Sports / Military
Eddie Crook Jr.
1929–2005 · boxer, army officer
Detroit-born army boxer who won Olympic gold in the middleweight division at the 1960 Rome Games, as a teammate of Muhammad Ali.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Montgomery, Alabama
aged 76- Birth name
- Edward Crook Jr.
- Also known as
- Eddie Crook
- Detroit years
- 1929–1940s
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Eddie Crook Jr. was born in Detroit and boxed out of the city before making the U.S. Army his career. As a soldier-athlete he became one of the best amateur middleweights in the country, and at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome he won the gold medal in the 165-pound class. His teammates on that famous U.S. boxing squad included a young Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali, who won the light heavyweight title in the same Games. Unlike most of his Olympic teammates, Crook did not turn professional; he stayed in the Army and served a full career, and he was also a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He died in 2005 and was buried with his wife at the Fort Benning Main Post Cemetery in Georgia. He belongs to the long line of Detroit boxers, from Joe Louis to the Kronk fighters, who reached the top of the sport.
Highlights
- Olympic gold medal, middleweight (165 pounds), Rome 1960
- Teammate of Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) on the 1960 U.S. team
- Career U.S. Army soldier-athlete
- Boxed out of Detroit