David Downey
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
Nickname | Dave |
| Nationality | Canada Canadian |
| Born | February 18, 1942 |
| Occupation | Boxer |
| Weight | Middleweight |
| Boxing career | |
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David Downey (born February 18, 1942) is a former two-time Canadian middleweight champion and a member of the Boxing Downeys dynasty. He was the son of George Downey and is the father of Olympian Ray Downey.[1][2] He is in the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame and the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame.[3]
Early life
[edit | edit source]Dave Downey, the youngest of nine brothers, was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he also attended Joseph Howe School.[4] Growing up, he excelled at many sports including baseball, basketball, swimming, and track and field.
Professional boxing career
[edit | edit source]He began sparring at the age of fifteen after being observed on the street by Murray Langford, nephew of Sam Langford.[5] Downey had no amateur boxing background.[6] At fifteen years old, Downey's first pro-fight occurred in 1957 at the Halifax Forum.[7]
In 1967, Downey won the vacant Canadian middleweight boxing title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Jimmy Meilleur in front of over 1600 hometown fans.[8] He remained champion until facing Gary Broughton in August 1970 before regaining the title months later in a December rematch against Broughton.[9] He retained his middleweight championship for nine more fights before losing to Lawrence Hafey in 1975.[10]
Downey retired from boxing in 1977.
Professional boxing record
[edit | edit source]| 31 fights | 24 wins | 4 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 16 | 3 |
| By decision | 8 | 1 |
| Draws | 2 | |
| No contests | 1 | |
Honors and awards
[edit | edit source]- 1967 Canadian Middleweight Boxing Champion[11]
- 1970 Two-Time Canadian Middleweight Boxing Champion[12]
- 1976 Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame inductee[13]
- 1999 Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame inductee[14]
- 2006 Maritime Black Sports and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee
- 2018 Maritime Sport and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Robert Ashe. Halifax Champion: Black Power in Gloves. [Life of Dave Downey] Formac. 2005
External links
[edit | edit source]- Boxing record for David Downey from BoxRec (registration required) Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Video - Downey Inducted into NS Sport Hall of Fame (1999)
- Image of Downey, 1972
