A cooperative relay method and system in a multi-hop relay network are provided. The method may include receiving, at a first time slot, resource allocation information from a base station, and identifying a first hop Mobile Station (MS) data zone, receiving, at the first time slot, first hop MS data in the identified first hop MS data zone, and storing the received first hop MS data, and receiving, at a second time slot, second hop MS data from a relay station, and combining the first hop MS data with the second hop MS data. The resource allocation information may be an MS MAP indicating a first hop MS data zone, a simultaneous assignment MS MAP indicating both a first hop MS data zone and a second hop MS data zone, or a relay MAP indicating a first hop MS data zone.