Joe Frazier -Does He Chop Down Cooney Like A Tree?

Down goes Cooney!

 

Frazier all wrong for Cooney, mid to late KO. After a sustained beating.

Can defo see Cooney hurting Frazier though and having some shifts of momentum.

 

Cooney could hurt Frazier a bit until he went smokin' and there's no stoppin' nor pourin' for a man that ain't dancin'.

 

Cooney was too hittable and too reliant on his left to beat Frazier. He will likely hurt Frazier early but Joe survives and chops him down.

Frazier tko 8.

 

I actually see Cooney as a very dangerous fight for Frazier more so than alot of people here actually. Cooney has a considerable size advantage over Frazier and he hits like a truck.

I love Frazier as a fighter who wouldn't ? But I've always felt Frazier's H2H ability vs big punching KO artists is a bit unproven. Whilst Frazier had a good chin I don't think it's granite and he can be hurt and floored.

Maybe I'm being a bit unfair to Frazier because Foreman is literally the worst style match up for him imaginable. But as I said Frazier for me is a bit unproven against big punching KO artists.

Would I favour Frazier ? Yeah because he's is a great and he's a warrior and Cooney is no Foreman.

But style wise Cooney's considerable size advantage and power does make him a live underdog here. Especially since Frazier would be coming straight at Cooney aggressively and not boxing him smartly at distance like Holmes did.

 

I agree. Those thinking this would be an easy win for Joe are all wrong IMO. Frazier is one of my all time favs, but I think he has trouble with Gerry especially in the first 3 rounds. If he gets past that he has a good shot at wearing Cooney down around 8-10 rounds. Cooney is not given credit for his true abilities, he was a very dangerous puncher who never reached his full potential.

 

Frazier gets floored and badly staggered early rounds. Cooney gets floored, badly staggered, and stopped in 11.

Cooney was no George Foreman.

 

Though Frazier didn't have a win against a legitimate big puncher,
I don't believe he would've had issues against most of them.
Because it wasn't Foreman's size or power that gave him the issues it
was his tactics.
The pushing and pulling tactic, anytime Frazier tried to set his feet
was the key to Foreman's victory over him.
Foreman's tactic were borderline against Frazier, to say the least.
Some referee's would've at least warned him about it, some may
have taken points.
Cooney, didn't fight that way. His style was much more predictable
and traditional.
This is where Frazier beat him, though unlike some on this post
believe, it wouldn't be easy for him , and he'd be literally walking through
s minefield against him.
But Frazier's ability to slip Cooney's jab (he was above average with it)
and his bobbing and weaving style, would make for a hard target to
find with his power punches.
Frazier would stay in Cooney's chest, blunting his power,
not allowing him to get full leverage into his punches.
Slowly but surely after a few rds of give and take, Frazier's
relentless aggression, and ability to make Cooney miss the vast
majority of his power shots, would gain control of the fight, and
grind Cooney down for a 10th-11th rd ko.

 

Yes I think Joe Frazier breaks down Cooney for a stoppage or KO win. But I also think it would take several rounds to do it and Gerry might land a few of those hard lefts along the way

 

That’s fair to say that Cooney could still be very dangerous and especially so in the early rounds while Joe would be building himself to a full head of steam.

We saw even an old Cooney cause a steel chinned Foreman to stumble from a single left hook.

Even with his greater height and reach, it would be interesting to see how Cooney would try to deal with such a smaller opponent who knew how to use his lesser size to his best advantage.

In reality, Cooney was only about 1/2” to 1” taller than Joe Bugner. Of course Bugner gave Frazier some issues but it was a past prime Frazier.

 

If it is true that you "don't hook with a hooker", then one of these guys would be in big trouble because these are 2 of the happiest hookers ever.

 

If Cooney actually wants to win rather than show like he did with Holmes, then it could be a war and might end up badly for Frazier. A motivated Cooney without his self-defeating baggage, which I'm not sure we ever saw, would be a dangerous night for anyone.

The Cooney "that is" rather than the Cooney "that could be" would likely find a reason to show rather than win. Still, he could do some damage in any event and make it a good fight on his way to losing.