15 Facts About Lou Nova

Lou Nova called the Cosmic Puncher was an American boxer and actor.

Lou Nova was the first top rated boxer to practice yoga, and reportedly did headstands in the dressing room before his title bout with Joe Louis.

In 1938, Lou Nova gained an upset win over Britain's Tommy Farr in a 15-round decision.

Lou Nova had Farr near a knockout in the 14th round when Referee Eddie Josephs started counting as he lay in the ropes.

Lou Nova went on to defeat Max Baer in the first televised heavyweight prizefight June 1,1939, on WNBT-TV in New York.

Lou Nova beat Baer again in 1941, although Lou Nova was knocked down for a brief one count in the 4th from a Baer right hand.

Lou Nova was injured badly in a fight with Tony Galento and was treated at a hospital, almost losing an eye.

The end was somewhat controversial because the fight was stopped with just one second left in the round when Lou Nova arose unsteadily from the knockdown.

Lou Nova went on to box four more years, losing bouts to Lee Savold, Tami Mauriello, Lee Oma, and Joe Baksi.

Lou Nova appeared in two stage roles, Big Jule in Guys and Dolls, which ran for 16 performances, and O'Malley in the Broadway play The Happiest Millionaire starring Walter Pidgeon, which ran for 271 performances, in which Nova performed the popular baseball poem Casey at the Bat.

Lou Nova was a practitioner of yoga and was trained by Pierre Bernard.

In 1939, Lou Nova trained for his fight with Max Baer at Bernard's estate in Nyack, New York.

Lou Nova claimed to have developed a "cosmic punch", based from his yoga training.

Lou Nova was inducted into World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991, and into the Sacramento City College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

Lou Nova died from cancer at age 78 in Sacramento, California.