Dale Cook

Nicknamed Apollo, Dale Cook began practicing martial arts with taekwondo at the age of fifteen and eventually earned the rank of seventh degree black belt.^[1] After taking up kickboxing, he turned professional in 1977 and rose to prominence . Having fought exclusively under the full contact rule set in the beginning of his career, he later ventured into Oriental rules in the 1980s.^[2]

In 1983 Cook won the Professional Karate Association United States Welterweight title by defeating Randy Mack.^[3] In 1984 defended his title against Babe Gallegos winning by KO,^[4] and he beat Brad Rischer by KO.^[5] In 1985 Cook defeated Dwayne Wyatt by decision.^[6]

He won a world title on February 28, 1987, when he beat Pascal LePlat to claim the WKA world middleweight (-72.5 kg/159.8 lb) title.^[7][8] In 1988 Cook defended his Middleweight title against, former PKA and WKA Super Welterweight champion,^[9][10] David Humphries winning by decision.^[11] Following this, he added the WKA super middleweight (-76 kg/167.6 lb) strap to his mantle.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Cook challenged six Muay Thai stylists from Thailand, defeating five of them and losing once, a second-round KO at the hands of Changpuek Kiatsongrit on June 30, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan. On July 30, 1992, he fought Toshiyuki Atokawa at the Kakutogi Olympics II in Tokyo in a kickboxing/full contact karate hybrid match. Rounds one and three were fought with boxing gloves, and rounds two and four bare-knuckle with punching to the face disallowed. Cook won on points, and the pair rematched under Seido karate rules on October 4, 1992, in the opening round of the '92 Karate World Cup in Osaka, Japan. The first round was ruled a draw and went to an extension round after which Atokawa won on all five judges' scorecards.

He continued to fight in Japan where he won the shoot boxing world title before retiring in 1996.

After his retirement, Cook opened Apollo's Martial Arts karate and kickboxing gym in his hometown of Tulsa. Among his students are K-1 heavyweights Randy Blake, Todd Hays and Ralph White, as well as the Oklahoma Destroyers World Combat League team. Another notable student was 6 year old Kevin Morby. He also runs the Xtreme Fighting League, an Oklahoma-based promotion which features both kickboxing and mixed martial arts matches.^[12]

Kickboxing

• Professional Karate Association
  • PKA United States Welterweight Championship
• World Shoot Boxing Association
  • WSBA World Championship
• World Kickboxing Association
  • WKA World Middleweight (-72.5 kg/159.8 lb) Championship
  • WKA World Super Middleweight (-76 kg/167.6 lb) Championship