Gerry Cooney is the former “Great White Hope” heavy-weight boxing contender, who came ever so close to winning the belt when he lost a classic elimination bought to Larry holmes. He was a two-time winner of the NY Golden Gloves Title. Once turning pro, Gerry had notable victories over such highly regarded heavyweights as the elusive Jimmy Young, hard-hitting brawler Ron Lyle and Ken Norton, one of the only fighters to defeat Muhamed Ali. He retired with a professional record of 28 wins and 3 losses with 24 of his victories coming by way of knockout.
However, as the founder of “Fighter’s Initiative for Support and Training“, an organization that helps retired boxers find jobs, and “J.A.B.” the first union for boxers, Gerry is even more distinguished by what he’s done since retirement from the ring. Gerry is currently the co-host of “Friday Night at the Fights” on Sirus XM Radio and has been inducted into the Walt Whitman High School Hall of Fame. He is a great guy who has leant his celebrity and terrific personality to many HFC events including our recent NYC poker tournament.
As you can see from the photo when we recently got together, Gerry was wisely concerned about miixing it up with me! 🙂