Was Gerry Cooney's Hook > Smokin' Joes?

Wasn't the second Holmes fight just a little before then? Earnie was good enough to knock a top five ATG down....hard. Cooney had a significantly weaker chin than Larry.

As I mentioned (and of course this is all just my worthless opinion) if we go back and rewatch the second round of the Holmes fight, Larry made a tactical error letting Gerry go after the knockdown. Cooney was basically done then. How would he take a right from Shavers?

Oh wait, let me apologize in advance @ETM, you must have meant the actual 1980 Cooney, who I believe was pretty fearsome. I dumbly kept thinking of the Holmes Cooney, who was carrying on his shoulders the long lay off, etc. No excuses of course, Larry's victory was a fine (though unnecessarily difficult) one.

Sure, he could have gotten to Earnie...not if Earnie got there first.

 

Oh yeah, the knockouts by Quarry and Lyle pointed them out in stark relief.

It's actually a little creepy to imagine Earnie with a better chin and stamina. Who knows what he would have accomplished, given that he had a few amazing-wins on his record. Same with Gerry.