Spinks vs Cooney. Spinks outweighed by 30Lbs. And he destroys Cooney in 5 rounds.

Agreed. I think it took the most out of him mentally, people were really building him up to unrealistic proportions and when he lost he cracked mentally. He's father's treatment of him is probably what made him have such little confidence in himself to start off with and then when the whole country was behind him and he lost, he just lost the will to really go on.

 

I agree.
Spinks' win over Cooney was very impressive.
Cooney may have dropped down the heavyweight ladder a bit but he was a huge and hugely dangerous opponent for Spinks.

 

Willard and Cooney were both ****.

 

About the Willard comparison. Not true. Cooney actually could have gone
somewhere. As you have read, things in his life didn't allow it.

 

And Jess Willard did. He went all the way to the championship of the world. :good

 

Spinks looked impressive in beating Cooney. But the win can only hold so much value. Gerry was no longer a world class contender. He was five years removed from his best, and more or less a semi retired boxer. He entered the ring that night at a career high 238 lbs, and was not carrying it well at all. There had been numerous reports of alcohol use, and he had made all but 3 ring appearances in the previous 5 years. The best that can be said for spinks, is that he handled a " bigger man", but not a great opponent.

 

weird thread :huh

lots of Goodnight irene quotes, but none of the original are there :bart

 

Cooney was terrible in the fight and was partying during the lead up.
Though not Spinks fault, this was an extremely overrated win.

About Willard. We know his potential. We never saw Conney's.

 

I kept looking into David vs Goliath match ups since this thread was originally posted and expanded my list considerably. I'm sure that Sam Langford and other old timers had more, but I couldn't find the actual weights for most of their fights.

1891-04-27 Bob Fitzsimmons vs Abe Coughle 160 lbs vs 230 lbs KO2
1892-04-26 Bob Fitzsimmons vs Charles Puff 155 lbs vs 230 lbs KO2
1892-09-07 James J. Corbett vs John L. Sullivan 178 lbs vs 212 lbs KO21
1900-04-30 Bob Fitzsimmons vs Ed Dunkhorst 170lbs vs 260 lbs KO2
1900-08-10 Bob Fitzsimmons vs Gus Ruhlin 158 lbs vs 195 lbs KO6
1914-07-01 Joe Jeannette vs Battling Jim Johnson 197 lbs vs 240 lbs W10
1916-12-12 Sam Langford vs Battling Jim Johnson 191 lbs vs 224 lbs KO12
1917-05-01 Sam Langford vs Bill Tate KO5
1918-12-16 Jack Dempsey vs Carl Morris 185 lbs vs 220 lbs KO1
1919-04-02 Jack Dempsey vs Tony Drake 197 lbs vs 257 lbs KO1
1919-07-04 Jack Dempsey vs Jess Willard 187 lbs vs 245 KO3
1920-11-17 Sam Langford vs George Godfrey KO2
1921-03-18 Tommy Gibbons vs Al Reich 182 lbs vs 219 lbs KO1
1921-08-17 Sam Langford vs George Godfrey 185? lbs vs 220 lbs KO1
1922-09-26 Harry Greb vs Al Benedict 173 lbs vs 210 lbs TKO2
1924-03-31 Tommy Gibbons vs Soldier Lee 180 lbs vs 210 lbs TKO3
1925-01-30 Tommy Gibbons vs Tiny Jim Herman 179 lbs vs 225 lbs KO3
1930-11-28 Mickey Walker vs KO Christner 166 lbs vs 202 lbs KO1
1931-04-10 Mickey Walker vs Bearcat Wright 168 lbs vs 210 lbs W10
1931-08-17 Mickey Walker vs Jack Gagnon 167 lbs vs 209 lbs KO1
1932-07-25 Mickey Walker vs Salvatore Ruggirello 169 lbs vs 205 lbs KO1
1932-12-06 Mickey Walker vs Arthur De Kuh 175 lbs vs 223 lbs KO1
1933-11-22 Tommy Loughran vs Ray Impellittiere 185 lbs vs 255 W10
1934-06-14 Max Baer vs Primo Carnera 209 lbs vs 263 lbs KO11
1935-06-20 Tommy Loughran vs Ray Impellittiere 188 lbs vs 254 lbs UD10
1935-06-25 Joe Louis vs Primo Carnera 196 lbs vs 260 lbs KO6
1939-06-28 Joe Louis vs Tony Galento 200 lbs vs 233 lbs TKO4
1941-03-21 Joe Louis vs Abe Simon 202 lbs vs 254 lbs KO13
1942-01-09 Joe Louis vs Buddy Baer 206 lbs vs 250 lbs KO1
1942-03-27 Joe Louis vs Abe Simon 207 lbs vs 255 TKO6
1946-03-04 Joey Maxim vs Panther Williams 184 lbs vs 220 lbs UD10
1948-05-07 Joey Maxim vs Francisco de la Cruz 189 lbs vs 238 lbs PTS10
1948-09-14 Rocky Marciano vs Humphrey Jackson 183 lbs vs 254 lbs KO1
1948-12-10 Ezzard Charles vs Joe Baksi 178 lbs vs 210 lbs TKO11
1950-09-18 Rocky Marciano vs Johnny Shkor 190 lbs vs 220 lbs KO6
1950-09-27 Ezzard Charles vs Joe Louis 184 lbs vs 218 lbs UD15
1950-12-18 Rocky Marciano vs Bill Wilson 190 lbs vs 229 lbs TKO1
1951-06-09 Archie Moore vs Abel Cestac 177 lbs vs 224 lbs RTD9
1952-02-01 Roland LaStarza vs Bill Wilson 190 lbs vs 220 lbs KO4
1952-11-24 Harold Johnson vs Nino Valdes 176 lbs vs 210 lbs UD10
1956-04-04 Willie Pastrano vs Johnny Arthur 188 lbs vs 228 lbs UD10
1956-04-16 Archie Moore vs George Parmentier 193 lbs vs 233 lbs TKO3
1956-09-29 Joey Maxim vs Edgardo Romero 191 lbs vs 249 lbs PTS10
1957-12-17 Harold Johnson vs Sid Peaks 179 lbs vs 215 lbs KO5
1966-01-17 Joe Frazier vs Mel Turnbow 199 lbs vs 231 lbs KO1
1968-03-04 Joe Frazier vs Buster Mathis 204 lbs vs 243 lbs TKO11
1969-01-10 Jerry Quarry vs Charlie Reno 201 lbs vs 251 lbs TKO5
1969-03-24 Jerry Quarry vs Buster Mathis 196 lbs vs 234 lbs UD12
1987-06-15 Michael Spinks vs Gerry Cooney 208 lbs vs 238 lbs KO5
1990-10-25 Evander Holyfield vs James Douglas 208 lbs vs 246 lbs KO3
1991-04-19 Evander Holyfield vs George Foreman 208 lbs vs 257 lbs UD12
1998-07-14 Chris Byrd vs Ross Puritty 213 lbs vs 247 lbs UD10
2003-03-01 Roy Jones Jr vs John Ruiz 193 lbs vs 226 lbs UD12
2004-11-13 Chris Byrd vs Jameel McCline 214 lbs vs 270 lbs SD12
2005-05-17 Eddie Chambers vs Ross Puritty 217 lbs vs 253 lbs UD10
2007-04-14 Ruslan Chagaev vs Nikolay Valuev 228 lbs vs 319 lbs MD12
2009-03-27 Eddie Chambers vs Samuel Peter 223 lbs vs 265 MD10
2009-10-24 Tomasz Adamek vs Andrew Golota 214 lbs vs 256 lbs TKO5
2009-11-07 David Haye vs Nikolay Valuev 217 lbs vs 316 lbs MD12
2010-04-10 Evander Holyfield vs Frans Botha 220 lbs vs 250 lbs TKO8
2010-04-24 Tomasz Adamek vs Chris Arreola 217 lbs vs 250 MD12
2010-08-21 Tomasz Adamek vs Michael Grant 217 lbs vs 261 lbs UD12
2012-07-14 David Haye vs Dereck Chisora 210 lbs vs 247 lbs TKO5

 

Cooney might have been a part-timer with alcohol habit or whatever, but he came out in the first two rounds throwing serious leather.
Several of those punches could have separated Spinks from his senses. Spinks had to fight a superb fight to do what he did.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysMabpknftE&feature=relmfu[/ame]

 

1981 white hype takes spinks glass jaw off i think...but we will never know.

 

Right... Because Spinks was known for having a glass jaw... :roll: