The John Tate who won the WBA tournament over Bobick, Knoetze & Coetzee. would have to be a favorite to beat Cooney maybe 6-5 pick 'em odds. Cooney was dangerous, but the Tate of that time was very underrated , at least in beating those guys, He liked to killed Duane Bobick, who's not doing very well at all today, Cooney would be dangerous with that left thou at anytime, Weaver destroyed Tate.
That’s how I see it too. Tate was a better well rounded fighter and athlete. But his chin could definitely be dented and Gerry had the power to do that.
Big John Tate stops Gerry Cooney in the Championship Rounds by using movement, then smothering and easily overpowering Cooney against the ropes. Tate went into Mercado, Knoetze and Coetzee fully prepared for a deadly opponent, which wasn't the case for either Weaver or Berbick.. For Cooney, Big John and Ace Miller would bring out the playbook for Knoetze again. Tate was discovered at autopsy to have died from a non malignant brain tumor, which could help explain why he was laid out by Stevenson, Weaver and Berbick like he was, but when he was well advised about dangerous punchers, he listened to Ace Miller, who accepted responsibility for how Weaver-Tate ended. What Tate could do was exactly what was needed against Cooney. He won over the Championship Distance against future title claimant Coetzee, eliminated both Mercado and Bobick quickly by design, and he won 13 out of 14 completed rounds against Weaver. If Tate had gone 45 seconds more to the final bell, the clamor for a Holmes-Tate unification would've been overwhelming. (Holmes would've won that one easily, probably by decision. Larry defended four times in 1980, then shut out Berbick over the Championship Distance on judge Joe Swessel's official card. I predicted shutout wins for the Assassin prior to both Berbick and Cobb.) Big John had tremendous late round footwork, physical strength, every punch in the book, and he could stay away long enough for Gerry to gas. When Cooney does gas, Tate could smother him against the rope as he did Weaver, drop him in an early round to intimidate him quickly, and stay away from that hook. Cooney never won over a distance greater than eight rounds, was not a mover, and while his right directly led to his wins against, Young, Norton, and Philipp Brown, his left hook, left jab and left uppercut where obviously his bread and butter. Obviously, Cooney couldn't move backwards or laterally, so Tate smothering Gerry against the ropes is a real possibility if this pairing enters double digit rounds. Once again, Gerry Cooney had a severe lack of physical strength (he was actually overpowered by Michael Spinks) for his size, absolutely could not clinch John Tate was buckled by Coetzee, then Weaver in round 12, recovering very quickly each time. Gerry only survived a situation resembling this until getting up in the second with Holmes. (I do credit him for also getting up off the deck against both the Jinx and Foreman.) Larry Holmes said Gerry's chin was like granite, but if he was hit hard on the temple, "He wobbles like a duck." (Norm Goins said the same thing about Howard Davis, Jr's temple. Goins decked Howard twice.) Was Cooney an irresistible force? I watched the Animal against Neon Leon, and looking at Eddie's style, it must've been one hell of a brawl, with Lopez taking everything Gerry could throw at him, and likely walking through it. Animal did this in the midst of Leon's best career streak. John Tate-Gerry Cooney almost took place in mid 1981, intended as a return to prominence to Cooney. But when Howard Cosell asked a guesting Larry Holmes if he thought that paring would be a bad idea for Gerry, Holmes replied, "I think it would be a bad idea for John Tate! There's something wrong with John Tate to be laid out like that over and over." Back then, some writer declared that "there's something neurologically wrong with John Tate, but then his paper was successfully sued by the Tate camp. However, was that writer ultimately proved correct by Big John's autopsy? Was that tumor in place throughout his amateur and professional career?
I'm sorry but I don't see Tate taking Cooney's left hook over and over without being finished. Gerry was much more aggressive than Weaver, and considering the admirable display he put on against Holmes, I think it's safe to say that he'll last long enough to finish John off.
I like Big John for the late stoppage here. I think he boxes his way to a sizable points lead & Cooney runs out of gas the last third of the fight. The early rounds see's Tate turning him & staying away from that left hand. And just throwing those 2 and 3 punch combos of his. I think Gerry has his gastank drained from having to constantly move his feet. His complete lack of head movement gets him hit often and he just won't absorb those punches in the 12th like he does in the third. Much easier for the Cooney camp to take on old reflexes and folks on the other side of the mountain than youth.
I'm buying this. Cooney beat what, one top 10 contender ever and he was old and fringey. Tate has the dimensions to really give him trouble from the outside. Could Cooney win? I could see that happening but the safe money is on the far more proven winner with Cooney having a decent punchers chance.
Cooney was overall generally as busy than Weaver (he had a very underrated and underused jab) and hit at least as hard. I don't know, Tate had a habit of taking breaks at inopportune times. I think Cooney will catch him by the 10th.
Practically two glass chins in attack is a very interesting combination but I think Cooney wins this.