Newz Forum: BOXING: Cooney's Compassion: Helping Former Boxers

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The Palm Beach Post - February 17, 2004

The tall man with the squashed nose, crease between his eyes and a toothy, white smile graciously greets a man who has just walked into the Palm Beach Yacht Club's restaurant: "Can I help you be seated?"

The small crowd around the tall man laughs, as he flashes a big unlit cigar and a bright grin that never seems to leave his face.

With alcohol and drugs long out of his life, former heavyweight fighter Gerry Cooney has reason to be cheerful. He is in Florida to help promote a benefit for Fern House, an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center in West Palm Beach - one of the 40 to 45 charities he will visit this year. The man once labeled the "Great White Hope" by promoter Don King now dedicates himself to showing former fighters that there is reason to hope.