The Foreman Vs Cooney KO

That is the most brutal left uppercut I have ever seen. Most of the big uppercuts I see are from the right hand but Foreman proved he his left uppercut was just as powerful and effective. He threw it so quickly and cunningly that it looked very casual. It's like he was going to hop and dance with Cooney and instead knocks him out. Awesome power & awesome KO from Foreman!

Can anyone give a LEFT uppercut that can rival this? The punch doesn't necessary have to involve a knock down but that'd make a stronger case.

 

The old "Archie Moore Armadillo "defence. Foreman 's arm punches could put your lights out and he is extremely accurate here, impressive imo!

 

One of my favourite knockouts. I love how nonchalant George looks.

 

Foreman just walks threw Cooney punches and that uppercut would have ko'd a horse.

 

cooney was well out of his depth .he wasn't as successful with his left hook to the bollox as he was with holmes either

 

Devastating KO against a fragile-chinned, way past it fighter. Foreman always looked good against guys who were stationary and lacked a lot of speed and head movement. The Cooney who fought Holmes would have been a much stiffer test for George.

 

Does the Cooney who fought Holmes beat that version of George?

Would the Cooney of 1982 get KO'd by the George of 1990?

 

I'm not sure the Cooney of 1980-82 could have beaten the Foreman of 1990. I don't rule a Cooney victory out, but I am doubtful that it would have happened. I say this because Cooney's defense was always suspect, and his chin was weak. The 1990 Foreman had an edge in handspeed over the 1980-82 Cooney, and for this reason I don't think Cooney could have blocked Foreman's punches.

I may be wrong, as there's always the possibility that the 1980-82 Cooney might have landed the first big bombs of the fight, and finished George off early. Who knows.

 

Some people claim that Cooney had Foreman hurt and ready to go in the first round of their fight. Gil Clancy in particular said this about the bout.

What do you guys think: did Cooney really have Foreman in big trouble near the end of the first round?

I can see that Cooney wobbled Foreman with a quick, sharpy left hook. It's hard to tell if Foreman was seriously hurt, though.

 

No.

Cooney did not have George in a big trouble, George was stunned for a couple of seconds but fought right back.

 

A very entertaining match for the brief period that it lasted. Cooney showed up in respectable condition and had been working diligently with Gil Clancy ( former Foreman trainer, ) specifically for this match. Despite being 33 years of age and having been off for 3 years, Cooney looked both physically and spiritually better than he did against Michael Spinks in '87.

Someone here ( probably Anthony, ) described Cooney as being a stationary target against Foreman. I have to disagree. He was anything BUT stationary in that fight. Gerry was effectively using good footwork and firing what looked like a picture perfect jab in the first round. Some of those shots were noticably hurting George too. Larry Holmes was at ringside and expressed some admiration for how well Cooney was handling himself that evening. For me, I found it ashame that a man who was showing such skill at a past prime stage never properly harnessed these abilities back when it mattered most.

The question had been asked " could a 1982 Cooney have beaten a 90's Foreman? My answer is anything is possible, but I probably wouldn't have bet money on it. As I have already touched upon, Cooney had awesome potential, but unfortunately it was never developed beyond that. I think he certainly could have lasted longer than a mere 2 rounds and perhaps given an aging big George some problems.. At the end of the day however, is suspect defense and tendency to fold under pressure would be his ultimate undoing..

 

Cooney seemed like he was in good shape to be a P.E. coach at a high school in 1990.... However, at age 33 and inactive since 1987, Gerry Cooney lost a lot of upper body tone, etc.... Cooney's shoulders were not as broad or bulky as they were in the early 80s..... Again, I'm sure Cooney could still spar and punch pretty good in 1990, but his ability to go 10 HARDS rounds and absorb punches seemed like at an all-time low......

Gerry "Boy" Cooney never had a very solid beard to begin with, but, by 1990 against Foreman, Cooney just appeared fragile.... And I do NOT think Cooney's hook shot was thrown with the type of power he generated at age 23 to 27.....

MR.BILL

 

Have to agree with Mr Bills assessment.Gerry just looked to me, aged and pale, compared to his best days. Still his left hook had enough power in it to rock George perhaps more then any single punch in his career besides Ron Lyles. As for Georges left uppercut not many fighters at any weight master that punch. Can any of you think of another top heavy who had a really great left uppercut? Razor Rudduck had kind of a left hook-uppercut with power on it.