Notebook: Trainer Tommy Brooks, who worked with who's who, dies
Trained Holyfield, Tyson, many others; New deal, title eliminator for Bahdi; Paro moving up to 147; Rodriguez stripped of interim belt over failed test; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Tommy Brooks, who trained some of boxing’s biggest names, including Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson, died on Tuesday from cancer. He was 71.
“Got more bad news a little while ago,” Hall of Fame promoter Lou DiBella, who knew Brooks for decades, posted on social media. “It was just confirmed by his family that esteemed boxing trainer Tommy Brooks died tonight, after having fought a very aggressive cancer. Too young.
“Great boxing man and even better person, he was just a solid dude. Shared many memorable nights with Tommy and his wife, Donna Duva (Brooks), during the glory days of Main Events. My love and prayers to Donna and all their fam.”
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas in June 1954, Brooks was the oldest of 11 children. He grew up in San Diego, moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, served in the U.S. Air Force, and lived for many years in Wayne, New Jersey, where he married into one of boxing’s most famous families, the Duvas.
His wife, Donna, is the daughter of the late Hall of Fame trainer and manager Lou Duva; his brother-in-law was the late Hall of Fame promoter Dan Duva, the founder of one-time promotional powerhouse Main Events; and his sister-in-law, Hall of Fame promoter Kathy Duva, Dan’s widow, now runs Main Events.
During Brooks’ amateur boxing career, he twice beat Hall of Famer Michael Spinks in 1975, by three-round decision in the national AAU 165-pound championship bout and three months later by third-round disqualification in the Pan American Games Trials. Spinks would go on to win a 1976 Olympic gold medal and become the light heavyweight and heavyweight champion as a pro.
During a brief pro career, from 1977 to 1979, Brooks went 7-3, notching all of his wins by knockout. But in 1982 he turned to training and found his calling. He learned from Hall of Fame icons.
“I always say in boxing, ‘I got my AA and BA degrees from Archie Moore, my MA from George Benton and my PhD from Eddie Futch and Lou Duva taught me to stand up for your guy,” Brooks once said.
Besides Holyfield and Tyson, he also worked with Hall of Famers Pernell Whitaker, Mike McCallum, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, and Vinny Pazienza. He also trained Freddie Pendleton and Charles Murray to titles and worked with Larry Donald, Hasim Rahman, Yuri Foreman, Samuel Peter, Monte Barrett, Junior Jones and Shaun George, who would marry Brooks’ daughter Cassandra and now works as a trainer.
Brooks was in Holyfield’s corner as one of his trainers (along with Don Turner) for both of his tremendous upset victories over Tyson in WBA heavyweight championship fights. After Tyson returned from a suspension for biting off a chunk of Holyfield’s ear and being disqualified in their 1997 rematch, Brooks was hired by Tyson and trained him for his next six fights.
Brooks, who was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003, later worked as a trainer for the Chinese national amateur team, where he worked with heavyweight Zhilei Zhang, who would emerge as a top contender and win the WBO interim title.
Brooks is survived by wife Donna, sons Brian, Marlon and Jonathan, and daughter Cassandra.