Great match up! Never seen/thought of this one before. I doubt this sees the 3rd.....gimme Cooney in 2.
seriously, they could fight 5 times and each one win by KO 5 times... thats how hard they hit and thats how vulnerable both could be... very fun fight
Well, of course it's a match, but Cooney has most of the physical advantages. I still call Shavers over-rated by many (not necessarily anyone here, mind). I don't think, for instance, Ali surviving him is all that great a deal. Shavers was a one-handed fighter with little handspeed, suffered from a lack of accuracy, had no defense, suspect endurance & whiskers, & for a puncher, he didn't even have quality finishing skills (unlike Cooney).
I think Cooney's finishing skills are overrated... after all, what are they based on?? a 200-year old Norton that Shavers had already nearly decapitated a few years earlier? Jimmy Young, another guy pretty much over the hill, who again had already been killed by Shavers when it meant something?? Those are Cooney's two most important victories, two guys that Shavers had already killed when they were still useful fighters I would comfortably rate Shavers ahead of Cooney historically, his resume is clearly superior, and I think its safe to say that Cooney's w-l-d record would look similar or worse against the exact same comp
