June 11th 1982 Holmes vs Cooney

I was two yrs old & probably picking my nose.... But i remember pulling for Holmes.

 

I was 25 & it was all the talk back then, it was a MEGA-FIGHT & Cooney was the great white hope sort of thing, different attitudes & perspectives back then especially with the media who hyped up all the negatives about the fight giving it a really bad racial undercurrent to the fight. Holmes for me & most people was thee main man but Cooney deff had plenty of people lumping on serious $$$$ that he'd see Holmes off by KO.

That Cooney of the Holmes fight would be champion today no bother & he gave a good account of himself against a great but bitter champion.

 

I have my video rolling right now....... I was getting out of my freshman year of high school and was pulling for Lawrence Holmes all the way..... I'm a white boy, as are my high school buds were / are, and all of them were on the 'Cooney' gravy train..... I knew the 39-0-0 (29) KO's Holmes would school and beat the 25-0-0 (21) KO's Cooney on June 11, 1982...... My dick ripped through my 'Chuck Norris' kick-fighting blue jeans with the stretch groin pocket when Victor Valle came into the ring to save Gerald from further punishemnt by Lawrence....

The original fight date was March 15, 1982... However, it was postponed when Cooney hurt his shoulder in training.... That was all bull****... The smart and capable Vic Valle wanted more time to prepare the green Cooney for Holmes..... TRUTH!

MR.BILLbbb

 

People complain and whine about the score-cards and antics of Gerry's various low-blows to Larry, but **** all that hoopla.... The fight was damn good and pleasing overall...... After 12 heated rds the judges had Hiolmes ahead by scores of:

Duane Ford: 113 to 111

David Moretti: 113 to 111

Jerry Roth: 115 to 109

Had this been a mere 12 rounder in '82, Holmes would've won a clear decision by a unanimous vote... I'm kool with that...........


No ****ing way Gerry boy was winning when Valle entered the ring in rd. 13....

MR.BILL:good:bbbhat

 

V.Close war! 1982 Cooney of this superfight might of won by K0 if he was VS Peak Tyson instead of teh v.much greater Peak Homer. I make teh odds 40/60 for Peak Cooney to beat Peak Tinfoil in a war what endr by KO HGN OMROUNDS OPPPP LESS..

 

I was 11yr old and brought up with boxing in the house so i was well aware how huge this was....and it was HUGE.

It wasnt shown on the terrestrial channels and satellite was still another few years away, but i remember my dad getting a big ****-off aerial on the roof of the house for to pick up RTE in the south of Ireland as they were showing it at about 4am.

Come 11pm, 5hrs before fight time, our house was packed with relatives and friends. Smoke was coming off my mothers hands at the speed of her buttering bread for sandwiches for the dozen or so in the living room.

RTE television decided to show the film 'The Deer Hunter' a few hours before fight time,but after an hour or so the tv went blank. RTE had ****ed up somewhere so they put the whole thing on from scratch again. Movie lasted a lifetime.

Then fight time.

A lot were cheering for Cooney, but the wise heads knew Holmes was gonna be too much for him. Gerry gave a good account of himself, but Larry was too much,nothing to be ashamed about losing to this larry holmes.

It still sticks in my mind how much of an event it was, the only other heavyweight title fight i can remember offhand being so eagerly anticipated was Tyson-Spinks. Without trying to sound patronising, it really was a case of having to have lived through it to realise how big it was. I mean, we all know how big Ali-Frazier 1 was (maybe not a good example but you get my drift), but the guys on here who lived the times and the likes of Burt who was at the fight KNOW how big it was, whilst the rest of us can only imagine.

 

Played a baseball game in the day then went to see it closed circuit in an arena. Great night. I was rooting for Holmes but was pulling for a good fight most of all.

 

Foreman Hook is my favourite poster.

 

What an enormous event....it was front page news not just front sports page. I saw it and remember ALL of the celebrities that showed up at ringside.

 

This really brought back the memories of those times:yep ****in brilliant HBO legendary nights

http://youtu.be/Azx70t_Ztlo

http://youtu.be/e4Y64zKxo-Q

http://youtu.be/e4Y64zKxo-Q

 

I bought the new "True Grit" with Jeff Bridges and it got me thinking about John Wayne...
:think
John Wayne died on June 11, 1979 at age 72 from stomach cancer...:deal

"The Duke" has been gone 32 years now....:|

It kills me that "Holmes-Cooney" is now 29 years old....atsch

MR.BILL:good:hat

 

Whenever i see the years number that have passed by for some of these great fights i automaticly dig into the happy day archieves & think about what barmaid i was sticking it into at the time

I'd better go now as the missis is screetching at me to take out the garbage:verysad

 

Saw it on closed ciruit TV at the local Civic Center at nine years old with my father.

 

:good Yeah. The speed at which the years pass is pretty incredible,is n't it ?
One of the things that I remember hearing about this fight,is that Ronald Reagan had a call booked through to Cooney,in the event of him winning....! Whether it's true or not.....f*** knows ! As for the fight,it illustrated that Cooney had potentilal,but was in no way ready to fight Holmes. After feasting on faded versions of Young,Lyle and Norton,Gerry's management should have put him in with a couple of young contenders before throwing him in with Holmes.