Williams, great fighter, jab. But chin let him down couple of times. Cooney, we know all about. Massive hitter, not the greatest of confidence. Two Holmes oppenent s. Who win s??
Cooneys best chances are in the early rounds. Cooneys left hook is even harder than Weavers so for Williams to win he needs to drag Cooney into the later rounds. But Cooney should win this by KO in 4\5.
Yer, I'm inclined to agree with that. It's a danger fight for Williams. He really doesn't want to be getting caught early with that left hook. I think he plays it safe tbh and try to take him on to the later rounds. But anything can happen here.
I don’t know which one of them would have prevailed., If carl could survive 5 rounds, he would wear Cooney down. Could he have survived 5 rounds? We will never know.
Williams was certainly tougher than Cooney, but would not survive Cooney's power. He would be knocked out early. Williams would for sure beat Cooney if he could make it past the 8th, but of course there is no way to bypass the first 7 rounds.
Truth could fight strategically but he was a little more inclined to mix it up than people generally realize and that would be his undoing. I see Carl boxing well for 2-3 rounds then landing a nice shot and wanting to follow up and then Cooney unloads that hook and that’s about it.
Pre Holmes I don't believe Williams beat Cooney at anytime, early or late. But more than likely Williams wouldn't survive late into a fight with Cooney prior to the Holmes fight.
An interesting match, isn't it? Williams had it all, but every time he threw his left hand he dropped his right hand. It derailed him over and over again. Cooney was a destructive force when he didn't believe it himself. With somebody that knew how to deal with that- like Cus?- in his ear, he could have been much better. With somebody that knew how to fix it, there was no limit.
Prime vs Prime, I think Cooney stops him within the first 2 rounds. It could last until 6, but truthfully, even if Carl establishes the jab, at some point, Gerry is going to tag him nice, and within 10 seconds, it will be over. Carl couldn't take a punch from an elite puncher in his prime.
Another Gerry Cooney victim, he likes to fight spent retread fighters, it makes him look good, he never fought a prime Terrible Tim Witherspoon or a Greg Page, only runaways from the local Rest Homes like Ken Norton and Jimmy Young.
The only thing that kept Williams from becoming champion was his chin. He had one of the worst chins at world class level that I have ever seen. And he was beautiful to watch. Snappy jab. Fluid movement. Great hand speed. But touch him with a hard punch and its pretty much good night for him.
Carl Williams at his best. Looking like a young Larry Holmes here against Bert Cooper. No wonder he gave Holmes such a close tough fight though Larry admittedly was at 35, years past his best (and would lose to Michael Spinks in his very next fight) If Williams had Holmes chin and recuperative abilities, he could well have gone on to great things himself. This content is protected
