Gerry Cooney vs Larry Holmes Rematch In 1990

I won’t make a definitive pick but I’ll say that Cooney would have a better chance this time around.

 

Cooney has a better chance, but I still don't think it's much of a real chance against Holmes. He will likely look better than Mercer did against Larry, though. Gerry made a very good use of that left of his against Foreman, even in the very brief time that he fought for.

 

Win or lose I'd expect Cooney to be competitive. Hes certainly capable of winning. Holmes was durable but he wasn't fighting the sort of guys who could test his chin anymore. Holmes SOS after Tyson makes gauging anything about Holmes from this period difficult beyond he wasn't washed. We've got the Holyfield, McCall, Mercer and Jesse Ferguson fights and the rest of it is pretty much addition by subtraction.

 

By that point in time Cooney had no business being in a boxing ring.

 

that version of foreman got beat up by Alex Stewart, shut out by Tommy Morrison, and lost to Axel Schulz.

 

Agreed. Holmes again. Definitively, again.

 

Are we talking about some composite comeback Foreman here? There are multiple versions of George mentioned here that look nothing alike each other in the ring.

 

No because Gerry had to get close enough to unload that hook, a punch Larry wasn't particularly susceptible to, thanks to his early sparring with Frazier, and he boxed from the outside. Also, Cooney is not taking him out quickly, which means only one person's gassing.

He also had the previous experience of knowing exactly where on Gerry's head to wobble him, and it was on Cooney's temple.

There would also be that psychological element of what happened between them in 1982, and it doesn't favor Gerry.

Larry went ten full rounds in just his second bout of 1991. He did it again in his fourth match. His sixth comeback was the shocking 12 round schooling of Mercer. Holmes came back far more quickly than Foreman did.


Clancy trained Cooney for Foreman. Gil would've prepared Gerry differently for Holmes. My guess here is that Clancy reaches back for the Cooney-Denis playbook, and tries to dwarf the Denis sized Holmes with that long jab Gerry had. Cooney kept streaming jabs out at Dino until hooking off the end of it to put Denis down and end it. Hold off on the hook until it comes as a surprise, then see what happens.

In 1982, Gerry was too desperate to deliver that hook from the opening bell. Gil should teach him to be so patient with it this time that he surprises Larry with how much he holds back on it.

His hool on Foreman was short, inside, virtually from against the ropes, and came from above, things George was not at all used to. Unfortunately, it woke Foreman up.

 

He forgot to add, even in his early 40’s & obese, would still beat down Marciano.

 

For someone not "particularly susceptible to" left hooks, he was sure getting nailed with an abundance of them by Weaver. Berbick also hit him, a fair number of times with the left.

 

It’s quite the myth. He was vulnerable to the right hand…people have misconstrued that as meaning he was immune to a good left. The facts show otherwise.

 

Holmes would won again but in this time for me it was be a decision.

 

White guys just can't get a break against Holmes.