Curtis Cokes

Curtis Cokes (born June 15, 1937) is a former boxer from Dallas, Texas. Cokes was world welterweight champion, and he was famous for his training regimen, which he also imposed on other boxers training with him.

Pre-championship career

On March 24, 1958, he began to box professionally, defeating another boxer who would later fight for the world title, Manuel Gonzalez, by a six round decision. He won eleven fights in a row, including a second match with Gonzalez, before losing to Gonzalez in their third fight, on April 27, 1959. His next fight, against Garland Randall on June 18 of the same year, ended in a three round no contest. He and Randall had an immediate rematch and on August 27, he knocked out Randall in the first round. He had an additional fourteen fights, going 11-2-1 in that span (his one draw was against Kenny Lane, a boxer who twice challenged Carlos Ortiz for world championships), before facing Luis Rodriguez, another world welterweight champion, on September 3, 1961. He beat Rodriguez by a ten round decision, outpointed Gonzalez in their fourth fight, and lost to Rodriguez in their second fight, also by points. He went 13-4 in his next seventeen fights, and, after losing by a ten round decision to Eddie Pace at Los Angeles, California, on August 27, 1964, he announced his retirement. On October 14 of that year, however, he announced he was returning to boxing.

Championship

After winning three fights in a row, he and Gonzalez were matched for a fifth...
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