Gerry Cooney v Frank Bruno

[Ezzard]

Bit of a one dimensional shoot-out. You know you'd like to hae seen it though... Who wins: The left hook or the big right?

[RazorKO]

I like Bruno and in my opinion he was a very good fighter, but I dont think he will beat the fast-starting Cooney. Bruno had a very very hard right hand and a good jab but he was far too slow with it and Cooney was able to avoid Holmes's jab in their fight to get in some good punches of his own.
Cooney would probably KO Bruno in the 8th although Cooney would probably encounter some problems dealing with Bruno's ram rod jab.

[Nile4000]

I concur.I think Gerry would ko Frank, but Frank may make it closer than many would think.

[ebeneezer]

Bruno didn't like it to the body and Cooney had a crippling left to the body that broke Lyle's ribs and had Larry Holmes slowly shuffling back to his corner holding his side after round 4 of their fight.

[generic screen name]

Depends on Cooney's confidence before the fight. If its good then Cooney by KTFO if not then Bruno can win convincingly.

[kick asner]

Cooney is a very difficult fighter to evaluate given the fact he was mostly untested and was knocked out when put to the test. The only thing you could say about him is that he looked good beating infeior opposition and fighters who were washed up. Based on that I think I would have to go with Bruno.

[Jan]

Both were were strong guys. Conney beat Young, Norton and Lyle, buth they all were old. Bruno showed a good fight against Lennox Lewis , he was a very good puncher with a good jab , so why shouldent he beat up Cooney?

[HomicideHenry]

This is almost an even match-up. But the main difference is this: Cooney fought harder in defeat, while Bruno would just burn out. Bruno had so much talent, but he failed to truly be a dominating force---though he won the WBA title strap, he wasn't an impressive champion by any means.

My opinion is, had Cooney faced Coetzee the WBA champion, rather than the WBC champion Holmes, Cooney could have been champion, and if he had build his career up facing guys like Page, Dokes, he could have been more prepared for Holmes---or he could have did like Larry did, hold on to the strap he had but refused to face the other champions.

Many people think Cooney was badly beaten by Holmes, but that isn't the case, if you take back the points that was taken away from him for low blows, the fight was very close---the only factor was that Cooney took a short cut to the title, rather than get more experience. Cooney had possibly the hardest punch of the 1980's until Tyson came along, and his losses were to Hall of Famers.

I'd think that Cooney would get some real heat from Bruno, but Cooney was brave and if he did not break down inside---he could weather the storm and stop Bruno. Besides, Bruno wasn't really known for his conditioning, as he tired out some---he was too muscular.

While Cooney did fail to beat Holmes, Spinks and Foreman, you have to figure two of those fights were after long lay offs and no real preperation, and the Holmes fight was because he didn't have the experience against top flight opponents---but Cooney without a doubt could have beaten any other man outside of Holmes.

Cooney by KO.

[barry]

Cooney was the better boxer and the heavier-hitter. Bruno has one of the best physiques in heavyweight history, but he lacked the mental toughness and skill, which Cooney lost after the Holmes bout, but Cooney right before the Holmes bout was a pretty ferocious fighter with one of the better lefts in boxing. Both in they're primes I think Cooney would have overwhelmed Bruno and knocked him out in pretty quick and ugly fashion.

[drunkenpiper36]

Frank was the only one between the two of them who won a fight in the heat of adversity, and that was against Oliver McCall. He went 12 rounds, took some hard shots and dealt out a fair amount of punishment himself to take that win. This was also when he was past it.. In addition, he gave a prime Lennox Lewis a run for his money before finally being stopped. Its performances like these which make me inclined to go with Bruno. Of course, Gerry could have won too, if he got him in trouble early and didn't let him off the hook.. Even odds in this one, but if I had to part with 100 bucks, it would probably go down on the English....

[SamWise72]

I love Bruno, and often stand up for him as doing better than others would think. However, I can see this being a tough night for him; Cooney only really had one fight; pre Holmes he didn't fight anybody, post Holmes he was a shell, but on that night, he took on one of the three best heavyweights of all time, and gave him hell for a lot of rounds. Bruno beat McCall, who would have been an awful matchup for Cooney, and gave both Lewis and Tyson something to think about, but what makes the difference for me is this; Cooney still had fire beyond the 10th round, where Bruno was always struggling. I see Cooney giving Frank a couple of frights in the early rounds, working the body, slipping behind as he found he couldn't just nuke him and Frank started to impose his jab, but taking over from the 8th or so, as Frank started to tie up, and shelling him so much that the ref stops it. That said, Cooney's beard wasn't perfect, and Frank could take out anyone he caught right, so it could be an early night.

[polecateddy]

There's plenty of heavies who would have beaten Bruno. But come on, Cooney never beat anyone! And Bruno was at least as heavy handed as comeback Foreman. Bruno in 3.

[SamWise72]

Comeback Foreman didn't fight the real Cooney. As I say, I think Cooney really only ever had one fight; pre-Holmes, he was knocking over tomato cans and ghosts. Post Holmes, he was in it for the money, and had no expectation or desire to win. The man who fought Holmes has a decent chance against Bruno. I agree that Bruno mullers the Cooney who fought Foreman.

[bennie]

Neither fighter reacted well when hurt and the first one to get hurt would have been the first one to get stopped.