I think Cooney takes this. The Holmes of the Holyfield fight was too sluggish, too lacking in quickness, and not powerful enough to beat Cooney. Holmes would probably spoil a lot of Cooney's advances, and he'd no doubt win some rounds, but I think Cooney at some point during the fight catches up to Holmes and stops him. When Holmes fought Cooney in '82, he used every bit of his speed, elusiveness, and overall quickness to beat Cooney. I don't think Holmes of '92 could do that.
Cooney takes a unanimous decision, but considering Gerry's psyche and Holmes' knowledge, Larry still make take this.
In 1982, Holmes put Cooney on the deck faster than he would anybody else during his reign, aside from Marvis Frazier. Gerry couldn't take it on the temple. I've always believed Larry might have carried him past the second round to facilitate an easy and lucrative rematch. If Cooney had been on his feet to touch gloves for the final scheduled round, that's when Holmes would have dispatched him. Larry never really went for the kill in this one. Not only did Gerry have trouble taking a punch, but he was slow. Beyond that, his hook was his best weapon, something never particularly useful against Holmes. Mike Spinks beat him with guile and savvy as much as anything, and Mike was somebody who one would expect to be broken in half by the first hook to the body Cooney delivered, however rusty and coked up Gerry was. Larry never really lost his speed, even as he got older. Of course he was slower, but still always too fast for the Cooney of 1982. He'd defend against that hook effectively, and otherwise continually beat Gerry to the punch. In 1993, Holmes hammered a home right hand which completely rippled through Paul Poirier's body, separating his rib cartilage. Poirier calls it the hardest punch he was ever hit with, high praise considering the fact that Paul boxed against Tucker and Stewart the year before. Cooney was never able to stand up to a shot like that. The best versions of McCall and Holyfield couldn't get Larry out of there, and Mercer could also hit.
