Leonard Cook

{{short description|Australian boxer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}}

{{Infobox boxer

| name = Rusty Cook

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| realname = Arthur Leonard Cook

| nickname = Rusty

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| nationality = Australian

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| birth_date = 20 April 1913

| birth_place = New South Wales, Australia{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/rusty-cook-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418002203/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/rusty-cook-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-04-18|title=Rusty Cook Bio, Stats, and Results|website=Olympics at Sports-Reference.com}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1991|10|10|1913|4|20|df=yes}}

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Arthur Leonard "Rusty" Cook (20 April 1913 – 10 October 1991) was an Australian boxer.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/5038 |title=Leonard Cook |work=Olympedia |access-date=20 March 2022}} Cook won Australia's first ever Empire/Commonwealth Games boxing gold medal in the 1934 British Empire Games in London, after defeating Welshman Frank Taylor in the final of the Lightweight division.{{cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/70562258|title=Les Cook, the Queenslander Won the Lightweight Boxing Title For Australia at the Empire Games|date=16 August 1934|website= trove.nla.gov.au}} He competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin,{{cite web |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23382068 |title=RUSTY COOK AT HIS BEST|date=12 March 1936 |website= trove.nla.gov.au}}{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article40981159|title=Rusty" Cook To Turn Professional|date=30 July 1938|pages=1|via=Trove}}{{cite web|url=http://corporate.olympics.com.au/athlete/rusty-cook-10467|title=Australian Olympic Committee: Rusty Cook|website=corporate.olympics.com.au}}{{cite web|url=http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/329790|title=BoxRec|website=boxrec.com}} but was eliminated in the second round of the welterweight class after losing his fight to the Finnish fighter Sten Suvio, the eventual Gold Medallist.

In July 1938 Cook announced he was going professional. He had 3 professional fights in Queensland for 3 wins before taking on the seasoned N.S.W fighter Alan Westbury in Brisbane on 27 January 1939 for the vacant Australian Welterweight title. However Westbury knocked Cook out in the 3rd Round to win the title.{{cite web |url=http://boxrec.com/en/event/227858/1007936|title= Alan Westbury V Rusty Cook|date=27 January 1939|website=boxrec.com}} Cook had one further bout on 3 March 1939 against Bobby Arlene, recording a 12th Round KO victory. He had agreed to fight Ron McLachlan in May, but at the beginning of that month made the abrupt decision to retire from boxing at the age of 27 due to competing business interests.{{cite web |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/56026387|title="RUSTY" COOK RETIRES FROM BOXING|date=4 May 1939|website= trove.nla.gov.au}}