Trevor Berbick vs Gerry Cooney

I got Cooney

 

Tbh, I can't believe how well Cooney did against Holmes given that he'd never gone more than eight (and that only once), and his three best wins were over shot 70s greats. I thought Cooney gave Holmes as good of a fight as anyone would have expected, and Cooney was prime. Berbick on the other hand, took Holmes the 15-round distance, and in my opinion gave Holmes a tougher fight. Holmes only notably hurt Berbick a couple times, put couldn't put Berbick away, and couldn't even deck him. And Berbick kept coming on, even in round 15; he even shook Larry up a couple times in that round. I'm not saying all that to say Berbick is better than Cooney, tho I still go with Berbick by decision, tho I'm not sure how close it would be.

 

agreed. I was making the point that Berbick proved he could take punishment from Holmes better than Cooney did.

 

No.

 

If I recall, Berbick-Cooney was thisclose to happening but Berbick was threatened about leaving the HBO tourney. Cooney ended up fighting Spinks while Berbick went the way of previous Tyson opponents.

 

and heck, we would've rather seen Berbick-Cooney. They may have been past it, but technically they were on the same page, and should've still been a battle. Historically, though, Berbick did better after losses. After Cooney's first loss, he was shot.

 

Up to and Including Holmes fight i would pick Cooney. His left was lethal. If you weren't mobile you were in trouble. Berbick wasn't that special. Post Holmes Berbick. Tough guy would of made Cooney fold

 

All respect, and I can see where Berbick vs Holmes could put people to sleep. But I love that fight; it was such a great display of Championship jabbing. The mistake Holmes made, the one that kept Berbick from getting knocked out in 10, was Holmes losing his cool early on because of Berbick's post-round antics. Larry let his anger mess up his strategy. Still, if I was going to show anyone great use of a top level heavyweight jab, it would be fights like this and Foreman-Briggs.

 

Cooney lasted as long as he did only because Holmes was just beginning his decline and made a tactical error in the 2nd. Larry could have finished things there had he jumped all over him. He was getting older and at the time unnecessarily cautious.

 

Berbick was dominated nearly the entirety of the Holmes fight and mostly just got hit a lot.

I'll agree that was pretty good considering Holmes was still at his peak.

 

Berbick stops him late, after being heavily knocked down in the first round.
Trevor was a tough old bird and would take a lot of shots from Cooney.
By the last few rounds, Cooney s wiped out and open to Berbick best shots.
Would be a good fight to watch!

 

I think because of Cooney's punching power Holmes was cautious. He didn't want to do anything stupid and get caught. Futch told Holmes in the corner to take his time and be careful. Arcel also told him to be careful and not let Cooney land a hail mary punch. Holmes game plan from the start was to make Gerry drunk and then mug him and that is exactly what he did. He did not stand stationary in the middle of the ring and circled to his left away from Cooney's left hand and peppered Cooney with Jabs and planted for a few right hands then kept moving. Cooney wasn't used to this and didn't use his right hand which Holmes would have been circling right into. Perfect game plan from Holmes and a bad one from Cooney.