Sports legends of the Ville: The Trainer [Sports] | Louisville.com

In 1994 Bud Bruner had established himself as a local boxing legend working with area greats like Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis. Indeed ?94 would prove to be the veteran sportsman?s final year in the fight game, a game that had started years ago back when a young Bruner was an up and coming athlete at his alma mater, Manual High School.

A natural athlete while in high school Bruno was a stand-out in baseball, basketball, football and track.
It wasn?t until Bruner left the halls of his high school though, that his career with boxing truly began. It was the 1930?s and the young Bruner had landed employment with the City of Louisville Recreation Department, Bruner was put in charge of playground tournaments and a seeming perfect match was made.

In fact his work in Louisville led him to a position at Fort Knox at the end of the decade as their athletic director. It was here that Bruner really became immersed in the sport and culture of boxing. Managing and supervising gyms and boxing events and most notably working to establish Golden Glove teams for tournament competition is where Bruner really began to cut his teeth in the boxing world.

In 1952 Bruner had developed a reputation as a skillful and intelligent manager, and as such after coming back to Louisville became a trainer; working with fourteen state golden glove champions.

In fact, ?52 would prove to be a banner year for Bruner and the sport of boxing in the region as a whole, as Bruner opened the doors on the famed Headline Boxing Gym.

Through Headline Bruner worked with Jimmy Ellis, Rudell Stitch, and a young man named Clay who was just starting in his career just to name a few.

Despite a spinal injury in 1985 Bruner continued shaping young area boxers out of a wheelchair until his eventual retirement in the summer of 1994.

Sadly, two years later Louisville lost a real sports legend when Bruner past away in February of 1996.
His legacy still lives on in the city?s sports traditions today though; just in 2005 he was posthumously inducted into Manual high school?s Alumni Association Hall of Fame.

Outside Sources

Bud Bruner

Image courtesy?of?OOT P Developments

Source: http://www.louisville.com/content/sports-legends-ville-trainer-sports

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