BoxRec

Yes Gerry Cooney lost to Larry Holmes when the whole world was riding on him to become the next "Great White Hope". But at 28-3 (24) Cooney was no bum either.

Being 6'7" 235lbs in a time when there wasn't giant heavyweights was a big advatage to him, plus being a south paw made him a double threat. He blew away guys like Ken Norton in a single round, Jimmy Young in four rounds; when it took contenders the entire bout to win decisions to beat those guys.

Cooney in my own personal opinion, if he would have stayed away from Holmes for a while and fought more contenders like Randall Tex Cobb, Earnie Shavers, John Tate, Mike Weaver, Greg Page, Tony Tubbs; possibly he would have faired better against Holmes and went the distance or maybe he could have won that belt.

But at same token, I believe if Cooney went after WBA champion Gerrie Coetzee at the same time Holmes was the WBC champ, and go for less money---he would have been champion, the almighty dollar was what Gerry Cooney's down fall was.

His left hook was possibly the hardest punch of the early 1980's, his 3 losses were to HALL OF FAMERS, and he beat everyone else they put in front of him. Cooney was no bum.

This makes me think up another fantasy match up: WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO vs GERRY COONEY. Both guys moved too fast too soon in their ranks, and inevitably failed because of it. BUT the difference between the two men myself is this: COONEY LOST TO THE BEST, KLITSCHKO LOST TO UNKNOWNS. Myself Cooney would win via KO.

Who said he was a bum? I don't think he's a bum.. I just don't think he's great. Actually a more underrated fighter is Gene Tunney.. now that guy was great.. However, for some reason he's underrated a lot.

he blew away a shot past his prime old ron lyle, a shot past his prime jimmy young, and a very shot past his prime ken norton.

he showed against holmes he wasnt a bum, and he could have won a couple ALPHA titles.

but hes not underated, he never beat a top conteder their prime. he never fought the guys liek witherspoon, thomas, berbick, page, coatzee, etc.

the best white heavyweight since rocky marciano was jerry quarry


o yeah another thing, why was cooney so flabby?? the guy had no muscle defintetion at all?? he looked like corey sanders. cooney was a hairy flabby fat giant.

It used to be rare for boxers to look like body builders until Holyfield made it fashionable...

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:he blew away a shot past his prime old ron lyle, a shot past his prime jimmy young, and a very shot past his prime ken norton.

The Young fight was a cuts stoppage.

But I agree with your general point about Cooneys biggest wins were over shot fighters. Having said that Cooney was a good fighter.

Cooney vs. Wlad??????

Cooney would blast Wlad somewhere into the stands.

Gerry Cooney.

I agree he shouldn't have gone for Holmes. He should have went down the other Alphabet avenue. I think Gerry would have handled them at lot easier.

He would have cleaned out the HW division of that era and been better prepared for what would have been an undisputed HW title fight with Larry.

We may have seen a completley different fight on the night.

Unfortunately the dollar played a big part in his decision and he fell to Holmes and IMO was not the same fighter afterwards.

Yes Great White Hope became Great White Dope all in the name of money.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If someone could have guided Gerry away from the cash and down a different route we would be talking about him in the same breath as some of the past legends who cleaned up in their era.

Gerry Cooney was no bum, he could have been a deserving Hall of Famer.

I do think Cooney would have been better going for a version of the title first but I have read that his management were not 100% confident in him. he could have had another 12 months or so improving whilst Larry was ageing.

Despite losing to Holmes he proved a point in the fight and its a real shame he didn't get straight back in the ring again.

I think that Cooney's disintegration after the fight not only hurts his acreer buit also Holmes'.

Ezzard wrote:I do think Cooney would have been better going for a version of the title first but I have read that his management were not 100% confident in him.

Bingo. That seems to indeed be the case, Team Cooney really seemed to lack cofidence in their fighter, but in one way did a great 'low risk' job of steering Cooney and themselves into a big payday with Larry Holmes.

There was at one point talk of putting Gerry Cooney in with Marvin Stinson at MSG, Stinson had been a good Amateur but as a professional was little more than a talented journeyman, but Cooneys trainer Victor Vallee wasn't interested. Cooney seems like an intelligent guy so I am sure that sooner or later either he would have figured out his team had little confidence in him or somebody would have whispered that message into his ear. Now hearing that would have done Cooneys confidence no good whatsoever and a fighter with little cofidence in his own ability is a fighter waiting to be beaten.

Handled differently and given some more learning fights he may well have held a title at some point. But being fed a diet of low level and shot fighters stunted his development greatly I would imagine. I'm not saying he could have ever been a great fighter but he may have competed on an even level with the likes of Page, Dokes, Witherspoon, Williams, Berbick, Tate, Coatzee etc etc.

But we will now never know. Interesting side not, onetime Cooney trainer Gil Clancy always said if he had been able to train Cooney from a young age he could of made him into a formidable fighter.

Gerry should've won the WBA belt from Weaver and then made the fight with Holmes.Because with Page and Dokes in the wings, he probably wouldn't have held on to the belt if he fought them.

I think Cooney was a good fighter, probably would have been alot better if not rushed in against the best fighter in the division after feasting on mainly past their prime contenders. I'm not really sure he's underrated though; i think my opinion of him mirrors most boxing fans.
I agree with you Brockton, Quarry was an outstander fighter who unfortunately was born an era too soon.

theone wrote:I think Cooney was a good fighter, probably would have been alot better if not rushed in against the best fighter in the division after feasting on mainly past their prime contenders. I'm not really sure he's underrated though; i think my opinion of him mirrors most boxing fans.
I agree with you Brockton, Quarry was an outstander fighter who unfortunately was born an era too soon.

Cooney should've been matched with John Tate, that's as good as a win that you can get.

theone, quarry had his chance to win the title. he should have been the WBA champion but god dammit the man picked an awful time to fight the worst fight of his career against ellis. quarry was the better fighter but he simply just froze in the title fight. ellis was a great boxer but i think quarry should have beat him

The thing about Cooney's career, it seems to me, is that what held him back more than anything was him underratinmg himself.

Jose Ribalta who boxed in fights or was sparring partner for a bunch of top heavyweights, told me Cooney hit harder than Tyson and most other heavyweights. According to Jose, Cooney and Bone crusher were the two hardest bangers he ever met. -Cooney in sparring and Bonecrusher in a real fight.

enrique wrote:Jose Ribalta who boxed in fights or was sparring partner for a bunch of top heavyweights, told me Cooney hit harder than Tyson and most other heavyweights. According to Jose, Cooney and Bone crusher were the two hardest bangers he ever met. -Cooney in sparring and Bonecrusher in a real fight.

Didn't Ribalta bloody Mike's nose?

Cooney was protected from the begining of his career. As other people have posted before he was either matched against inferior opposition, or fighters past their prime. I think this is because his handlers thought if they could build his record and then get him a fight against Larry Holmes they all stood to make a lot of money which is the way it played out. They just worked the system.

As far as him being underated I would say no because the highest ranked fighter he fought was Eddy Gregg, who in typical fassion for a fighter had his ranking bumped up several notches just for that fight.