The Cooney that Spinks and Foreman beat is a good possibility if he could get out of the nearly rounds he stops him....even when Cooney was a washed up alcoholic he was still formidable early and is a huge man with pretty quick feet and fast hands...the Holmes Cooney was too powerful
GREAT analysis--100% onboard!! Everything I considered about this hypothetical matchup you pinpointed in your summary. Well done!!
Cooney was also a very good body puncher so it would be interesting to see if he went to Frazier's bread basket although the issue with that is Cooney leaves himself more vulnerable to counters. Still I think Cooney is a live underdog whilst you'd favour Frazier based on his sheer quality and consistency at world level. But stylistically coming forward aggressively vs a big punching KO artist who is considerably bigger is bit of a dangerous game of Russian roulette.
I understand some of the opinions here but I just can't see Cooney going 8,9,10 rounds with Joe Frazier in his face . Cooney has to win in the 1st 3 rounds or he's chopped down in about 5, he ain't got the best chin.