EUGENE COOPER - INDUCTEE #61
hall of fame fast fact:
Eugene Cooper's name became Loyd "Tex" Cooper during his Air Force days.
Eugene Cooper
Lefors native, Eugene Cooper won the first of six Amarillo Regional Golden Gloves titles at age 14 as a 112-pounder. He won three state Golden Gloves championships. Cooper qualified for nationals three years and reached the final in one year.
Cooper was named the boxing coach at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls in 1951 while he still was competing. He won Air Force championships in 1952 and 1953 before putting away his gloves with a 231-9 overall record. He became the Air Force Academy’s head coach in 1968.
The Air Force team won the Amateur Athletic Union championship in 1970. In 1971, when he was athletic director at Hamilton Air Force Base, home of the AFA team near San Francisco, he was selected to coach the U.S. national team that faced the Russian national team before a television audience.
Cooper won many of his fights with a single punch to the body; he said a left-hander had an advantage.
