Did gerry Cooney's management make a mistake?

................It's easy to say in retrospect, but at the time, picture yourself as Jones and Rappaport; if someone comes to you with the amount of money they offered to fight Holmes, you're most likely not going to say "no thanks; we'll take five times less to develop our guy a bit more."

Seeing what transpired, they could have parlayed a victory over Weaver (which would have happened I think) into an even bigger payday as a unification match, but there's no certainty the WBA would have wanted to sanction it. Big gamble there. Of course, money talks and if nothing else Cooney could have pulled a Riddick Bowe and dumped his belt in the trash to then fight Holmes for more money than he got by jumping stright into a fight with The Easton Assassin right away, but there's that old saying; "A bird in hand is worth fighting Larry Holmes now."


...........Or something like that. :think

 

Yeah, they did.The money was right, but no way was Cooney ready for Holmes.He had a better chance against Weaver, and even that victory wasn't a certaincy.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

The mistake was in keeping him in cotton wool ,only allowing him to feed on well done meat like Young ,Lyle and Norton.Cooney could have been a lot better but he never got the schooling ,he didnt move his head and kept it up like a lamp post.When he got in there with a live fighter he lacked self belief,and the experience to cope with adversity,still he gave it a good try,he is a "what might have been", I feel.

 

The Managers knew they didn't have the next Rocky Marciano. & they milked it for everything it was worth. Got a huge payday. & didn't worry about the rest of Cooney's career. They went after a undefeated Heavyweight Champion. Played the race card & cashed in.

 

Look at Cooney's stamina. If Weaver had survived into the late rounds. Cooney would have been beaten for a fraction of what he could have made from fighting Holmes.

 

Cooney's guys made a mistake by not forcing Cooney to be more active after the Holmes fight.

 

i watched a thing on youtube with bert suger saying he coulda fought renoldo snipes??

 

They (Rappaport & Jones) cashed Cooney out. I saw an interview where Cooney told Howard Cosell he was going to fight Weaver after he beat Norton for like 4 million or so. They then got the 10 million offer for the Holmes fight and took it.

Rappaport and Jones were afraid Gerry was going to get beat before they could make a Holmes fight and lose all of that money.

In retrospect they should have fought Weaver for the WBA it is a fight Cooney could have won as Weaver was a very slow starter and Gerry could have caught him cold. They did not want to risk a loss though. Had Gerry won no telling how much they could have got for a Holmes fight.

Bottom line they cashed Gerry out for the money. Cooney could have been better if he had a better trainer and management. Either way I don't think he would have ever beat Holmes but he might have made a better fight of it had he waited a year or 2 and fought Weaver and another contender first.

 

Yeah a big fight. And Holmes was the Mega fight, with three times the money. Weaver was too risky. Look what happened to Forrest, When he beat Mosley twice. Before he could cash in with a big name. he lost to a relative unknown at the time, Ricardo Mayorga. He could have cashed in big with De La Hoya.

 

In my opinion, I feel Cooney had a very solid team around him. He did have an excellent trainer in Victor Valle. Rappaport and Jones made Cooney a very wealthy man. There is no shame whatsoever in losing to a prime Larry Holmes. The only thing different that could have been done with Cooney is that he should have been kept more active. Leading up to the Holmes bout in June 1982 Cooney only fought two times in 1980 (KO 1 Ron Lyle) (KO 4 Jimmy Young) and once in 1981(54 seconds versus Ken Norton) This was hardly enough preparation for the 13 rounds he fought in 90 degree heat in Vegas against Holmes. Shoulda been given bouts versus guys that woulda gave him the rounds and went he distance to give him that experience. But from a monetary standpoint Cooney's team did great