At the time of his #1 ranking, did Gerry truly deserve it, or did Michael Dokes, or Greg Page deserve the top spot?
Unlike Page or Dokes, Gerry did beat NAME foes, like Jimmy Young, Norton and Ron Lyle. Yes they were all past there best, but outside of Norton, no one blasted Lyle and Young out the way he did.
Gerry didn't have much to beat at the time, the big names weren't fighting each other and he beat 3 older but known names in rapid succession. Page and Dokes were minnows, Weaver was a champ, Coetzee had a shot at Weaver and lost a shocking decision to Snipes etc. I'd say it was quite fair that Cooney got his shot, the public most certainly wanted it too. He was given a great shot at a very underrated Holmes.
At the time of the his #1 ranking, Dokes was still finding his way up the ladder, and Page, though a legit top ten fighter, was just newly arrived, so yes Gerry deserved it.
