Well it would have been more experience against good opposition which Cooney clearly needed. Either way I don't think Cooney would have ever beaten Holmes but he could have made the fight a little closer with more experience. After about 4 rounds of the Holmes fight you could just tell Cooney was not ready to fight a fighter the caliber of Larry Holmes. Think how much bigger Holmes-Cooney would have been if Gerry was the WBA Champion. The fight was huge already as it was.
I know you asked him but IMO Weaver when he fought Holmes was an 19-8 fighter who was stopped by some very ordinary fighter such as Rodney Bobick.....No one expected him to do well. In fact it was that fight where Weaver gained confidence in himself, Weaver staggered Holmes many times in that fight and Holme s was saying I am not suposed to lose to this bum. Weaver went on later to have some very good wins and won a title but Holmes did not really want to share a canvas with the improved and confident version. At the point that Holmes fought Weaver, Weaver was a trial horse....Cooney was built up and managed correctly for the big purse but not to be all that he could be but Weaver at the end of the day was the better fighter....Cooney was the better win
True, if Holmes knew that Weaver was better than the journeyman he appeared to be, then he would've cancelled the fight and called S. Frank or the likes, and then blame King that no one wants to fight him.