Damien Hooper (born 5 February 1992) is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. As an amateur he was selected to represent Australia at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

in the

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

division.

Early life

Hooper was raised by his grandmother, Lillian Weribone, in a Dalby

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Hooper began boxing at the age of eleven with older brother Troy Hooper. He was in trouble with the law and the local policeman there name
Chris Seng
had been a pro boxer. He ran the police citizens youth club and suggested that hooper take up boxing.

Amateur

In 2010, he became the first

to win a junior world title when he won the 75 kg category at the

Youth Olympics The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. In the same year, he won a silver medal at the Youth World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, and was selected in the Australian team for the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

. He was an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of th ...

boxing scholarship holder. The following year, Hooper stepped up a weight division and into open competition. He returned to Baku for the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships – Light heavyweight 2011

World Amateur Boxing Championships The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships (previously known as AIBA), are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport governing body. A ...

, where he made the quarter finals, being edged out by Julio César La Cruz 13:14 and earned direct qualification for the London Olympics. In the last of his 180 amateur fights,

2012 London Summer Olympics

At the 2012 London Summer Olympics, he beat

Marcus Browne Marcus Browne (born November 10, 1990) is an American professional boxer who fights at light heavyweight. As of December 2020, he was ranked the world's sixth best active light heavyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, eighth by ' ...

then he lost on points to 81 kg gold medallist Egor Mekhontsev of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

Professional boxing

Before he made his debut in 2013, Hooper signed with

Ricky Hatton Richard John Hatton (born 6 October 1978) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and has since worked as a boxing promoter and trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world championships at l ...

Hatton Promotions Hatton Promotions is a promotional company headed by former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton with Richard Poxon as Director of Boxing. Starting up On 4 February 2009, Hatton Promotions was officially launched at a press conference in which R ...

by 2014 he had 9-0 8KO. Then momentum in Hooper's promising professional career stalled, with the Olympians loss to Rob Powdrill in November 2014 then in 2015 he lost his professional deal with Ricky Hatton's promotional company, He is now with No Limit Boxing. He is currently ranked number 1 Australian light heavyweight and 9th on the WBO Light-Heavyweight rankings. Hooper vs.

Umar Salamov Umar Isaevich Salamov (; born 7 June 1994) is a Russian professional boxer who held the IBO light-heavyweight title in 2016. Professional career In May 2016, Salamov moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to start at a new training camp in Kevin Barry's ...

2017 Hooper (12-1, 8KO) took on unbeaten Russian

(19-0, 14KO) on the undercard to the Pacquiao v Horn blockbuster and got a unanimous decision 96–94 on all three judges score cards to win the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

International light heavyweight title and vacant IBF International light heavyweight title improving his record to 13-1 8KO. Hooper vs. Renold Quinlan In a wild bitter rivalry, he took on hard hitting fellow aussie super middleweight Renold Quinlan Hooper controlled the early action with his long jab and occasional right crosses but the balance of the fight changed in the 5th hooper was down twice but recovered and regained control in the eighth to earn a TKO win over Quinlan at 2min 19sec of the ninth round to move his record to (14-1, 9KO).

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Hooper's older brother Troy died in 2012 in a workplace accident, two months after he fought at the London Olympics. He traces his Indigenous family ancestry to the

Kamilaroi The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

people.

Controversy

On 30 July, in London at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Hooper stepped into the ring for his Olympic bout wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the Australian Aboriginal flag: the same flag now approved to fly on public buildings in Australia. The Australian Olympic Committee demanded he make a public apology. Wearing the shirt was said to have breached the Olympic Charter. "I'm representing my culture, not only my country", said Hooper. "I'm proud of what I did."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Damien 1992 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport boxers Australian male boxers Boxers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Gamilaraay Indigenous Australian boxers Indigenous Australian Olympians Light-heavyweight boxers Olympic boxers of Australia Sportspeople from Toowoomba Youth Olympic gold medalists for Australia