ANDREW SINGH
KOONER
ATHLETE
BOXING
CLASS OF 2023
Andrew Singh Kooner punched his ticket to two Olympic Games with his skill and speed in a boxing ring.
Born in England, he moved to Tecumseh with family and took up boxing at the Border City Boxing Club when he was 13-years-old.
Kooner dominated the national amateur ranks, winning 10 Canadian titles fighting as either a flyweight or bantamweight. He won a silver medal at the World Under-19 championships in 1996 in Havana, Cuba and just two years later earned a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Kooner made his Olympic debut as a flyweight in Sydney, Australia in 2000 where he defeated Algeria’s Nacer Keddam 18-11 and lost to Thailand’s Wijan Ponlid 11-7.
He moved up to a silver at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England where only a tight count back kept him from gold.
In 2003, he earned a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic as a bantamweight and in 2004 he fought at that same weight at the Olympic Games in Athens where he finished tied for fifth. In order to make his second Olympic team, Kooner had to qualify at the first-ever AIBA American Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tijuana, Mexico.
Overall, Kooner compiled a 125-25 record as an elite amateur. He turned professional in 2006 and had a 10-2 record at that level before turning his attention to other pursuits. Kooner now coaches and trains boxers in the Toronto area. His considerable success in the “sweet science” has earned him a place in the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame.