Holmes v Cooney

Ezzard · Post by **Ezzard** » 06 Sep 2005, 11:07

This is one of the first fights I remember watching as a kid. I have never seen it since but I seem to remember Holmes pretty much dominated the fight. I checked earlier on the records and it was really quite close on two of the judges cards.

What was the feeling before the fight? Was it really considered to be a superfight or was it the Cooney's white/Irish background which made it such a hyped fight? Did anyone think that Cooney could win beforehand?

Gerry did put up a lot of resistance but seemed to leave himself (at least psychologically) behind in the ring that night. he was never the same again.

For those of you who were around then and old enough to remember it properly (and probably a few of you were ringside) what was your experience at the time...

Seamus · Post by **Seamus** » 06 Sep 2005, 12:23

I actually went for all the hype and along with Muhammad Ali and many others, I picked Cooney by KO. I quickly noticed though when the fight began, that Cooney's guard wasen't as high as when he fought Norton, and almost immediately Holmes began consistently scoring with his jab. Had Cooney employed the high guard tactic that Witherspoon used against Holmes he would have at least made his opponent's jab less effective and improved his chances of winning. Still, almost all of Cooney's previous bouts had been against fighters who were pretty much stationary targets. Meaning in any scenario, Holmes would be much harder to hit than anyone he had ever fought. In addition, probably the biggest reason of all Cooney lost that night was the fact that Holmes trained harder for that fight than any other in his career. The many sportswriters picking Cooney by KO (alot was made over the knockdown by Snipes), also brought out Holmes pride and helped motivate him even more. Cooney gave a courageous performance that night, but after he was decked in the 2nd round, that he wasen't going to go the distance.

revporl · Post by **revporl** » 06 Sep 2005, 13:23

I remember I was convinced that Cooney was going to win. But I was only 12.

Homes was superb that night, he really had Cooneys number, a proper fight plan and a level of fitness that could have kept him on his toes all night. Cooney was pretty fearsome, had he had a chance against some of the other champions of the era, he would have been in with a shout.

ShoeShine · Post by **ShoeShine** » 06 Sep 2005, 16:11

It was a lot of hype for 2 reasons, First was the great white hope theory and then on top of that a lot of people didnt like Holmes for whatever reason.... I thought Holmes would win...even though Cooney had a GREAT left hook.

dws · Post by **dws** » 06 Sep 2005, 17:45

As Shoeshine said despite his many faults Cooney did have a big left hook,he seriously hurt Holmes to the body on at least one occasion,but also as Larry Merchant said as the fight wore on the class between them was apparent.Cooney seemed to get a lot of goodwill for his effort but he never cashed it in,from his comments on Legendary Nights I think he never really wanted to be a fighter,his father pushed him into it.

tiredoldngrey · Post by **tiredoldngrey** » 06 Sep 2005, 22:19

I watched this fight the same place as Leonard/Hearns: a house a block away that would set up a big screen ion the backyard and throw a party. I'd look over the fence...This was the fight that taught me that one 20-0 record maybe different from another. Holmes won but, looking back and even then, it didn't seem to be the "humiliating" "crushing" defeat you read about now days. There is a school of thought that you must be Cooney himself to have scored and points in his favor, but the late columnist Jim Murray wrote that he thought Cooney to stay near langinh/

Nile4000 · Post by **Nile4000** » 18 Sep 2005, 14:53

I watched this fight on closed circuit tv.Holmes pretty much dominated the fight, though Cooney did have the occasional moment.Funny to think of this matchup 23 years later.