Gerry Cooney is an all time great

Victor Valle had a good reputation as a trainer.

Amen.

 

This is not your best day.

 

They protected his 0 with easy fights then got him the equivalent of $32,000,000 in today's money for one fight. He could have stayed retired a rich man, at the ripe old age of 26, with his health 100% intact.

And you think he was used? What they did with him wasn't good for the sport itself, but for him personally? They knocked it out of the park.

 

Cooney really was a hype job. Beating up 3. raters and then earning the above mentioned 32 millions for taking a beating is a good pensionplan. I would have done the same.

 

Sarcasm?

 

Most money for least risk

I think Cooney actually wanted to fight good competition and his managers approach hurt his confidence in the long run. Not to mention stunted his growth as a fighter. But they sure got him (and themselves) beaucoup cash.

None of this would have been possible if he was not white. I am white myself but a good American white HW or any division frankly was a rarity in the late 70s and early 80s and his managers exploited this to the fullest.

White blue collar type fans latched on to Cooney just like Ray Mancini. They showed up for the fights and watched in droves on TV.

Both guys had smart as fu<k managers who exploited this to the fullest.

Cooney was protected then cashed in on a huge payday for the Holmes fight. Then he was protected again until another huge payday against Spinks. Then a final good payday against Foreman.

Mancini was protected after the Arguelo title fight loss. At least he beat somebody good, Jose Luis Ramirez to get the shot at Arguello.

 

This shows how glossy a resume can look without context.

 

It does not matter, I tell it like it is, no brag, just fact. If there are some Cooney fans, so be it.

 

The other big big factor that ties into this stuff is the NYC amatuer background. If Cooney was from Oklahoma City or some other area he is just a regional fighter. Back then boxing media was based in New York area. It benefitted Cooney--and others--a ton. But his amatuer pedigree was hardly on the scale of contemporaries like Page and Dokes from that 76 to 78 era of amatuers.

And I was always convinced Gerry was not going to beat many of the top ranked guys around at the time---Dokes. Page. Coetzee. I'm not even sure he gets by hometown rival Snipes back then. Weaver. Not easy fights. And Holmes was the best of that lot.

Plus we saw something about Gerry as well---how he would hold up in the wear and tear department. Fighting the above guys or even Cobb and guys like that he should get the W against--brings more wear and tear into the equation.

But we would never get those fights. More like the shot version of Tate. Neon Leon was made to order for Cooney. Moving up in weight lh like a EM Muhammad. That's what we would have got. Cooney was very very fortunate he never had to clear out the
division to get his title shot; like lots of guys do.

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

 

Of course. Your belief that Cooney had it relatively easy, that he had the road to a title shot cleared for him because he's white, is understandable. I'm sure many of us agree. I agree. But I stop short when you call him a fraud. He was an extraordinarily hard hitter with flaws that got exposed. But he excited the public and when he got his big chance he did well. Not well enough to win but he put up a good fight against one of the best heavyweight champs ever.

A side note: I watched Cooney vs Foreman in Denver with a onetime Featherweight contender of the late 1940s and early '50s named Corky Gonzales. (Look him up.) I was a Cooney fan. Corky didn't like him. He resented Cooney's favorable treatment by the media. He pulled for Foreman for the same reasons you have expressed here.

 

But look at what happened after Gerry Cooney's title shot against WBC Champ Larry Holmes. In 1987, Cooney lost to IBF Champ Michael Spinks and in Jan 1990 he lost to an old come backing George Foreman by a KO. But like I say, I was never impressed by Cooney, but that is my opinion, the opinions by others may vary.

 

I like a contender that is willing to take chances on his career, not fighters who fights has been's or never was's. But like I said, everyone has the rights to their own opinions. But cool post buddy.