David Bey was a journeyman fighter. That meant that he trained when he could, and didn't quit his day job. As they all do, Bey hoped for the championship, which would lead to fame AND fortune.
And being able to quit the day job.
How did Bey spend each day? He worked as a pile driver for 37 of his 60 years.
A construction worker by day, Bey was a destruction worker by night, but he didn't exactly have pile driver fists. His first dozen fights, yes, were KO or TKO victories, but then he began facing opponents with good records. Bey had knocked out the 3-10-2 Larry Simms, and Larry Bellfus with a 13-14 record. But when he was up against someone who could take a punch, like Greg Page, Bey managed to get a decision. That set up his title shot against Larry Holmes.
At the time, Holmes was boring people with his long jab, dull lisp and bland personality.
The Holmes fight, like so many a Holmes fight, was, to use a Cosell word, "doleful." It ended in a TKO loss. It wasn't a big money fight. It probably was just filler for ABC on a Saturday afternoon. Few of Bey's fights were major attractions that TV audiences cared about. His next fight was another TKO loss, this time to Trevor Berbick. With his ordinary skills, lack of a KO punch, worried face and balding dome, he didn't excite crowds. If he broke even on the training, the manager's cut, the cut man's cut, and the promoter's cut, he was lucky.
To give him credit, the journeyman, despite having to hold down a job, gamely fought against top veterans and up and coming stars. His biggest win was very early in his career against James "Buster" Douglas. Douglas was young too, and would eventually pick up enough skills to out-box Mike Tyson. Otherwise, Bey had no notable wins. But he was a pretty good opponent. He didn't get flattened too often. He went the distance, or near the distance, with solid punchers such as Joe Hipp, Tyrell Biggs, Bruce Selden and Bonecrusher Smith. He also lost to the uninteresting but ageless Joe Bugner. He scored a draw against lanky and lackluster (23-18) David Jaco, which would've told anyone "It's time to quit," but with dogged determination, Bey fought another year or two, got a rematch with Jaco, who was now 24-24. Bey won. It was his last fight, September 17, 1994.
Flash forward to September 13 2017.
Bey, age 60, was still working his construction job in New Jersey when a hunk of sheet metal knocked him out — permanently. Bey, sad to say, was not so well-remembered that his passing was instant news. Even the fight websites didn't really get around to mentioning it till a few days ago. That he wasn't the "raging bull" that Jake LaMotta was (Jake died a few days ago and got mammoth obits) doesn't mean much outside the ring. Outside the ring, he was a good family man. He was remembered by his union pals as a mild-mannered religious guy who did his job as best he could. Which he did, both in the ring, and on the job that was supposedly less dangerous than boxing.
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