How Well Would Gerry Cooney Perform in the Modern HW Era?

Gerry Cooney; 6ft 6, 81 inch reach, generally came in at around 220lbs.

He wasn't the most skilled boxer and could look a little clumsy at times but he was decent enough and for any flaws in his ability he did have awesome power. Cooney's left hook, in particular, was a devastating shot.

Cooney was very active early on, boxing six or seven times a year.

He brutally demolished all lesser opposition, usually within four rounds, including fading, past their best stars such as Lyle, Young and Norton.

He came up short against a prime Larry Holmes; however he still went thirteen rounds with Holmes and he had had his own moments throughout the fight.

No shame in this, Holmes is one of the best and was probably at his best during that period.

Cooney was pretty good, I think and we might have seen more from him had his career been handled better.

Anyway with all this speculation on the board about old heavyweights vs modern heavyweights I was wondering what ESB thinks about Gerry the Gent and in particular how well would he perform in the modern era.

 

Fair points, Cooney certainly had personal issues and promotional / managerial problems which did hurt his career. We likely didn't see the absolute best from him and he only had around 30 fights.

I think the only modern super heavy that definitely beats Cooney is Lewis, almost certainly by stoppage.

However I give him a decent chance against both Klitschko's particularly had he fought them early on. Wlad, especially, improved a lot with experience.

As for the rest; Wilder, Fury, Joshua and the like I can see Cooney stopping them all, probably early.

I think Cooney would fit in well with the current scene and have a lot of success.

I've just had a quick look at him again. Cooney had pretty fast hands for a big man and that left hook was even better than I remember. What a shot!