Born into a blue collar Irish-Catholic family on Long Island, Cooney was encouraged to become a professional fighter by his father.

[citation needed] His brother Tommy Cooney was also a boxer, and reached the finals of the New York Golden Gloves Sub-Novice Heavyweight division.

[5] Fighting as an amateur, Gerry Cooney won international tournaments in England, Wales, and Scotland, as well as the New York Golden Gloves titles.

[citation needed] Cooney trained at the Huntington Athletic Club in Long Island, New York, where his trainer was John Capobianco.

[6] Known for his big left-hook and his imposing size, the tall, lean Cooney had his first paid fight on February 15, 1977, beating Billy Jackson by a knockout in one round.

He moved up a weight class and fought future world cruiserweight champion S. T. Gordon in Las Vegas, winning by a fourth round disqualification.

[citation needed] In 1981, he defeated former world heavyweight champion Ken Norton by a knockout just 54 seconds into the first round with a blisteringly powerful attack.

[8] This tied the record set in 1948 by Lee Savold for the quickest knockout in a main event in Madison Square Garden.

Since his management team was unwilling to risk losing a big future pay day with Holmes by having him face another viable fighter, Cooney did not fight for 13 months after defeating Norton.

However, if Cooney won, he would have become the first Caucasian world heavyweight champion since Swede Ingemar Johansson defeated Floyd Patterson 23 years earlier.

The bout, held June 11, 1982 drew attention worldwide, and Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney was one of the biggest closed-circuit/pay-per-view productions in history, broadcast to over 150 countries.

"[12] After a long layoff, Cooney fought in September, 1984, beating Phillip Brown by a 4th-round knockout in Anchorage, Alaska.

Cooney appeared past his prime and Spinks, boxing carefully with constant sharp counters, knocked him out in round 5.

[15] The losses to Holmes, Spinks, and Foreman exposed Cooney's Achilles' heel: his inability to clinch and tie up his opponent when hurt.

According to George Foreman, Gerry Cooney was one of the three hardest punchers he had faced in his career along with Ron Lyle and Cleveland Williams.

[18] Cooney founded the Fighters' Initiative for Support and Training, an organization which helps retired boxers find jobs.