Cooney vs Lyle and Young

I wished matches could have been made with Page or Dokes, that would've shown me something a little more.

 

Ask Larry Holmes what he thought of the fight. What would Cooney have done if he had a different trainer? Wasn't Panama Lewis his trainer? He also had a big alcohol problem. But from what I read and heard he had a devastating Left Hook

 

Right. Cooney did beat some faded ranked contenders. I remeber the Norton fight. After that fight, the many thought Cooney was a real threat to Holmes.

 

Cooney was trained by Victor Valle Sr.

Cooney used to train often in Palm Springs California. He was pretty impressive in the ring and very kind to visitors.

I had the chance to talk to Larry Holmes about that fight. Larry was surprised that Cooney was never able to recover from his loss. Holmes felt Cooney would eventually win the title. According to Larry, Cooney had (aside from the devastating left hook that left his side hurting for over week) a very deceptively effective jab and stronger right than people thought.

Too bad Gerry couldn't get things together.

 

Drugs ruined most of the potential 80's greats, sadly.

Maybe not to the degree that Gerry suffered due to them, though.

 

That is a very impressive statement considering that it comes from Larry Holmes himself. Possibly it says more about Cooney than anything else ever written or spoken about him as a boxer.

 

Unfortunately, Gerry didn't make it to the top. I remember when he made his half-hearted comeback. I would always watch his fights because I like Gerry as a fighter and outside the ring. He seems like a genuinely nice guy. He dominated second-tier competition, and I think that if he had kept fighting consistentlty after the Holmes loss, he would have learned more and became a great fighter.

 

My thoughts exactly. For the champ who battled Cooney in the desert heat for 13 rounds to feel this way after all the fight hype and BS, well he must have seen something in the guy.

 

Renaldo Snipes wanted to fight Cooney, that would have helped answer a few questions.

 

Could you expand a but further Russ, i have heard bits and pieces about this but never got the full scoop. Did this happen after the Holmes fight during what would almost be considered a retirement? I remember reading something akin to him going into depression after the Holmes loss and drugs. I think.