Leonard Cook
Rusty Cook | |
|---|---|
| Born | Arthur Leonard Cook 20 April 1913 |
| Died | 10 October 1991 (aged 78) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Other names | Rusty |
Arthur Leonard "Rusty" Cook (20 April 1913 – 10 October 1991) was an Australian boxer.[2] Cook won Australia's first ever Empire/Commonwealth Games boxing gold medal in the 1934 British Empire Games in London, after defeating Welshman Frank Taylor in the final of the Lightweight division.[3] He competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin,[4][5][6][7] but was eliminated in the second round of the welterweight class after losing his fight to the Finnish fighter Sten Suvio, the eventual Gold Medallist.
In July 1938 Cook announced he was going professional. He had 3 professional fights in Queensland for 3 wins before taking on the seasoned N.S.W fighter Alan Westbury in Brisbane on 27 January 1939 for the vacant Australian Welterweight title. However Westbury knocked Cook out in the 3rd Round to win the title.[8] Cook had one further bout on 3 March 1939 against Bobby Arlene, recording a 12th Round KO victory. He had agreed to fight Ron McLachlan in May, but at the beginning of that month made the abrupt decision to retire from boxing at the age of 27 due to competing business interests.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "Rusty Cook Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
- ^ "Leonard Cook". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ "Les Cook, the Queenslander Won the Lightweight Boxing Title For Australia at the Empire Games". trove.nla.gov.au. 16 August 1934.
- ^ "RUSTY COOK AT HIS BEST". trove.nla.gov.au. 12 March 1936.
- ^ "Rusty" Cook To Turn Professional". 30 July 1938. p. 1 – via Trove.
- ^ "Australian Olympic Committee: Rusty Cook". corporate.olympics.com.au.
- ^ "BoxRec". boxrec.com.
- ^ "Alan Westbury V Rusty Cook". boxrec.com. 27 January 1939.
- ^ ""RUSTY" COOK RETIRES FROM BOXING". trove.nla.gov.au. 4 May 1939.
External links
[edit]- Leonard Cook at BoxRec (registration required)
- Leonard Cook at Olympedia
- 1913 births
- 1991 deaths
- Lightweight boxers
- Welterweight boxers
- Olympic boxers for Australia
- Boxers at the 1936 Summer Olympics
- Australian male boxers
- Boxers at the 1934 British Empire Games
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia
- Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing
- Medallists at the 1934 British Empire Games
- Sportsmen from New South Wales
- 20th-century Australian sportsmen