Hard one to decide. Rahman was certainly tough enough and had plenty of power to stop Cooney. But he was also stopped twice by the left hooks of Oleg Maskaev. I’m thinking this comes down to who hurts the other badly enough first. Can’t see this being a long drawn out ordeal EDIT: I went back watched a clip of the first Rahman fight and saw that it was a right that finished him.
If I was betting money I'd put it on Rahman. But as mentioned he lost twice to Maskaev and was decisioned by John Ruiz. Cooney was stopped by Spinks with combinations, and Rahman would only need one to floor him, as Lewis found out.
Cooney was the faster starter of the two, and not sure Rahman ever took a body attack the likes of which Gerry would be bringing, but Rahman could certainly catch Cooney with something big on the way in so Gerry would have to be careful. Hmm….it’s a difficult fight to confidently pick a winner, but I sure as heck would love to have seen it.
Rahman had some good wins for sure but his losses against Maskaev do give me some pause. Maskaev had a below average chin and he was able to withstand Rahman's power twice without being dropped. It could do either way though honestly I wouldn't bet on the fight.
It doesn't mean he couldn't stop Rahman in the middle rounds Maskaev got rid of him in 8 and Lewis got rid of him in 4. Rahman doesn't have any late stoppages either.
Cooney fell apart late against Holmes and fairly early against Spinks. Rahman survived a war against Sanders and won. He also stopped Wooden late in between Wooden losing close decisions to Grant and Tua.
