30 yrs ago this May, Cooney waxed Norton at MSG. WICKED!

It was like Norton was hit by a moving vehicle and lying on the sidewalk, he was so hurt. Like a bus hit him.

 

Does the end justify the means? Gerry has been able to live off the nature of his lucrative challenge ever since, something far less likely had he not carried the mystique of being an undefeated contender.

I do think a ten round rematch with Eddie Lopez would have been sensible for extending him. A return with a revitalized Young could also have gone his way if he'd applied consistent body punching to score points. However. he had captured the public imagination as a ruthless destroyer with the blowouts of Lyle and Norton, so anything compromising his image as an irresistible force might have risked diluting his astronomical payday for Holmes.

 

Sickening KO. A little sad if you're a fan of Norton.

People mention the hooks, i believe the upper cuts of those shots were just as surprising. All respect to Cooney.

 

Cooney should have gone for men like Berbick or Tillis,and challenged for the WBA title,and provided he won,then had a fight with Holmes for the unified crown. I still think he'd have lost to Holmes,but would have put up a more competitive fight.

 

Cooney had a ton of potential. He was a power puncher with an exciting style in an otherwise pretty boring Division at the time. Cooney should have went after Weaver next then got a Holmes fight in 1983. He simply didn't fight enough contenders on the way up to be developed he was not ready for Holmes in June of 1982 but held his own for 10 rounds before he got tired.

 

I could see him stopping Berbick potentially, Tillis could give Cooney tons of problems, provided he doesn't get caught.

 

The other big issue at the time was that Lyle was coming in off a real bad early ko loss to Lynn Ball. And Ball was a small guy not known as a hitter and barely on the radar screen & he dusted Lyle. In truth, the Foreman fight ruined Ronnie Lyle and every fight after George was a tough one--even guys like Ledoux and Ward. That 39 year old version of Lyle wasn't losing just to an up and comer like Cooney. He would've lost to Dokes and Page and others also.

 

That was the thing with a young Dokes. He sure looked good in that one. Or Page for that matter. Either could look like a brilliant up and comer for about 1 fight when they were 100%. Each was usually at about 80% is/was the problem.

Dokes and his rematch with Occasio and Gardner and Ball looked really good. A force to be reckoned with. But then you had that pretty much a pedestrian effort against Young. A less than pedestrian effort in that first Occasio fight. or that Chaplin fight even. And the more weight Dokes put on, the further he got away from 100%. That 205 guy was something and he had that terrific amateur background. Can you imagine a guy with that pedigree emerging now?

Cooney didn't blow hot or cold but was just fighting flawed guys with 1 foot in the grave after his bout with Denis. But all those heavies back then just had major question marks. The advantage Cooney had over those guys was in matchmaking. He was strictly facing made to order types.

 

I'm still not sold on Jones and Rappaport. Never was. I think they turned a $250 million property into a $50 million one. Although hardly a favorite person, I do think Don King would have been a much much better alternative for Cooney. Just like say, David Tua.

There are certain guys that can benefit a ton from that management & I think Gerry was one of them. Man, look at the great job King did later on with John Ruiz. Can you imagine a similar job with Gentleman Gerry?

 

Bill, I might put in my Cooney-Holmes DVD tonight and watch it while I sip on some Vodka. I love watching this fight. :good