Gerry Cooney agreed to fight the WBC, heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, on June 11, 1982 at the Outdoor Arena at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. For me, it meant just a 3 mile drive to the Coliseum in Voorhees, New Jersey to watch the bout on closed-circuit, a real treat for it to be so close to home. I gave Gerry Cooney absolutely no chance to defeat Larry Holmes, despite all of the excitement about his punching power. Cooney’s problem was that he was protected by his managers, and wasn’t ready for a fighter as talented as Holmes.
The fight proved me correct. While Cooney was definitely in the bout, and no walk-over, he was outclassed by Larry. Holmes put Cooney on the floor in the second round, and then away for good in the 13th. While Cooney had his moments, Holmes proved his greatness, and finally started to gain more widespread respect after his excellent performance.
Gerry went into a serious tailspin, that included depression and alcohol abuse. He returned 2 and 1/2 years later to defeat Phil Brown and George Chaplain in September and December of 1984, then went into hibernation again. He resurfaced to beat a punching bag named Eddie Gregg in one round on May 31, 1986 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, but it didn’t impress me one bit.
A year later, he signed to fight the lineal heavyweight champ Michael Spinks in Atlantic City. I was a huge Michael Spinks fan, and got the opportunity to see him train for a week at the Trump Castle Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. To see the closed-circuit broadcast of the fight, meant a trip to the Spectrum in South Philadelphia, a 12 mile drive from my home. Michael chopped Cooney down and out in 5 rounds, and to me it signaled the end of his career.
On January 15, 1990, Cooney made one last run at the brass ring when he met George Foreman at Atlantic City Convention Hall. I paid only $15 to order the pay-per-view over my brother’s apartment, and was rooting hard for ‘Big’ George, who was my hero after coming out of retirement after 10 years of inactivity. George blew Cooney away in two quick rounds, and it ended Gerry’s career for good. He was gracious and philosophical about his return, which was nice to see, and admitted he was finished once and for all.
To me his career was one of unfulfilled potential. Gerry Cooney’s problem were his stupid managers, the ‘Wacko Twins’, Dennis Rappaport and Mike Jones. They overprotected him, and never gave him a chance to show his stuff, since all they were concerned about was making money off of him. Whenever I think of Gerry Cooney, I think of a good fighter, whose managers never gave a chance to see if he could be great.
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