Former HBO Exec Davis Named Athletic Director At Howard University!

A former HBO programming executive who negotiated some of the biggest boxing bouts in the sport's history has been named the athletic director at Washington, DC's Howard University.

Kery Davis, 57, spent 14 years at HBO where he helped put together bouts featuring some of the biggest names in the boxing business, including Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, Evander Holyfield, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Roy Jones, Jr.

Davis, who played college basketball at Dartmouth College, leads a university athletic program for the very first time.  Davis told the New York Post that Howard offered a very unique opportunity.

"I probably don't do this job at any other place than Howard," Davis said.  "It was an opportunity to work at a school with a rich tradition and legacy people who are pioneers in the arts, in civil rights and in every other industry.  People I looked up to growing up.  So it struck a chord with me.  It's the right challenge at exactly the right time in my life."

Davis added that he wants to see Howard, who competes in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), become more competitive.

"We have to become more competitive across the board," Davis said.  "That's number one.  We also need to address how our student-athletes are performing on and off the field.  I also want to look at facilities.  I think a lot of things go hand-in-hand in attracting the kind of student-athletes we want to attract at this school."