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Johnny Cooke

John "Johnny" Cooke (17 December 1934 – 29 June 2024) was an English amateur lightweight and professional light welter, welter, light middle and middleweight boxer.

Amateur career

Cooke was born in Bootle. He was runner-up for the 1958 Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) featherweight title, against Richard McTaggart (Royal Air Force),[1] boxing out of Maple Leaf ABC.

He represented England and won a bronze medal in the -60 Kg division at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales.[2][3] He only lost 16 of 368 recorded contests as an amateur.[4]

Professional career

Cooke made his professional debut on 28 June 1960, aged 25,[5] against Ken Pugh and fought in ninety-three fights until 1971. As a professional he won the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) Central Area lightweight title, beating his cousin, Dave Coventry,[6] for the BBBofC Central Area welterweight title, BBBofC British welterweight title, and Commonwealth welterweight title, and was a challenger for the European Boxing Union (EBU) welterweight title against Carmelo Bossi, his professional fighting weight varied from 133+3⁄4 lb (60.7 kg; 9 st 7.8 lb), i.e. light welterweight to 157+1⁄4 lb (71.3 kg; 11 st 3.3 lb), i.e. middleweight.[7] Cooke was managed by Johnny Campbell (c. 1905 – 2 May 1994), credited as "the man who put Birkenhead on the map".[8]

Death

Cooke died from pneumonia in Bootle on 29 June 2024, at the age of 89.[9]

References

  1. ^ "1958 71st ABAE National Championship". abae.co.uk. 31 December 2012. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  3. ^ "1958 Athletes". Team England.
  4. ^ "Johnny Cooke". Merseyside Former Boxers Association. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Profile". BoxRec.
  6. ^ Dave Coventry profile, boxrec.com. Accessed 22 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Statistics at boxrec.com". boxrec.com. 31 December 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  8. ^ "Johnny Campbell - The man who put Birkenhead on the map". boxingbiographies.com. 31 December 2013. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  9. ^ O'Neill, Connor (3 July 2024). "Merseyside boxing in mourning as legendary fighter Johnny Cooke dies aged 89". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 13 July 2024.