I don't think I've ever seen someone bounced around by bodyshots worse than this. Cooper looked like a ****ing ragdoll when Foreman started whailing him on, especially to the body.
Joe Frazier, Bert Cooper, Mike Tyson...... .....no fighter of that physical stature could have beat George Foreman. Those fighters were come foward fighters, and you dont beat George Foreman coming foward. As you can see by the youtube video, Cooper was forced to fight moving backward, but was overwhelmed by Foreman's sheer size and strenghth.
Or maybe he was paid to lose, like some other of Foreman's comeback opponents allegedly were. He took far worse punishment from Holyfield and didn't quit in his corner there. And Tyson could beat Foreman.
Which opponents did Foreman NEED to pay to lose in his comeback? They were mostly poor to ordinary fighters he fought until he met Cooney so I don't see why he had to worry about paying anyone off.Sounds like bull**** to me. Cooper probably wasn't in as good shape for George as he was against Holyfield and was known to have drug problems,so I'm guessing he probably thought "**** this" and just quit to make his pay day less arduous.
Schulz, Stewart, Savarese. The only difference there is that he paid the judges. And the sanctioning bodies $250.000 to even be able to fight Schulz for the heavyweight championship, although maybe the $250.000 was all-inclusive* *Unanimous decision included
The Schultz decision was poor and the Stewart one debatable but Foreman clearly beat Savarese and was robbed against Briggs,so again your theory sounds like bull**** to me.
Foreman is just so big, strong, powerful and durable (particularly early). Even the guys who beat Foreman, they never got an easy win.
I remember hearing that Foreman's camp had hookers sent to Cooper's room possibly with drugs before the fight. Cooper entered the ring a wreck. Not sure where this info came from. Maybe someone else can chime in on this.
Yeah, those bodyshots must be what made Cooper claim "My head is buzzing" after round two.:think If he'd claimed a fractured rib, the audience might not have been chanting their expression of respect and affection for Bert's effort:nut. (Kidding aside, I suspect Cooper's bell continued ringing after that right to the temple Foreman nailed him with at 1:24 left in that second round. The jab George snapped his head back with one minute later probably sealed Cooper's decision to quit.)
I read about this a few years back as well. I think it had to do with some promoter who was being investigated for something or other. Some of the accusations included Foreman comeback opponents who were either paid to lose, or who were supplied with drugs, women, e.t.c before their fights with Big George. I'm not sure what became of any those allegations, and I'm not sure if Foreman was supposed to have been in on it or not.
Cooper was a tempermental fighter who's performance depended on his inspiration and his lifestyle. He had a dog in him naturally but when focussed and fighting for something, he could be dangerous. Holyfield, Mercer, -even the Moorer fight. "The Smoke was no Joke" -sometimes.
I don't think he was paid to lose, given that he was denied his purse for showing up in improper condition to fight. Reports were given to the makers of that match, that Cooper had been out on the town partying the entire night before, and showed up in dreadful condition for the fight. Imagine getting your ass kicked by George Foreman and not even getting paid for it. Man, that would suck!!!
Agreed, fighters who fought with a lower center of gravity, and who moved or lunged forward were too susceptible to getting hooked and uppercutted by Foreman. Tyson, Frazier, Marciano, and Tua, are all bad matchups for Foreman. On the otherhand, boxers like Ali, Holmes, Young, Holyfield, Ellis, and Lewis were the types of guys who George struggled with