George Foreman vs Gerry Cooney

Did anyone watch this fight? In the second round George Foreman launched a vicious attack that dropped Cooney hard. After the 8 count Foreman throws a left uppercut that has Cooney knocked out on his feet. Than Foreman finishes with a monster right. Brutal, BRUTAL ending of the fight. One of the most violent endings I have ever seen. The old Foreman could fight. He was mean. Watch the fight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2XlGWhY_5I

 

That was the KO that started to convince people that Foreman was maybe a bit more than a sideshow... Cooney was obviously well past done by that point, but was still more formidable than anyone George had faced since resuming his career

 

How bout that Foreman vs. a prime Cooney

 

:: Cooney was in the advanced stages of alcoholism and coke dependency

George must have faced some bums if Cooney was the best he could find. :laugh11:

 

Well, he had also made Bert Cooper quit in two, to that point. If that counts for anything. Bowe did no better with him, and of course he nearly sprung upsets on both Moorer and Holyfield.

 

It was pretty interesting to me that Foreman regarded Cooney's hook to the body as the hardest punch he ever took.

And Cooney did look good early in this fight. His jab was quick and he was digging that left hook. Foreman just did a great job of crowding him and throwing those thudding shots.

Naturally Cooney was a shell of his former self. But make no mistake that he had one of the best training camps of his career leading up to the Foreman bout. At least that's what Gil Clancy indicated leading up to the fight. Clancy, who absolutely slammed Cooney after the Spinks loss, honestly thought Cooney had enough left at 33 to make another run.

 

People forget that Cooney wasnt the only man in that ring who wasnt a patch on what he had once been.

 

i dont know if it's an exaggeration or a pride thing, but fighters always tend to refer their 'toughest' fights or 'hardest punch they took' from fights they've won and won rather easily.

judah claims micky ward's left hook to the body was the hardest he's been hit. if so, why the fuck was he still standing?

larry holmes says the same about the punch he took from earnie shavers. how about them punches from tyson that rendered him unconsious?

same w/ floyd. he claims augustus was his toughest fight, but aside from getting roughed up in spurts, he DOMINATED burton.

 

I don't know if it was praise for a fallen foe or the truth. I just always found it interesting that Foreman said it given all the guys he fought.

As far as Holmes is concerned, I think he said the same thing after Shavers, Snipes and Cooney. And I don't think he can remember the Tyson shots.

By the way, just watched the Foreman-Cooney fight. That walk-by left uppercut that ended it was crazy. I didn't remember how vicious it was.

 

It may be the truth in Foremans case. The only other man who really, really hurt him badly was another guy he defeated, in Lyle.

 

how about that other dude who hurt him, ali? jimmy young too.

 

Good points Joony.

@Ramonza: there is a difference between being past your exceptional best through the accretion of time and inactivity, and being past your unexceptional best through the ill effects of nervous breakdown and drug addiction.

If I recall correctly, Foreman was still in his 30's when he fought Cooney???

 

Pretty sure he was in his 40s. He was something like 38 when he first came back, and that was against a year or two of cannon fodder.

 

Cheers. I didn't want to "Boxrec It" so I did the quick math. He was 45 in 1995 when he beat Moorer, so that puts him in his late 30's when he starts this comeback in the late 80's. I am no fan or acolyte of Cooney {always found his career, not him personally, but his career, to be a sham and an embarrassment} but I was sure he was through by the late 80's. George was fighting the Ken Lagustas of this world in the late 80's and had moved to a shot vs Holy by what, 1992??



Okay....now I am going to Boxrec: he fought Cooney on January 15th 1990, when George would have been just turned 41. Cooney, by that same token, was 33 or 34.

 

Yeah...but that was an old Cooney.

 

Foreman being 41 barely had any disadvantages when compared to a degenerate mid-30's guy like Cooney, who, in addition to being a limited, albeit powerful fighter in his prime, was now way short on confidence and condition. Foreman, to quote Nobel Laureate Bernard Hopkins, was like Grandmas Peaches, he didn't have any wear or tear on him from the time of his retirement to the time of his comeback. At that, he had maybe 2, 3 hard fights in his prime.

It was a slightly fat ATG vs a totally shot never-was.

 

Sure, Cooney was All but SHOT...But he Actually Fought Pretty GOOD in Round 1 & NOBODY had Ever Done him THAT Quickly...Foreman's MANNER of Victory was Impressive...



REED:kidcool:

 

It was a very exciting fight aswell. Both came to fight. Much more excitin than 99% of todays heavyweight fights.

 

::

Come on man. Foreman went on to be in some stinkers, and Foreman fighting Holyfield, Holmes fighting Holyfield and Foreman being MOOTED to fighting Holyfield were regularly quoted instances of how "poor" the division was.

 

check the record

the best prior to that was probably "Big Foot" Martin:giggle:... remember, Nobody had heard of Bert Cooper yet, he wouldn't become a name for another few years

My point was not to say this was some great win... my point was to recount the history... at that time, this win started the momentum that would eventually lead to slightly better opposition and the shot against Holyfield

 

Let me know when you've left BoxRec to actually watch those fights.

Unless you'd like to sit here & contend that Young & Ali were harder punchers than Cooney & Lyle, & Foreman is lying only because he beat those last two men.

Have at it.

 

Of course, I'm not saying otherwise. I'm just saying it's forgotten that Foreman was massively, massively removed from his peak when he fought Cooney, just as Cooney was a very shop-worn fighter himself. The fact that Foreman went on to success & stardom makes a lot of people forget, or diminish, how badly reduced he was.

The Foreman of his comeback was a remarkable figure & fighter in several ways, but between the weight & his age, he wasn't even a ghost of what he once had been. That Foreman who crushed Cooney was light-years removed from his peak, just as was Cooney.

 

And a young Foreman, as we know.

 

But we already know that we're talking about an Old Foreman and so that's redundant.

 

Qawi was one of the best as well, but he was fat and past it---kind of like Foreman but much closer to his peak than Foreman was to his own.

I remember watching Foreman's 4th or 5th comeback against some guy named Rocky Something-or-Other. From the get-go, the other guy looked tough and mean, but after Foreman landed a couple of pretty snapping jabs, the other guy's face changed and you could see he was shocked/scared. George could crack, and he could take them as well.

 

Here's the thing........certain fighters age better than others. To be 40, and Hopkins, or Foreman, is not an issue. To be Ali, or Frazier, or Jones Junior, and be 40, IS an issue.

Foreman at 40 was greatly removed from his prime? Only in terms of body composition and balance.

He was always a slow, methodical puncher.

In fact, the passage of time may have done as much to improve his deficiencies as it did to erode his talents.

Maturity and discipline and affability had emerged in "old" George Foreman, at the expense of....some lean muscle tone??? Some timing??? A bit of fitness???

 

Agreed Irish.

When you have a big punch and you're big in size and rangy (with a good chin)...you can last much longer in this business. Vitali can keep beating up everyone until he's 50 if he wishes.

A guy like Jones or Ali depended a great deal on their speed and reflexes. That always goes with age. Strength and power lasts much much longer and size is never taken away from you.

 

fuck you.

first off, who hasn't seen ali vs. foreman? secondly, foreman was dropped by young towards the end. whether it's from exhaustion/off balance or not, he was dropped. when old ass cooney hit him, he hardly flinched but claims it was the hardest blow he's received.

so when he collapsed vs. ali and looked all fucked up and couldnt get up, he wasn't hurt?

 

agREED In Theory, "However", the PRIME George Foreman was FASTER w/his Hands & Feet than the 40ish Version...He Cut the Ring Off BETTER & Threw MORE Punches....

"Speed" was NEVER a Part of Foreman's Package, but the 40ish Version had the Mobility of a 3-Legged Tortoise....Put it This Way, Prime George Foreman MURDERS 40ish George Foreman...



REED:dancingBaby:

 

He murders him if he can get him out of there in 4, 5 rounds.

After that, old Foreman takes over, IMHO.