Gerry Cooney - the hardest puncher ever?

[TheSouthpaw]

Not even close

[TheSouthpaw]

Originally Posted by clinikill

An excellent example of Cooney's power is his KO of Leroy Boone. Boone went the distance with such fighters as Earnie Shavers and Renaldo Snipes, but was stopped by a Cooney left hook to the midsection.

Ive never seen this footage before...Holy shit is that a shot..thanks for posting this

[dyna]

Originally Posted by clinikill

Cooney's one-punch power is extremely underrated, in my opinion. I think he may be the hardest-hitting heavyweight of all time. He knocked dudes out with body shots, for goodness sake!

That was a livershot, if he hit the left side of his body and he KO'd him like that it would be insane.
But a livershot is even more painful than getting hit in your balls, your legs just stop working at all.

Pacquiao has also been KO'd by a quick livershot.

[dyna]

Originally Posted by spion

I heard George say that also. I asked Larry Holmes about it and he said (as mentioned above) he didn't tag me flush but he did get Larry with a particular body shot near the end of one round and Holmes said he used the ropes to help him back to the corner. Said Gerry's jab was underestimated too.

I used to watch Cooney train in Palm Springs when I was a kid. He was a super nice guy. I remember Victor Valle shouting "take it easy Gerry, take it easy on these guys". Several of his sparring partners had to leave the ring after getting tagged. He looked like (had he been able to weather the mental storm of losing to Holmes) he could have at some point won a title.

After the Butterbean fight Holmes claimed Butterbean possibly hit him harder than Shavers...


I've also read he was on his way to KO Tyson with an uppercut until his hands got caught in the rope. (According to Holmes himself)

It's why I don't take boxers seriously when they rank each other.

[MagnaNasakki]

All kinds of good points.

My one quibble: That was loaded. That was so loaded as to almost be telegraphed.

Gerry hit like a truck. Top flight power, but that hook had shoulder, hip, and thigh behind it. Perfect mechanics.

The shot he needed to land repeatedly against Larry Holmes, but just wasn't smart or skilled enough to make it happen.

[Absolutely!]

He was a harder puncher than Shavers, certainly.

Hardest puncher of all time? Impossible to say. Gun to my head I'd say Tua, but when you get to that level of power it just becomes pointless quibbling. Gerry looked incredibly heavy handed, and got a lot of weight behind his shots. I can't imagine what it would have been like to have been hit by him.

[johnmaff36]

Originally Posted by Absolutely!

He was a harder puncher than Shavers, certainly.

Hardest puncher of all time? Impossible to say. Gun to my head I'd say Tua, but when you get to that level of power it just becomes pointless quibbling. Gerry looked incredibly heavy handed, and got a lot of weight behind his shots. I can't imagine what it would have been like to have been hit by him.

What makes you say he 'certainly' was a harder puncher than Shavers?

[mr. magoo]

A very solid puncher to be sure. But hardest of all time is a difficult claim to make.

[Senor Pepe']

Absolutely not,,,,,,,

Yes, a very hard puncher, but not the hardest.

My friend Joe Giardella used to spar with Gerry in Huntington.

He was never felled by Gerry, and Joe was a 6' 1" 200 lb. amateur.

[salsanchezfan]

Originally Posted by mr. magoo

A very solid puncher to be sure. But hardest of all time is a difficult claim to make.

For anyone, surely. There is no "hardest puncher ever," or at least no way to quantify it. Odd question, really.

[burt bienstock]

How can anyone designate who was the hardest puncher ever ? Can't be done, and is meaningless...In baseball for example ,a Dave Kingman hit a ball as far as ANYONE, but was a low average hitter...Give me a Joe Louis who absolutely stunned you with the first punch and obllterated you with follow up combinations, IF NEEDED...As a Ray Robinson did...For example a Julian Jackson had crushing one punch power but was NOT a great middleweight...Cooney for example looked AWESOME when he kod Ken Norton, but
as later proven was not a great fighter...But I think he had a better left-hook to the body than anyone including Joe Frazer, but lacked Frazer's resolve and toughness...

[dyna]

Originally Posted by burt bienstock

How can anyone designate who was the hardest puncher ever ? Can't be done, and is meaningless...In baseball for example ,a Dave Kingman hit a ball as far as ANYONE, but was a low average hitter...Give me a Joe Louis who absolutely stunned you with the first punch and obllterated you with follow up combinations, IF NEEDED...As a Ray Robinson did...For example a Julian Jackson had crushing one punch power but was NOT a great middleweight...Cooney for example looked AWESOME when he kod Ken Norton, but
as later proven was not a great fighter...But I think he had a better left-hook to the body than anyone including Joe Frazer, but lacked Frazer's resolve and toughness...

Morisson also had a crazy left hook.

And let's not forget Tua.

[burt bienstock]

Originally Posted by dyna

Morisson also had a crazy left hook.

And let's not forget Tua.

Tua's brother was better...Threeya

[Absolutely!]

Originally Posted by johnmaff36

What makes you say he 'certainly' was a harder puncher than Shavers?

Their common opponents in Norton and (to a much lesser extent) Lyle.

[red cobra]

If Cooney was the hardest puncher of all times, then Jimmy Young had the best chin of all time.