Lou Nova (March 16, 1913 – September 29, 1991) also called the Cosmic Puncher was an American boxer and actor.

He was the first top rated boxer to practice yoga, and reportedly did headstands in the dressing room before his title bout with Joe Louis.

Nova had Farr near a knockout in the 14th round when Referee Eddie Josephs started counting as he lay in the ropes.

His motion picture debut was as Kid Mandell in MGM's Swing Fever (1943) starring Kay Kyser and Marilyn Maxwell.

Other movie roles include that as Hubert in the 20th Century Fox film noir crime drama Somewhere in the Night (1946) starring John Hodiak, and a cameo in Joe Palooka, Champ the same year.

Nova's guest spots on TV include Space Patrol, Hopalong Cassidy, ‘’Groucho Marx You Bet Your Life’’, General Electric Theater, 77 Sunset Strip, Shotgun Slade and Get Smart.

[4][5] Biographer Richard Bak has noted that "Nova was a student of Far Eastern metaphysics, including yoga, the Hindu theistic philosophy that teaches the suppression of all activity of mind, body, and will in order to liberate the spiritual self.