| Johnny Cooke | |
| Real Name: | John Cooke |
| Nickname: | Cookie |
| Weight: | Lightweight Light welterweight Welterweight Light middleweight Middleweight |
| Nationality: | English |
| Birth Date: | 17 December 1934 |
| Birth Place: | Bootle, England |
| Death Place: | Bootle, England |
| Total: | 93 |
| Wins: | 52 (KO 5) |
| Losses: | 34 (KO 8) |
| Draws: | 7 |
John "Johnny" Cooke (17 December 1934 – 29 June 2024) was an English amateur lightweight and professional light welter, welter, light middle and middleweight boxer.
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]
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 NaNNaN, i.e. light welterweight to NaNNaN, 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]
Cooke died from pneumonia in Bootle on 29 June 2024, at the age of 89.[9]
