Gerry Cooney V Randy "Tex '' Cobb?

And did Tex Cobb ever fight Greg Page, Pinklon Thomas or Tim Witherspoon ? No.. he fought two relics in Norton and Shavers one of whom beat him and then got sparked by Cooney in 54 seconds. Cooney wasn’t a great fighter but you HAD to be pretty damn good to beat him. Being a fringe contender didn’t cut it and that’s EXACTLY what Tex Cobb was...

 

I won an easy $20.00 the night that they threw Gerry Cooney in with Larry Holmes, the guy I bet was mesmerized with Cooney beating Norton and Young, I was not impressed. If he had looked good in beating a top contender, then I would have had my reservations in betting against him. Look at someone like Muhammad Ali, sure he had his share of fighting older fighters but before he fought Sonny Liston, he fought Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Look at Larry Holmes, he looked good against Shavers before he fought Norton for the title. Cooney was a cash cow. Even Jerry Quarry had the guts to fight top contenders.

 

I agree partially, but Witherspoon, Thomas, and Page came along just a little later than Cooney. He did hurt his shoulder going into the Shavers fight, but I think he would have beaten Earnie if they fought.
After losing to Holmes Rappaport wanted to maximize money while minimizing risk. Mike Jones wanted Cooney to fight more often than he did. They had a falling out and I believe by 1985 Cooney was managed by Rappaport alone. Jones I think died a couple years later from a heart attack. Rappaport basically said why fight Witherspoon, Dokes, or Page for a million, when we can stay on the sideline and get a shot for 4 or 5 million. Business wise it made sense, but not in boxing when you're keeping a guy inactive, he's not training, and he's out drinking and drugging.

 

It does explain the situation with Gerry Cooney but they used him. Maybe a better team would have cultivated his talent. The team that he had essentially ruined him. I do agree from a cash point, but I was used to seeing guys like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, and Sugar Ray Leonard being brought up the ladder step by step, for the purpose of success not for just selfish reasons. Kind of reminds me of Toro Moreno from the 1956 fictional boxing movie, The Harder They Fall with Humphrey Bogard.

 

Frankly I don’t see what any of this has to do with comparing Cooney and Cobb but hey.

 

Toro Moreno. Great movie!

 

I did get the two Moreno's confused, Paco was from the 1982 movie Bad Boys with Sean Penn, you are right, Toro was from, The Harder They Fall

 

Page was parallel with him and the match was talked and attempted. Those two and Dokes were coming thru at the same time.

 

Gerry Cooney with too many left hooks for Cobb to answer. Cooney ugly decision, because weren’t all Tex Cobb fights ugly???