1962 Sonny Liston vs 1982 Gerry Cooney, 15 Rounds.

Cooney makes short work of Liston. Complete blow out.

 

The problem is that Cooney actually had the potential to be something great but was more worried about his hair. Literally.

Gil CLancy is confident that if he had gotten ahold of Cooney young, he would have crafted him into an unbeatable fighter, one even Holmes wouldn't have had a chance against.

 

Liston by ko in 3. Cooney had heart and could punch, I think he could and would hurt Sonny, but Liston is the much better fighter overall. Liston would say that white boy could punch!

 

You really think Williams hit harder than Cooney?

 

Maybe with his right, not his left.

 

Well foreman described both Cooney and Williams as possessing two of the three hardest punches he had experienced in his career, and Cleveland williams was his sparring partner during Foreman's early career.

 

Why do you think Cooney as he was would be favored against Liston?
He was not as skilled.

Also I have no reason to believe that Cooney could not have been better, especially developing a right hand amongst the other things mentioned in this thread.
But i see no reason to believe he would have been what you say Clancy claimed he could have become-the GOAT.

There is no evidence of that type of potential.

 

Cooney was huge and had devastating offense. He actually accomplished a lot with very, very minimal effort.

Compare his coming out against Holmes to Holmes' coming out against Shavers. Two completely different stories.

Cooney should be favored over Liston for the most compelling and obvious reason: FOOTAGE.

Liston's best win was against Patterson. He couldn't put away Machen. He had his jaw broken by a journeyman. Clay made countless errors in their fight and Liston couldn't capitalize on any of them - even with blinding chemical agent. He quit TWICE against Ali. He was backed up by Cleveland Williams. He refused to fight Quarry.... after calling him out.

I mean, I hate to state the obvious. But you asked. I am not the one who made this thread.

Liston didn't have the balls to fight Cooney. But if his Mafia handlers put him in the ring w/ Cooney, Gerry bombs him out quick.

 

Yeah, I think the big thing would be the discipline. Clancy was a task-master, but anyone who listened made tremendous gains. He could polish fighters into complete, well-rounded Boxers who were physically fit. He was well-ahead of his time.

Cooney was more Tommy Fury than Tyson Fury, but he had plenty of the latter in him. He just needed the right kick in the arse.

He looked worse physically and technically against Holmes than he had 3-4 years prior. He was so gangly and poorly conditioned. It's actually a heroic performance by Cooney. But it's a travesty watching the wasted potential. Conversely, Holmes was one of the biggest overachievers of his day; a guy who did everything right.

 

You can't be serious

 

There's no evidence of that. He fought abysmal competition. The point is, he wasn't the force of nature Cooney was. Still, he had no problem putting Liston on the back foot. Not only did Cooney have amazing power that far exceeded anything Williams could muster, he also had size and volume that Williams' lacked. Cooney finished what Williams started.

To beat Cooney you had to move. He was only dangerous for 4 rounds. And he was pretty predictable. Liston ain't tuning into Larry Holmes over night.

 

Let me guess, you have never watched a single Boxing match in your life, but it's OK because you know every line to every Rocky film ever?

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Incredible to think that's a championship fight when during Cooney's era, dudes in the amateurs were better than that.

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Yo, Adriaaaaaan! What do you think about that? had no one showed you YT before? You know you can find almost every fight ever recorded there, right?

 

I recognize that format. You're an alt of that quack guy right ?

@QuacktheDuck