Rahman may have been a force, but he was the perfect opponent for a fighter like Cooney to look good against. During Wlad's reign he was becoming increasingly heavier and more sluggish, and he never had great punch resistance to begin with. Cooney would have bombed him out quite early I think, via something nasty from the left. (Brewster never lost to Iggy, he lost to Lyakhovich and had a history of struggling with or losing to not especially great opponents. He was very hot and cold. Not really champion type material IMO.) Of the three, although Byrd was probably the most diminished he had skills for days, and was still extremely good at dealing with taller larger heavier hitting opponents. I won't say Cooney emphatically loses to him, but I think it would be a very competitive fight.
During wlads reign I agree. I favour Cooney over maskaev and Peter who followed. Lyak is who I meant. Brewster is a demon h2h imo. Great power great durability.
Cooney might beat Byrd or might not. But I would expect Cooney to take a crushing defeat not too long after and slip into an alcoholic spiral/temporary retirement. After several years, Haye would then lure him back into the ring for a big money fight and utterly beat the **** out of him.
I love Holmes one of my favourite heavies but I get what your saying time does sometimes help the way things are viewed .if wlad beats price or fury or another young heavyweight contender who then goes on to be a good dominant champion in their own right that will really push appreciation of wlad to a higher level
It's like you took all the subtlety and implications of my post and wrote them in an instruction manual.
Cooneys problems outside the ring would have seen him beaten in any era. The best he could have hoped for is a very short spell at the top.