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Gerry Cooney made the leap from amateur boxer to professional prizefighter at age 19.\\xa0 In a very short time, he worked his way up to a 25-0 record.\\xa0 But as quickly as he rose through the ranks of pro-boxing, he fell from greatness into a pit of alcohol.\\xa0 As he boxing career began to fizzle due to fighting less and less and not winning championships, he began to remember the verbal abuse he suffered at the hands of his drinker father; he was told he was no good, and would never succeed.\\xa0 He drank to ease the pain, all while partying hard and chasing women.\\xa0 He would later realize he spent much of his life trying to prove his father wrong.