Cooney v Bugner, 1981: the fight that never was

[Riddick Bowie]

Cooney would have put Bugner into his shell in the first and either romped to a decision or chopped him to pieces quickly like he did Young.

Agree though, it would certainly have aided Gerry's skills and experience.

[Ambling Alp II]

Agree he could have used more rounds and experience. Even after the Holmes fight, he would have benifited by fighting someone decent who would last a few rounds.

[Tony1244]

Cooney also had an injury and was signed to fight Earnie Shavers. Cobb ended up subbing for Cooney.

Gerry may very well have been injured for those 2 cancellations. I also know Rapaport was extremely cautious and didn't want to blow a big payday against Holmes. Cooney was also close to fighting Weaver before Holmes. That risk was avoided.

[Ambling Alp II]

Weaver was the WBA champion at the time of the Cooney-Holmes fight. Everyone considered Holmes the real champion. Against Weaver, Cooney would have only got a fraction of what he got against Holmes. Cooney-Holmes was a huge fight.

The risk/reward wasn't worth it to fight Weaver first.

[hhaehre]

Cooney would have put Bugner into his shell in the first and either romped to a decision or chopped him to pieces quickly like he did Young.

Agree though, it would certainly have aided Gerry's skills and experience.

I think you're probably right. Bugner was a tough old boot though and I doubt Cooney would stop him, unless on a cut (a bit like Bugner v Shavers the following year). But I wonder what would've happened had Bugner weathered the storm.

Bugner, as we know, had good stamina and had been 15 rounds many times, often against good opposition. Most of Cooney's fights were short and the longest he'd gone at that time was 8 rounds on two or three occasions.

You can see where I'm going with this: Cooney dominates the early rounds but does he gas if it goes the distance, especially if it's a 12 round fight?

Bugner had a bit of a sparring partner syndrome, so even if he gets through the early rounds he would probably just go through the motions. I think Bugner would probably last and drop a wide decision. Cooney held it together reasonably well for a good while against Holmes and Bugner wouldn't throw as much as Holmes did imo.

[nobleart1978]

This would be a good fight. Bugner, don't forget, fought a very good fight against Ron Lyle.

Cooney, at the time you are thinking, would have won. Most likely on points. Joe had an habit of going into a defensive shell. The only way Cooney would have stopped Bugner would be by a cut in my opinion. Joe was far too wily an operator to be knocked out.

Cooney points 10

[Caractacus]

You can't go into a big title fight
with-out having fought for over a year.