Gerry Cooney vs. Andrew Golota

It really depends when exactly they fought. Golota was involved in a car crash near the tail end of his career, a wreck in which he permanently injured his left shoulder. That robbed him of his once-great left jab (yes, he had an even better jab before he even fought Bowe!) the same jab which propelled him to a bronze medal finish at the 1988 Olympic Games. Gerrry Cooney is no world beater, did he ever give as impressive a performance as Golota did twice against Bowe (barring the low blows)? Prime-for-prime, and a pre-accident Golota, I'm inclined to say Andrew wins a close majority decision against Cooney in what is a very tough fight, and a real crowd pleaser, a barnburner, actually.

 

I honestly can`t pick Golota with any seriousness. He had a lot of talent but he seemed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. Gerry Cooney could really hit and he may hang tough enough to bring out that anxiety in Andrew Golota.

If I was forced to bet on it I would have to take Cooney for that reason. If he doesn't knock Golota out early he may let Golota hand him the fight.

 

I agree also, Cooney's left would cause Golota way too much anxiety.

 

If we are talking about Golota from the Bowe fights, that version would stop Cooney mid rounds.
Too good of a boxer for Gerry.

His defense was good enough to handle the two handed power puncher Bowe, Cooney is a one trick pony with his left hook.
Golota should be able to avoid that left hand, and use his superior boxing skills and strength to win this.

 

I favour Cooney; I think the thought of his power would/could cause Golota to melt down emotionally, although I concede that the points made by Ticar above are extremely plausible.

 

Cooney is an easy fighter to assess. The way I typically approach this kind of assessment is:

1. Define what constitutes his included career. I take 34th birthday as being a good cutoff age and ignore all fights after this point. Larry Holmes, for instance, I consider as "unbeaten" as Marciano.
2. Within that career, determine who the best fighter that he beat, and who was the worst fighter he lost to.
3. If the best fighter he beat is worse than the worst fighter he lost to, then you're home-and-dry.

For instance the best fighter Gerry Cooney beat was probably the 38-year-old Norton, who was coming off a draw with LeDoux and a win over Tex Cobb. The worst fighter he lost was either the 40-something-year-old Foreman or maybe Spinks. So we know that Cooney was better than an old Norton but worse than an old Foreman or a prime Spinks. His career was consistent.

Problems come with inconsistent careers. Holyfield would be a great example, who beat fighters (Bowe and Tyson) better than ones he lost to (Moorer).

Following this, who was the the best fighter Golota beat, and was the worst he lost to (prior to age 34)? I would say the worst fighter he lost at was Michael Grant, at age 32. Other than that, you just have Tyson, Lewis, and Bowe. Some people give Golota a lot of credit for his close thing with Bowe, but I could beat people better than myself if I was allowed to whack them in the nads every two minutes and they weren't.

So who was the best he beat? Samson Po'uha, Corey (T-Rex) Sanders? Not much there, to be honest. Witherspoon, 41 and coming off losses to Larry Donald and Jimmy Thunder may have been the best fighter Golota actually beat. So his career is highly consistent as well - everyone who beat him before age 34 was better than everyone who lost to him.

So I'll take Cooney over Golota. Norton had more left than Spoon when losing to Cooney, even though it wasn't much. Neither of them are worth a tinker's cuss in the history of the division, though, two bald men fighting over a comb.

 

The Bowe fights appear to be the exception, not the rule with Golota. Other than the Bowe fights (which, technically, he did lose), Golota pretty much lost to every good fighter he faced. Usually by knockout. For Christ's sake, in Golota's prime, he had to cheat to avoid being knocked out by grossly overweight journeyman, Samson Po'uha.

I think Cooney would get to him just like Lennox, and Tyson, and Brewster, and Grant.....

 

I'd pick Cooney. He hit much harder, and had some decent skills. Golota really was not a big puncher or good on defense and tended to fold as soon as things did not go his way.

 

All this is true. Golota had the tools to beat a lot of heavyweights. He had size, quickness and coordination. Remember though this guy lost to Michael Grant after dominating the early rounds. There was something wrong with him.

 

Yes but I think Golota peaked in Bowe fights... I don't think he was ever the same after those fights.
Bowe nailed him with some good shots, and he fought back, so it's not like he gave up soon as someone fought back.
That was a war, and it was Golota's bad luck that he run into Bowe who had massive heart and a good chin...

No way Cooney could take what Bowe took, so Golota shouldn't be in danger of losing it...

 

Golota like Ken Norton had a mental block against big punchers.
Cooney had incredible killer instinct and would sense Golota nerves.
Golota doesn't last past the first round.

 

You may be right but Cooney probably hit harder than Bowe punch for punch. Bowe remember was also fading at this point in his career. He wasn't the same guy who won the title. I think JMO that the fact that as you stated Bowe didn't give up and kept fighting back that caused Andrew to panic. He threw those low shots intentionally to get out of the fight. Andrew Golota suffered from major Anxiety IMO. It makes no sense that he lost those fights. I would never bet my $ on the guy.

 

Cooney was also mentally fragile. If Golota can atleast somewhat keep it together then he beats cooney comfortably

 

At least you had to beat Cooney. I never saw Cooney give up in a fight he was winning.