It is with Great sorrow that I have to inform you of the passing of my dear friend Howie Albert. Howie passed away Saturday morning, January 3, 2009, he would have been 87 on January 18th. Albert managed such Greats as Emile Griffith, Juan LaPorte and Jerry Quarry, among others. Howie was a Vice President of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame and a Board member of Ring 8. He was Inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame on November 9, 1990.

Howie has been failing for a while. I took him to the Ring 8 Christmas Party on December 21th and he just called me the day before he passed, wishing me a Happy New Year and asked when was our next meeting. He couldn’t make the stairs at the Ring 8 meetings anymore, so he stopped going several months ago BUT he did for the Christmas Party. He was really out of breath when he got to the top. The good thing was that his brother came in from Kentucky and he, Gil Clancy, Cedric Kushner, Jill Diamond and I all sat at the same table. At one time during the event, Gil, Emile Griffith and Howie all came together one last time. He had a Great time seeing all his boxing friends for the last time. VIEW FULL STORY…