Larry Holmes had been heavyweight champion of the world for nearly 4 years, but still didn’t have the respect he deserved. He had defeated all the top contenders, had retired Ali, yet many still didn’t give him the credit he had earned.
Many believed that Gerry Cooney, the 6’6″ white heavyweight from Long Island, would dethrone Holmes when they met. My opinion at the time was that he had been fighting nothing but over the hill boxers to boost his record, but had never beaten a young, tough contender. His last win in May of 1981 was a one round destruction of Ken Norton, listed as being 35 years old, but many believed he was closer to 40. Gerry’s managers were after the big money and Holmes would bring that. They obviously protected him in his career, managed him carefully, letting him fight as infrequently as possible.
They got their wish, and the big fight was set for June 11, 1982 in Las Vegas. I knew much of the hype was about the fact that Cooney was the greatest ‘Great White Hope`, and promoter Don King was happy to sell it as such. I knew in my heart that Cooney would be exposed that night, and he was not as good as his managers claimed. Either way, I was going to pay to see it.
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