After his defeat of Tangstad in September of 1986, Michael and his promoter Butch Lewis looked for the opponent that could bring him the most money possible. They decided on Gerry Cooney, who had launched another comeback in May of ’86 with a one round knockout of Eddie Gregg in San Francisco. The bout was set for June 15th in Atlantic City, and I was really excited about this one.
Michael Spinks was holding public workouts at the Trump Castle Casino in Atlantic City, and I got the opportunity to go watch him train a bunch of times. I also saw Cooney train once at the Trump Plaza Casino as well. It certainly helped my anticipation for the fight even more.
I went to the Spectrum in Philadelphia to watch it on closed circuit tv. It was a sparse crowd, but that didn’t matter to me at all. I was certainly rooting hard for Michael as the first round began.
Spinks had bulked up to 208 and 3/4 lbs., while Cooney tipped the scales at 238. Michael started off aggressively, attacking Gerry during the first couple of rounds. Cooney fought passively and was being outpunched constantly by his smaller opponent. The only damage he inflicted was a cut over Spinks’ eye in the third round, but never really hurt him.
In the fifth, Michael rocked Cooney, and then began an avalanche of punches that dropped Gerry. Another knockdown late in the round signaled the end for Cooney, and I left the arena thrilled.
Spinks had impressed, and converted many of his critics that didn’t think he was really a heavyweight. Knocking out a huge guy like Cooney did nothing but help his cause.
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