I grew up in a big Irish, Catholic family. My dad was a pretty rough guy. So one of my brothers left home when he was 15 and found his way to the gym. It gave me the opportunity to go and spend some time with him and work out in the gym.

Present life
Cooney founded the Fighters' Initiative for Support and Training an organization which helps retired boxers find jobs. Foreman Holmes and Lyle all stated that Cooney's left was the hardest they had ever taken. With a purse of ten million dollars for the challenger it was the richest fight in boxing history to that time.

Gerry Cooney (born August 4 1956) is a retired Irish-American professional boxer from Huntington New York best known for his loss to Larry Holmes and defeat of ex-champion/contender Ken Norton.