A Springfield boxing legend remembered
On a warm October day at the Harriet Tubman Susan B. Anthony Center on Springfield’s east side, 30 to 40 young men and boys dressed in gym clothes amble into a narrow room that seems to double as storage space. Though they range in age from about 10 to 30 years old, they laugh and joke among themselves as if they are family. An older man with salt-and-pepper hair stands near the front, observing quietly as the room fills with energetic youth. He seems soft-spoken and gentle, but as he utters a sudden, forceful command to line up, the whole group snaps to attention. He only has to say it once.
It’s a training session of the Springfield Housing Authority’s Cobras boxing team, and the respect and reverence displayed by the group for their leader rivals that of an elite military unit. The head of that club is Luther Howell, who at the time was fighting cancer in his final months of turning Springfield street kids into disciplined athletes. Howell died Feb. 13 at the age of 75, leaving behind a legacy of more than 50 years of teaching and mentoring.
“He was a father figure, both to us and to everyone else,” says Howell’s daughter, Linda Harman. “Even as a single father, he was always there. He worked two or three jobs to keep us all together, and he still made time for everyone.”
John Luther Howell Sr. was born Aug. 15, 1934, in Brownsville, Tenn. He was one of nine children, growing up exploring the woods near the family’s home. Younger brother Arthur Howell remembers hunting rabbits with Luther, laughing as he recalls the time they scared up a rabbit that chased Luther away.
“He didn’t know what it was, but he sure ran,” Arthur jokes. “We just couldn’t stop laughing.”
He remembers his older brother as a gentle, patient role model who was always fun to be around.
“We would disagree about things, you know, but we would never fight. Our parents would never let us fight,” he says. “I really looked up to him.”
Luther Howell joined the U.S. Air Force after high school, working as a teletype repairman while stationed in Korea and Japan. It was there that he developed an interest in boxing, earning the Far East Lightweight boxing title and the nickname “Hookin’ Howell.” When he returned to civilian life, Howell was asked
