Why did Holmes want to beat up Cooney?

He’s the heavyweight champion of the world. And for quite some time, they drag in Cooney ever chance they get or bring him up.

Larry just beat the stuffing out of Leon Spinks in a really strong performance … and they got to trot Cooney into ‘share’ (or overtake) the spotlight.

I can see how that would get tiresome — let Cooney earn his own spotlight, not step into Larry’s. (None of this is Gerry’s fault, btw, but he had publicity-hungry management and they and the networks wanted to hype a Holmes-Cooney fight.)

 

I think it's likely to promote their fight, plus Cooney was hyped up as the heir apparent and Larry probably took that personally

 

I agree with this. Holmes felt he was being overlooked and disrespected by the media overall and not given the credit for his accomplishments he thought he was due. He therefore resented the networks suggesting they needed to bring Cooney out there to drum up any interest in the heavyweight championship. It’s understandable.

 

If you know the politics at the time, you would would understand, if not necessarily agree.

The build up to that fight was like something out of the Jack Johnson era.

Cooney was being promoted as the great white hope, and Holmes the champion was being shown no respect.

Holmes and is family received death threats from the kkk, and he was just pushed beyond breaking point.

The raw memories of this episode might not have been unconnected to his outburst after he lost the title to Spinks.

In the end a respect and even friendship developed between him and Cooney, but at the time it was a dark chapter in boxing history.

 

Too much racial tension building up to that fight. And lots of people who thought Holmes was done and Cooney was going to take him and were very verbal about it.

 

The friendship that grew between Holmes and Cooney out of that dark chapter is indeed one of boxing’s best stories of my lifetime.

In later years their families have vacationed together, and when either gets asked to do a charity event the first thing they do is call the other — the charity gets a 2-for-1 and they get to hang out together. Per what both of them have said, the answer is always ‘you tell me where and when, I’ll be there.’

Cooney and Holmes both have said leading up to the fight they thought the other was driving the racial stuff, or at least OK with it, when in fact it was forces around them (Don King and Cooney’s managers) and both of them hated it.

Gerry said that his opinion on Holmes began to change when they went out for referee instructions before the bell. When they touched gloves, Holmes said ‘Let’s have a good fight.’ No venom, just let’s do our best and put on a show for these people watching around the world and make it a sporting event — an athletics contest — rather than something with bigger, deeper meaning.

Just, ‘Let’s have a good fight.’

I have had occasion to spend a little time around both Larry and Gerry over the years and both were great when I was around them. I’ve watched them graciously sign autographs and engage fans and have conversations with average Joes. Granted it’s just been on a few occasions, but both have represented themselves and boxing well when I’ve encountered them.

 

You would've thought the fight was taking place in 30s Germany instead of 80s America with how Cooneys team was going on. It was genuinely some very darksided **** going on during the buildup and during the fight with his promoter actually saying, "America needs you" to Cooney during the fight. He could make all the excuses he wants there was a very apparent tone of racism going.

 

That "America needs you stuff" was coming from his corner and management, not Cooney. Important detail to keep in mind.

 

1980s USA weren't much better when it comes to racism than the 1960s. At least at the societal level.