Well i doubt that Cooney was stronger or a harder puncher. Common opponents rated Tommy's power above that of Mike Tyson.
Ask George on who hit harder, Prime Tommy Morrison or Gerry Cooney past shoulder surgery and at the tail end of his career. Ad you know what? It's Cooney. In conlusion... Prime Cooney would murder Tommy
It's not like he said anything but have you seen Tommy's fight with George? Dudes ate all of his shots like his delicious grilled burgers. This content is protected And the other I found a guy claimed that George says that Cooney hit him the hardest and the reason becuz despite all of Cooney's issues like I said above (tail end of his career, shoulder injury etc..) he still is in his top 3 genuine punchers. Prime Cooney arguably hits harder than Lyle. One more reason why I'm sure of that is becuz Jimmy Young (who fought Lyle and Cooney in their prime) claimed Cooney hit harder. Morrison's punching power came nowhere close to Gerry Cooney.
I’d probably favor Cooney by the narrowest of margins but I will say that Tommy might have been a tad tougher. While neither man had an iron chin, Morrison rose off the canvas to win fights and even battled through a broken jaw to beat Joe Hipp ( I believe. ) of course Cooney never lost to a fighter like Michael Bentt but I think that was an anomaly.
Foreman did say around the time of the Cooney fight in 1990 that Gerry hit him harder than anyone he had previously faced. I don’t have a source. I just remember hearing it. But I will also say that comments he made at that time need to be taken with a grain of salt. Foreman had reconstructed his public image to be humble and complementary of his opposition. I was regularly watching his comeback fights on networks like USA and after every fight he had positive remarks to make about his opponents, even some of the weakest journeyman.. He even complemented Mike Jameson !!!!
Cooney had a durable chin, Watch his fight with Foreman and you'll see how many hard shots that Foreman unloaded to actually drop Cooney. That one punch knockout is still by accumulation. Cooney had fine whiskers, he had that typical slugger durability just like Liston, Lyle, Baer, Foreman, Durelle and maybe Wilder possess.
Uuuuhhh i thought it was ron lyle ! "This guy hit me so hard that it didn’t even hurt. Joe Frazier caught me with the left hook but he couldn’t hit like Lyle and although Muhammad knocked me down I was exhausted and still got to my feet. Lyle was the hardest hitter. The thing about Lyle was he was complete unafraid and challenged me at ring center. Nobody, other than Sonny Liston in sparring, stood and punched it out with me with any success. Joe Frazier only tried once and even the great Muhammad Ali couldn’t back up quick enough. Ron Lyle would not back up." And foreman did say Cooney was one the 3 hardest puncher he has ever faced, but he claimed this long before he fought the duke!!!
I’ve never bought into the idea that Cooney was “ fragile” as some have put it. He did after all take a colossal beating from Holmes coming off a 13 month layoff and never having gone beyond 8 rounds. But I DO think he lacked in the durability department somewhat.
He said Gerry Cooney is the hardest puncher he ever fought, but Ron Lyle hit him the hardest. The point is theoretically, George thinks that Prime Cooney hit harder than Lyle, But Ron Lyle hit him the hardest by pure experience. There's a difference.
I agree but durability is a attribute that is built over time with step up fights and building of a fighters confidence to fight whereever the fight goes long or short. People also underestimate Cooneys foot and hand speed and boxing ability he was actually a good skilled big man who was beating Holmes on points going into the 13th round he gassed a 54 sec KO of Norton was not preparation for a top notch champion like Holmes,,,,Cooneys people were trying to cash in and though Cooney would stop Holmes. As far as other fighters opinions on the hardest punchers I put no weight in that as a former amateur and pro fighter myself the hardest puncher I ever fought from my recollection was a fighter with little power on paper but I was in and out of consciousness in the fight and barely remember it but everytime he connected I flashed out.....but I had fought some hard hitters that after the fight I didn't think they hit that hard IMO but other thought they did. All I know is Cooney came out looking good and caught Holmes with a 75-80% powerful left hook got hurt and Foreman decided he had to get him out ASAP and end it before IMO Cooney could catch him with everything on it.
