John 'Johnny' Cooke (born 17 December 1934 in
Bootle
Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449.
Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's ...
) is a former
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
amateur lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight ...
and
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...
light welter/
welter/
light middle/
middleweight boxer.
Amateur career
He was runner-up for the 1958 Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) featherweight title, against
Richard McTaggart
Richard McTaggart, MBE (born 15 October 1935) is a Scottish retired amateur boxer. He competed in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics in the lightweight division and won a gold and a bronze medal, respectively. In 1956 he received the Val Barker Troph ...
(
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
),
boxing out of Maple Leaf ABC.
He represented
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and won a
bronze medal in the -60 Kg division at the
1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, Wales. He only lost 16 of 368 recorded contests as an amateur.
Professional career
He made his professional debut on 28 June 1960 and fought in 6 fights until 1963.
As a professional he won the
British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) Central Area lightweight title, beating his cousin
Dave Coventry
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 , i.e.
light welterweight to , i.e.
middleweight.
Johnny Cooke was managed by
Johnny Campbell (circa-1905 — 2 May 1994).
References
External links
*
Image - Johnny Cooke
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Johnny
1934 births
English male boxers
Middleweight boxers
Lightweight boxers
Light-middleweight boxers
Light-welterweight boxers
Living people
Sportspeople from Bootle
Boxers from Liverpool
Welterweight boxers
Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England
Boxers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games