If Gerry Cooney didn't fight Larry Holmes in 1982 and picked on older and unranked

That’s is a common misconception on two counts. It was never as simple as that for either Frank Bruno or Gerry Cooney.

Bruno, like Cooney, was also too high profile to benefit from proper seasoning but neither Frank nor Cooney “completely fell apart when hit”. That is totally unfair. Both really were the real McCoy. The best contenders all knew how good they both were and were therefore not prepared to trade their ranking for anything less than championship money. Both were killers in the gym. Not many could live with them in Sparring. The desire really went out the journeymen that fought them too. I think that went for both Frank and Gerry. And it was only the very best that made them “completely fall apart”.

 

Cooney never fought anything in between "the very best" and a Ring fringe contender who had won one of his previous three including a 1 round axing.

 

It showed Cooney had heart when he got up after that knockdown in the 2nd round. He even came back to win at least a couple of rounds. It also showed that Holmes was just at the very beginning of his decline, as it looked to me as though Gerry was ripe for the taking in that round, and the Champ miscalculated his strength. I thought the fight could have been finished right there.

Cooney's wins even over past-it Lyle, Young, and Norton were still no joke imo. When they were happening I was quite impressed. I stopped being impressed when I realized his relative inactivity before the Holmes fight, to me he should have cracked a contender like Page, Berbick, Snipes, or Coetzee for the shot. Heck, even Leon would have made me feel better about that title shot.

That said, he did do pretty darn good considering the inactivity. A big problem considering his overall validity is what he did after that fight, which was to prove to be basically nothing. Had he come back to beat one of the above fighters in sensational fashion, I would have been sure of his being the #2 heavyweight after Holmes. Instead he took off over two years (!), "came back" and beat meh before getting his head pounded in twice (partly due to that very inactivity and wins over meh).

I have to give Gerry some credit though, he did have a fantastic left hook. Not much else.

 

I'd have to see Gerry go in against a couple of the likes of Berbick, Snipes, Spinks, Cobb etc before Holmes and still it might not have been enough against Larry, but I think Cooney needed tougher fights.
The likes of washed-up Lyle and a past his best Ken Norton who froze weren't tests, but the Jimmy Young victory was a good win for Gerry. I think Gerry and his team lacked confidence in him and if you lack self-belief, it's tough.

 

I think ANY victory against Jimmy Young from post-Shavers to at the time of the Cooney fight is an excellent victory. I still think Young beat Ali, and deserved that belt (though he would have controversially lost if to Norton, anyway).

 

Norton was rated number 6 by the WBC when Cooney beat him. Ken had came out of a 15 month retirement to beat the unbeaten Tex Cobb just three months after Cobb TKOd Ernie Shavers. It very much put Ken back into the title picture.

Even In 1981 Jimmy Young was seen as a viable challenger to Holmes after his 5 fight win streak after losing to Cooney. Years later when Tony Tucker was selected to meet Douglas in a vacant IBF title contest, Young was about the best thing on Tuckers Resume.

Eddie Gregg was ranked number 3 by the WBA, number 9 by the WBC when Cooney crushed him.

 

I agree with this. A lot of people act like Jimmy was a complete shell of his former self when Cooney fought him. If you actually watch the fight, you can see that Jimmy is still a very game and competent fighter. This was a really good win for Gerry. Much better than the Lyle and Norton blowouts.

 

In relation to guys who challenged Holmes I think Cooney had fought enough names to warrant a title fight. He was a genuine number one challenger. Marvis had like 10 fights. Witherspoon had 16 fights and didn’t really beat Snipes. Weaver had lost to both Bobick brothers. Scott Frank challenged Holmes on the back of a draw. Etc etc.

But I agree Gerrys chances against Larry improve immeasurably had he fought as often as Holmes had over the previous 14 months. He needed good rounds with somebody like Cobb or Berbick to stay sharp.

I back Cooney against anybody but Larry. With more activity he at least lasts the distance.

 

Cobb might have been perfect, and a good draw. If Cooney could have floored or even stopped Cobb, that would have been something.

 

Yeah, the Jimmy Young win was a good one for Gerry.
I'm watching some old bouts while we're in the coronavirus lockdown so I might have a look at the Young-Ali fight too.

 

The Young-Ali fight is a good, natural alternative to Ambien.

 

Lmao!

 

I thought after your first sentence you'd say Wilder had achieved far more. I mean Cooney was more coddled than Wilder[/QUOTE]

no way. Wilder Was so coddled and fought nobody and avoided Wlad, Joshua, and only chose Fury cause his team knew he couldn’t punch and was inactive due to drug abuse.
And he still got beat twice. Cooney went 13 rounds with Prime Holmes. And only lost to hall of fame fighters in his career. Beating a 36 year old Norton ranked 6 by wbc still better than beating a 40-50 year old twice busted for ped Ortiz too

 

Cooney was also inactive for about a year between the Norton fight and his challenge to Holmes. His management wouldn't risk his position and the potential payday by letting him even take a tick over.
Gerry was in no way ready for Holmes which makes his showing all the more commendable in my view. He had to take the fight for the money.

 

The comparison with Bruno is an interesting one. Never even thought about it but it's a decent shout.