Gerry Cooney v Joe Bugner 1981

[hhaehre]

Cooney by wide decision. This was after Bugner came back and he was pretty bad in the 80's. He never had a big punch and he wasn't in great shape at this time either. Fighting a durable guy with little power and ambition would actually have been the perfect warm up for Holmes.

[Flump]

Agree with what the two guys say above.

This fight may well have helped Cooney against Holmes. I'm not saying he'd have won but I think 10 relatively easy rounds against the ever reluctant but durable Bugner would have been a help in him pacing himself for future engagements.

[hhaehre]

Which was I suppose the thinking behind fighting Bugner.

Cooney didn't have great gas though and would have only boxed two rounds over the previous year (Lyle and Norton).

I'm guessing Cooney would go in there firing on all cylinders but what would happen if he didn't get Bugner out of there early on? I mean, how many fights did Cooney win on points? Against skilled boxers, over 10 or 12 rounds?

Cooney had enough in the tank to last into round 13 against a prime and highly motivated Holmes, he would have no problems going 10 against a past it Bugner in survival mode. Bugner in the 80's had slowed down considerably and faded late in several of his distance fights.

[oogiebe]

While well past it, Bugner's size, length, durability and skill would've made this an interesting bout. He was only stopped 4 times in over 80 fights and by guys like Shavers and Bruno. (forgetting his first ever fight where he was ko'd by Paul Brown and Scott Welch which happened much later in his career).

I agree with the previous posters that it would've been a great warm up for Holmes. Figuring Bugner would have given Cooney a lot of really good rounds. It certainly wouldn't have been a blowout.

[Flump]

Past his best, yes. But Bugner would only have been 31 at the time so he wasn't that over the hill.

True. But it's Bugner's mentality that's key. I can't imagine for a second that, given Cooney's reputation at the time, Bugner would have gone in there in anything other than survival mode.

[oogiebe]

Past his best, yes. But Bugner would only have been 31 at the time so he wasn't that over the hill.

True but also 14 years in the pro ring.

[Tony1244]

I was a big fan of Cooney's at the time, but in retrospect he ducked a lot of fighters. Back injury for Bugner. I think a hand injury for Shavers. Gerry was supposed to fight Weaver at one point.

I think Joe would have given Gerry some trouble and they figured that out, which is likely why the fight never happened.

[tiny_acres]

I was a big fan of Cooney's at the time, but in retrospect he ducked a lot of fighters. Back injury for Bugner. I think a hand injury for Shavers. Gerry was supposed to fight Weaver at one point.

I think Joe would have given Gerry some trouble and they figured that out, which is likely why the fight never happened.

The Weaver fight was cancelled because #1 contender James Tillis filed a motion in court for his mandatory.

[Tony1244]

I was a big fan of Cooney's at the time, but in retrospect he ducked a lot of fighters. Back injury for Bugner. I think a hand injury for Shavers. Gerry was supposed to fight Weaver at one point.

I think Joe would have given Gerry some trouble and they figured that out, which is likely why the fight never happened.

The Weaver fight was cancelled because #1 contender James Tillis filed a motion in court for his mandatory.

I remember something about that. I also remember Dennis Rappaport turning down the Cooney-Weaver fight because there was ore money in fighting Holmes.

As a fan, I wanted to see Cooney-Weaver. I thought that fight made more sense. Did Cooney's team make a mistake? We'll never know. If Cooney would have won his fight with Weaver, the added experience may have helped against Holmes. If Weaver would have beaten Cooney, Gerry's team made the right call.

[tiny_acres]

I was a big fan of Cooney's at the time, but in retrospect he ducked a lot of fighters. Back injury for Bugner. I think a hand injury for Shavers. Gerry was supposed to fight Weaver at one point.

I think Joe would have given Gerry some trouble and they figured that out, which is likely why the fight never happened.

The Weaver fight was cancelled because #1 contender James Tillis filed a motion in court for his mandatory.

I remember something about that. I also remember Dennis Rappaport turning down the Cooney-Weaver fight because there was ore money in fighting Holmes.

As a fan, I wanted to see Cooney-Weaver. I thought that fight made more sense. Did Cooney's team make a mistake? We'll never know. If Cooney would have won his fight with Weaver, the added experience may have helped against Holmes. If Weaver would have beaten Cooney, Gerry's team made the right call.

I always wanted Cooney vs Weaver.
I still think Cooney would of stopped him early. Weaver was such a slow starter

[Tony1244]

I was a big fan of Cooney's at the time, but in retrospect he ducked a lot of fighters. Back injury for Bugner. I think a hand injury for Shavers. Gerry was supposed to fight Weaver at one point.

I think Joe would have given Gerry some trouble and they figured that out, which is likely why the fight never happened.

The Weaver fight was cancelled because #1 contender James Tillis filed a motion in court for his mandatory.

I remember something about that. I also remember Dennis Rappaport turning down the Cooney-Weaver fight because there was ore money in fighting Holmes.

As a fan, I wanted to see Cooney-Weaver. I thought that fight made more sense. Did Cooney's team make a mistake? We'll never know. If Cooney would have won his fight with Weaver, the added experience may have helped against Holmes. If Weaver would have beaten Cooney, Gerry's team made the right call.

I always wanted Cooney vs Weaver.
I still think Cooney would of stopped him early. Weaver was such a slow starter

I agree. I'd favor, and did favor Cooney in that fight. I don't remember at this point the specifics of Tillis' demanding his shot against Weaver. I do remember Weaver won a very boring decision. As bad as the WBA is, you'd think they would have preferred Weaver-Cooney to Weaver-Tillis financially.

[tiny_acres]

I was a big fan of Cooney's at the time, but in retrospect he ducked a lot of fighters. Back injury for Bugner. I think a hand injury for Shavers. Gerry was supposed to fight Weaver at one point.

I think Joe would have given Gerry some trouble and they figured that out, which is likely why the fight never happened.

The Weaver fight was cancelled because #1 contender James Tillis filed a motion in court for his mandatory.

I remember something about that. I also remember Dennis Rappaport turning down the Cooney-Weaver fight because there was ore money in fighting Holmes.

As a fan, I wanted to see Cooney-Weaver. I thought that fight made more sense. Did Cooney's team make a mistake? We'll never know. If Cooney would have won his fight with Weaver, the added experience may have helped against Holmes. If Weaver would have beaten Cooney, Gerry's team made the right call.

I always wanted Cooney vs Weaver.
I still think Cooney would of stopped him early. Weaver was such a slow starter

I agree. I'd favor, and did favor Cooney in that fight. I don't remember at this point the specifics of Tillis' demanding his shot against Weaver. I do remember Weaver won a very boring decision. As bad as the WBA is, you'd think they would have preferred Weaver-Cooney to Weaver-Tillis financially.

It would of made way more money than any fight with Tillis.
And then a few defenses for Cooney before Holmes. Cooney and his team could of milked way more money out of his career

[Tony1244]

I was a big fan of Cooney's at the time, but in retrospect he ducked a lot of fighters. Back injury for Bugner. I think a hand injury for Shavers. Gerry was supposed to fight Weaver at one point.

I think Joe would have given Gerry some trouble and they figured that out, which is likely why the fight never happened.

The Weaver fight was cancelled because #1 contender James Tillis filed a motion in court for his mandatory.

I remember something about that. I also remember Dennis Rappaport turning down the Cooney-Weaver fight because there was ore money in fighting Holmes.

As a fan, I wanted to see Cooney-Weaver. I thought that fight made more sense. Did Cooney's team make a mistake? We'll never know. If Cooney would have won his fight with Weaver, the added experience may have helped against Holmes. If Weaver would have beaten Cooney, Gerry's team made the right call.

I always wanted Cooney vs Weaver.
I still think Cooney would of stopped him early. Weaver was such a slow starter

I agree. I'd favor, and did favor Cooney in that fight. I don't remember at this point the specifics of Tillis' demanding his shot against Weaver. I do remember Weaver won a very boring decision. As bad as the WBA is, you'd think they would have preferred Weaver-Cooney to Weaver-Tillis financially.

It would of made way more money than any fight with Tillis.
And then a few defenses for Cooney before Holmes. Cooney and his team could of milked way more money out of his career

I don't think they wanted to take the gamble. You and I favored Cooney over Weaver. But Weaver had maybe a 30% chance of winning. Would you gamble on a 10 million dollar payday? What would Cooney have gotten against Weaver? 2-3 million?

From a business perspective I don't blame Cooney's team. From a fan's perspective, it sucked because we wanted to see Cooney-Weaver.

[Nile4000]

I was a big fan of Cooney's at the time, but in retrospect he ducked a lot of fighters. Back injury for Bugner. I think a hand injury for Shavers. Gerry was supposed to fight Weaver at one point.

I think Joe would have given Gerry some trouble and they figured that out, which is likely why the fight never happened.

The Weaver fight was cancelled because #1 contender James Tillis filed a motion in court for his mandatory.

I remember something about that. I also remember Dennis Rappaport turning down the Cooney-Weaver fight because there was ore money in fighting Holmes.

As a fan, I wanted to see Cooney-Weaver. I thought that fight made more sense. Did Cooney's team make a mistake? We'll never know. If Cooney would have won his fight with Weaver, the added experience may have helped against Holmes. If Weaver would have beaten Cooney, Gerry's team made the right call.

I always wanted Cooney vs Weaver.
I still think Cooney would of stopped him early. Weaver was such a slow starter

I agree. I'd favor, and did favor Cooney in that fight. I don't remember at this point the specifics of Tillis' demanding his shot against Weaver. I do remember Weaver won a very boring decision. As bad as the WBA is, you'd think they would have preferred Weaver-Cooney to Weaver-Tillis financially.

Don't know. Mike was quite powerful, and thinking about it, he would probably planned for the Cooney rush and sucker him into something Gerry wasn't ready for. A Cooney-Tillis fight for the vacant title would have been even better, for we truly could have found out some things before the inevitable.

[Onetimeonly]

I think Mike would have stopped cooney.

[hhaehre]

I think Mike would have stopped cooney.

That fight would have been the betting man's dream.