Fate Davis training at the Akron Armory in the early 1960s
Fate Davis boxed professionally in the 1960s and early 1970s. During the day, Davis was a brick and block layer. He also worked at a carwash for extra money. But at night, he was training hard to become a world champion prize fighter. Davis was married to his wife, Georgia, for 46-years and raised 7 step-children. Even though his passion was boxing, he knew that a steady paycheck was more important. He believed that his day jobs kept him in shape for his time in the ring. One of Davis' last jobs was on a construction crew that built Akron's new baseball stadium, Canal Park. Davis enjoyed hard work. His boxing career lasted well into middle age. He won numerous Akron Golden Glove titles, and turned pro in 1962. He had ambition and talent for the sport. He had wanted to fight champion boxer, Emile Griffith, but was told that he would have to defeat "Hurricane" Carter first. Most thought that Davis had a good chance of staying a few rounds with Carter. But he was knocked out in the first round by Carter's legendary left hook. Davis and Carter remained friends and stayed in touch over the years and Carter came to Akron right after Davis was inducted into the Summit County Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000. Davis was scheduled to fight Griffith after the Carter bout but, because of poor pre-fight ticket sales, the match was scrubbed. Davis went on to fight 3-world champions: Jose Angel Napoles, Angel Espada and Curtis Cokes. He actually fought Cokes twice in the '70s at the Akron Armory. Fate Davis suffered a detached retina late in his career and his boxing opponents were getting increasingly more difficult to see. He refused eye surgery because he feared blindness. He didn't want to take the chance that he would ever be unable to support his family. Instead, he gave up boxing. Fate Davis died on Father's Day at the age of 67.
Mark Rowe and Fate Davis ~
