Nickname: The Kid
Birth place: Galway
Professional record: 11-1-0
Died: February 8 (age 28)
Cause: brain injury
Stance: southpaw
Former world champion Barry McGuigan has described John Cooney, the Irish boxer who died after a title fight in Belfast, as “a lovely sweet kid” whose life was “snapped away.”
Cooney, 28, lost his Celtic super-featherweight title to Welshman Nathan Howells on February 1.
The fight was stopped in the ninth round after Cooney suffered an intracranial haemorrhage. He had surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital to relieve pressure on his brain.
He, however, lost the battle for his life on Saturday, a week after the fight.
“It’s terrifying that this could happen to a 28-year-old kid who was looking in the prime of his life,” McGuigan told BBC Ulster.
“He was just a lovely, sweet kid. Ambitious, determined and driven. To have his life snapped away like that is just tragic.”
Nicknamed ‘the Kid,’ Cooney won the Celtic title with a first-round win over Liam Gaynor in November 2023 at 3Arena in Dublin. An injury delayed his title defense. Sadly, he lost his coveted belt and life.
“It is with complete devastation that we have to announce that after a week of battling for his life John Cooney has sadly passed away,” MHD Promotions said on behalf of the Cooney family.
“He was a much-loved son, brother and partner and it will take us all a lifetime to forget how special he was. RIP John ‘The Kid’ Cooney.”
Fellow Galway boxer Kieran Molloy described Cooney as “a fantastic boxer, a young man just chasing his dreams”.
“He was on the verge of some very big fights. He has a huge future ahead of him and he was a very proud Galway man,” Molloy told RTÉ.
The Galway Amateur Boxing Association described Cooney’s death as “the worst possible news”.
“There are no words to convey the magnitude of this tragedy or that can lessen the grief of his family,” they said in a statement.
In October 2019, American professional boxer Patrick Day, 27, died from brain trauma after being knocked out by Charles Conwell.
Medical experts have called for more safety in sports like boxing and rugby in which players suffer head injuries, subconcussive and concussive blows.