Cooney’s Greatest Hope To Help End Child Abuse

Gerry Cooney believes his most humiliating losses weren’t at the hands of Larry Holmes or George Foreman. What hurt worse were his father’s beatings.

The former heavyweight contender was in Denver on Thursday, warning an audience of middle-schoolers how child abuse can lead to alcoholism, drugs and violence.

Stay sober, he urged them. Learn about your feelings and get whatever help you need.

The 6-foot-7, 230-pound Cooney spoke at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church at the behest of Arapahoe House, a chain of substance-abuse treatment centers.

Cooney told how emotional scars from child abuse “made me go from world-class athlete to a bum,” and how understanding his emotions has helped his recovery.

Die-hard fight fans will remember Cooney’s meteoric rise to No. 1 contender after his first-round knockouts of Denver’s Ron Lyle and Ken Norton (in 54 seconds).

Cooney stumbled en route to the crown.

After heavyweight champ Larry Holmes stopped him in 13 rounds in 1982, Cooney didn’t fight for years. Failed comeback attempts against Michael Spinks (1987) and George Foreman (1990) made him a target of taunts.

Today, many fans have forgotten Cooney’s left hook.

It could have been so much better if they had, he believes.

“I took cocaine for the first time after my fight with Norton, and looking back, that was the end of my career,” he told a roomful of 75 kids, many from troubled homes.

“You name it, I did it. Drinking, marijuana, coke, Valium, Percodan… . But I’ve been straight for seven years now.

“It turns out George Foreman helped me turn a page in my life,” continued Cooney, who earned an estimated $15 million in the ring, before taxes. “I got knocked down, dusted myself off and realized I wasn’t supposed to fight anymore.”

After his retirement, Cooney understood the consequences of his father’s behavior.

“At night, when he would come home, I never knew how it would be. Would he hit me? Would he yell at me? He taught me that I was no good, a failure, that I shouldn’t trust anyone, that I shouldn’t talk to anybody about my problems,” Cooney said.

Fighting, he said, was a way for me to express the anger he felt.

“Believe me, if you’re having these troubles at home, get some help!”

Cooney has seen a therapist, “a nice old lady that helped me a lot.” He views his work with abused kids as mutually beneficial.

Cooney, 39, is married and lives in East Hampton, Long Island. He owns a couple of minor-league baseball teams, and says he is financially secure.