of his own". How very fitting.’ 

At this point I has asked a question I could have answered myself, will there ever be another Eddie Futch: ‘No.  There will never be anyone like him again!’

Even when he retired Eddie found it hard to let go, he would often jokingly complain that his phone would ring off the hook when big fights approached, did he ever really retire from boxing: ‘Eddie "retired" 1-12-98 and carried on his love affair with Boxing. It wasn't really a retirement I guess.  So many people called him for advice, interviews and etc. We went to Fights and events and we didn't really feel life was that different.’

I had a question about Eddie the man, we knew about Bowe and his regrets over that but did he have any regrets outside of boxing: ‘He mourned the fact that he could not become a Doctor, which was his dream, due to the depression. He was really sad when he told me this and I replied that he healed many lives, helped so many people.’

The medical professions loss was our gain and no matter what criticisms people make about boxing it is a sport which has given us great men and great characters, high amongst them is Eddie Futch.

I smiled to myself this week and thought of Eddie when I heard that Floyd Mayweather senior had stated that for two million he would come up with a strategy for his current fighter, Oscar De La Hoya, to KO Mayweather's own son Lil’ Floyd.  Mayweather proclaimed: “I taught Floyd everything he knows but not everything I know.”  It was the statement Eddie Futch made to Marlon Starling when the gifted fighter gave Eddie trouble.  Floyd Mayweather Senior, currently seen as one of the games premium trainers, is finding out that he himself is walking in the large footprints left by Eddie ‘Papa’ Futch.

 

‘There are so many wonderful stories and memories that live on in my heart regarding Eddie. He is gone but not forgotten and I am so grateful that he graced my life with his love and passion.

Thank you for helping keeping his legacy alive.

Sincerely,

Eva "d'Eva" Futch’