sparring partners of Gerry Cooney

[bennie]

Here are some quotes from Time magazine and others from Joe Bugner when he was Cooney's sparring partner a few weeks before the Holmes fight,wearing 16 oz. gloves.
"This young man has the greatest left hook I have ever felt and that includes Fraziers.
"He takes a good shot,Gerry does,He also delivers a bloody harder one".
He wants to put it right through you".
"He hits you here and the punch comes through there",said Bugner,pointing first to his liver and then to his kidney..
"He is the most powerful puncher Ive ever seen.Frazier had a more vicious hook,but Cooney's has more force".

Bugner always had the chat. We had to put up with this kind of bs for years in Blighty.

Bennie

I saw him being interviewed on KOTV the other week and thought what he said was very interesting.

He went the distance twice with Ali. Went the distance with Frazier. Lost a split decision to Lyle. Other than Lennox Lewis I don’t think there’s been a British Heavy who could have done so well against those guys.

His style was annoying. We Brits will forgive a guy who goes out on their shield or who fails heroically. Bugner never did this.

You know the British scene and that era far better than me. Do you think he was a bit hard done to?

Not really, Ezzard. Joe was a high-class journeyman whose chin enabled him to survive with the big boys but, Frazier apart, he never really performed with much ambition (and he would lose to Frazier's son in turn, in one of the most boring fights I have ever seen). Bugner's story was largely the same: build up a run of wins over patsies, cash in against a contender, and fight to lose.
Joe was a great businessman, not a great fighter.

[jaclem2]

bennie...i agree....bugner had a good chin and if a guy with his style, which was to go the distance decides that's all he is in there for he's going to have a good record for doing just that against very good fighters. all he has to do is "fight"defensively which he did very well. alas, it was not interesting to watch, but he made money doing it.

[Controversial]

One thing I read about Bugner was he became defensive and held back his punches after Ulric Regis died after their fight, not sure how much weight to give that though

[Caractacus]

In preparation for his fight with Phillipp Brown in September 1984.
Cooney sparred with Bob Dietlmeier and Irish Cruserweight Joe Cristle
at Gleason's Gym in NYC.

[evrenb]

In preparation for his fight with Phillipp Brown in September 1984.
Cooney sparred with Bob Dietlmeier and Irish Cruserweight Joe Cristle
at Gleason's Gym in NYC.

I watched the other night Cooney in an exhibition with Boone Kirkman. I am unsure if he was a sparring partner though as Kirkman must have been retired by then .

[Caractacus]

Here is a link to a three round exhibition that Gerry Cooney had with a sparring partner,
the 1985 AAU Champ Wesley Watson
December.19.1989 when Cooney was preparing to fight Big George Foreman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nYGnlXnvJA

[ImranSarwar]

Researching a name today. Thanks guys....I think I find what I need. Walter Santemore once met him, at the Catskills..

[actjac]

In preparation for his fight with Phillipp Brown in September 1984.
Cooney sparred with Bob Dietlmeier and Irish Cruserweight Joe Cristle
at Gleason's Gym in NYC.

I watched the other night Cooney in an exhibition with Boone Kirkman. I am unsure if he was a sparring partner though as Kirkman must have been retired by then .

The exhibition with Kirkman in Eugene, Oregon was real and Boone was not a sparring partner. .Gerry used Eugene for a couple of training camps and also used Oregon heavyweight Ken Arlt for sparring.

[actjac]

In preparation for his fight with Phillipp Brown in September 1984.
Cooney sparred with Bob Dietlmeier and Irish Cruserweight Joe Cristle
at Gleason's Gym in NYC.

I watched the other night Cooney in an exhibition with Boone Kirkman. I am unsure if he was a sparring partner though as Kirkman must have been retired by then .

Where can the Cooney-Kirkman exhibition be seen?

[evrenb]

In preparation for his fight with Phillipp Brown in September 1984.
Cooney sparred with Bob Dietlmeier and Irish Cruserweight Joe Cristle
at Gleason's Gym in NYC.

I watched the other night Cooney in an exhibition with Boone Kirkman. I am unsure if he was a sparring partner though as Kirkman must have been retired by then .

Where can the Cooney-Kirkman exhibition be seen?

I have a copy of it but am unsure where you can view online if that was your question.

[Caractacus]

I have a copy of it but am unsure where you can view online if that was your question.

So is there something precluding you from downloading Cooney vrs Kirkman on youtube for all us here to view for ourselves?
like you had done the "Original,unedited and unabridge footage of rounds four and five
of Cassius Clay vrs Henry Cooper I ?

[evrenb]

I have a copy of it but am unsure where you can view online if that was your question.

So is there something precluding you from downloading Cooney vrs Kirkman on youtube for all us here to view for ourselves?
like you had done the "Original,unedited and unabridge footage of rounds four and five
of Cassius Clay vrs Henry Cooper I ?

Yes there is something 'precluding' me from downloading it...

[bollox]

I was of the (obviously mistaken) belief that sparring was used to practice one's skills, not to punch bejesus out of the other guy

[Caractacus]

According to a 1987 issue of sports illustrated back in the mid-1980's when Cooney was making a comeback,
he did an exhibition with Harold Rice at Gilley's bar in Pasadena Texas who reportly showed Cooney up and embarresed Cooney.
Shortly afterward he lured him with 1500 dollars for Harold Rice to be a sparring partner at his training camp and then Cooney proceeded to,
break two of Rices ribs with one left hook,
broke an eardrum with another left hook.
broke his nose with a riight cross,
and left Harold Rice parylized from the waist down for several days.

It was the 4 round exhibition( 6 months after the loss to Larry Holmes) at Gilley's Bar in Pasedena Texas with Harold Rice (the heavyweight champion of Connecticut ,272 lbs)
that Cooney had injured his hand when he hit Rice in the elbow(chipping a bone and a seperated ligament)
that postponed a fight with Philip Brown ,Cooney reportedly looked sluggish and the crowd booed and Cooney may have thought that Rice may have been to trying and show up Cooney in front of a crowd is may have been what probably made Cooney angry at him to get him to spar with him later.

[Caractacus]

I watched the other night Cooney in an exhibition with Boone Kirkman. I am unsure if he was a sparring partner though as Kirkman must have been retired by then .

Where can the Cooney-Kirkman exhibition be seen?

I have a copy of it but am unsure where you can view online if that was your question.

So have you uploaded it on youtube as of yet ?

[ImranSarwar]

According to a 1987 issue of sports illustrated back in the mid-1980's when Cooney was making a comeback,
he did an exhibition with Harold Rice at Gilley's bar in Pasadena Texas who reportly showed Cooney up and embarresed Cooney.
Shortly afterward he lured him with 1500 dollars for Harold Rice to be a sparring partner at his training camp and then Cooney proceeded to,
break two of Rices ribs with one left hook,
broke an eardrum with another left hook.
broke his nose with a riight cross,
and left Harold Rice parylized from the waist down for several days.

It was the 4 round exhibition( 6 months after the loss to Larry Holmes) at Gilley's Bar in Pasedena Texas with Harold Rice (the heavyweight champion of Connecticut ,272 lbs)
that Cooney had injured his hand when he hit Rice in the elbow(chipping a bone and a seperated ligament)
that postponed a fight with Philip Brown ,Cooney reportedly looked sluggish and the crowd booed and Cooney may have thought that Rice may have been to trying and show up Cooney in front of a crowd is may have been what probably made Cooney angry at him to get him to spar with him later.

Philip Brown is from CT too. I used to be in same gym as Harold Rice. I'm sure he moved around though but I see him sometimes.

[franciscobiro]

[evrenb]

Where can the Cooney-Kirkman exhibition be seen?

I have a copy of it but am unsure where you can view online if that was your question.

So have you uploaded it on youtube as of yet ?

Hi. No I haven't and I don't plan to either.. I believe that a few collectors who advertise their material for sale have it. With a bit of research you can find it and purchase it. Then you can upload onto YouTube.

Regards

Evrenb

[Caractacus]

You know, If I did purchase a copy from a collector
i dont think that I will be posting it on youtube either.
You know why ?
Because perhaps I may be a cheap-assed b*stard myself.

[evrenb]

You know, If I did purchase a copy from a collector
i dont think that I will be posting it on youtube either.
You know why ?
Because perhaps I may be a cheap-assed b*stard myself.

There's no perhaps about it. I've never known such a cheap bastard as you.

[Caractacus]

But I just bet over the years that you have really "appreciated" the "collectors"
who have taken their time and energy to download a lot of classic fights on youtube so that you can enjoy them too.
would one be correct in assuming that sir ?
LOL

[evrenb]

But I just bet over the years that you have really "appreciated" the "collectors"
who have taken their time and energy to download a lot of classic fights on youtube so that you can enjoy them too.
would one be correct in assuming that sir ?
LOL

No you wouldn't be correct.

[Caractacus]

Another canceled fight that Gerry Cooney had to call off because he damaged his left hand
was a scheduled fight with Mike Koraniki in the Spring of 1979.

[Caractacus]

I watched the other night Cooney in an exhibition with Boone Kirkman. I am unsure if he was a sparring partner though as Kirkman must have been retired by then .

Cooney vrs Kirkman February-11-1983 Eugene Oregon.
That was another scheduled four round exhibition that Victor Valle had for Cooney
(after the Harold Rice exhibition in Pasadena Texas in December 1982) to try and get him back in shape
and fighting in front of a live audience again after his loss to Larry Holmes.
Boone Kirkmans last professional fight had been in January 1978 and had just turned 38 years old
and he just wanted to see how competitive he could be again against a known fighter.
However Kirkman said in a interview that Cooney got carried away and was attempting to knock him out
so when Cooney knocked him down with a left hook to the head at the end of round three
his corner stop the exhibition before the fourth round had started.

[Caractacus]

Wanna see Gerry Cooney's special weight training coach that his camp employed after the Holmes fight
to try and add speed to Cooney's punches?
here is Ritchie Barathy (who owned a gym in Huntington NY)on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson from 1979.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KegRaYGSc4U