DALLAS – Roy Wallace, Sr., a former heavyweight boxer from South Dallas who fought legends like George Foreman, Tex Cobb and Muhammad Ali, died over the weekend at age 69.
"I was just told he stopped breathing," said Roy Wallace, Jr., 48, the boxer's oldest son.
The elder Wallace lived his last few years at a nursing home in Fort Worth, his son said.
Wallace, who was better known as "Cookie," fought professionally between 1967 and 1983.
"Cookie was at one time – he wasn't the world's heavyweight champ – but he was the Texas heavyweight champ," said Herman Davis, 67, Wallace's first cousin. "He won the Texas heavyweight championship on December 14, 1979. He was a big deal though his record wasn't all that impressive."
Cookie had a record of 25 wins, 33 losses and 14 knockouts. He would later recount his match with George Foreman to his son.
"That's the hardest he's ever been hit," said Wallace Jr., laughing.
Foreman knocked out Cookie in two rounds on Sept. 23, 1969.
"He'd say, 'I'm not a boxer. I'm a fighter,'" added Davis.
Wallace grew up in South Dallas and later lived in Oak Cliff.
After boxing, he worked in the cargo department for Braniff Airlines, his family said.
Throughout the years, he was always supportive of youth in Oak Cliff, loved ones added.
"I will remember him as being a good brother. We did a lot of things together. I was a fighter, too. I would go with him and help him on his fighting," said Fred Wallace, 68, Cookie's brother.
"He had been in nursing facilities for four or five years because of failing health," he continued.
Cookie had three sons and two daughters. They said he died of natural causes.
His family is holding a wake on Wednesday, Sept. 16 from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Golden Gate Funeral Home. The address is 5701 E. Loop 820 S in Fort Worth.
Cookie's funeral is the following day, Thursday, Sept. 17, at 11 a.m.
