Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney reflect on their ultra-hyped 1982 fight
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2024
- With the much anticipated Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight approaching, boxing fans might make comparisons to the highly hyped 1982 Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. At the time, the Holmes-Cooney fight was the highest
These two guys are a couple of old school gentlemen!
Cooney looks terrific for his age here.....
colderbeer he doesn’t seem punch drunk at all either
Genetics
@@TulsaDriller918 Yeah. He's a 6'6" guy who won 24 of 28 wins his fights by knockout and only lost 3. He didn't take enough hits to the head lose his faculties.
Holmes looks even better. Almost no gray hairs.
He did not have a lot of fights. He had 31 fights over 13 years. Larry Holmes had 75 fights over 29 years.
Holmes might be the most underrated heavyweight champ of all time.
+Frank Maphoto That might be true! And man what a jab he had---which is also underrated as an underutilized punch in most heavy weight fighters!
great great point! He was 48 and 0 and fought all comers. I love Ali but to be honest Holmes had a better, murderous jab, and he hit really hard. He just not as eloquent as Ali but sadly I think he was overall a bit better than Ali ( in the 70s at least). In his prime I think Larry may have done better against Tyson. ( I say MAY) He was so robbed against Spinks ( twice!). The boxing czars just had enough of Larry. Sadly they did it to Foreman too ( against Shannon Briggs)
3rd best of all time. Louis, Ali, Holmes, Tyson
ginzod Great top three but Tyson 4th? What about Foreman, Frazier, Lewis, Holyfield, Liston. Tyson wouldn't last against those guys.
I think he is the most underrated heavyweight. He had incredible recuperative abilities and maybe the best jab in boxing history.
Larry Holmes - The Easton Assassin - My Larry - the most unappreciated and unrated great Heavyweight Champion of the World in history. My childhood hero. He gave everyone a shot at his title and dodged nobody. Gerry Cooney is also a great man and did well taking his shot at Larry's title. Very respectful of each other and quality human beings.
Easton Assassin :)
unputer Sorry yes Easton Pennsylvania not Eastern...
Both were good
Larry just was just better
Gerry was no joke tho
I agree Larry is so underrated
I'm team Ali all the way but the older I get the more I like Larry. Lets celebrate this great champ while he's still here..
Gerry had one of the hardest left hooks in the game.
The left is the famous one of course but when I see some of his fights the right ain't too shabby either. This man was among the hardest hitters ever, no question about it. If he hit Tyson he'd know about it too.
upuntil6 joe louis and sonny liston
Ron Lyle’s ribs probably still hurt.
Two things hurt Gerry. His partying and he was not good at defending himself when he got hurt
Razor Ruddock, Tommy morrison, too.
When you look at the career of Larry Holmes and what he did, then you will realize that he is one of the top 10 heavyweights of all-time.
He's in my personal top 5
Top 5 all time.
@@Head318Hunter top 7 for me, he’s so underrated along with sonny Liston
So cool that their friends today .
Whose friends? What??
@@durtyragoux Holmes and Cooney are friends. It's true.
@@jerryhello they should be.. back in the day, Holmes talked a lot of racially charged bravado, which is understandable as he dealt with a lot of discrimination and wasn't exactly embraced like Ali came to be. Those two went to war and made history together.
Holmes reputedly mentioned tht Cooney had one of the hardest hits he ever encountered. Both are classy guys, and you won't see fighters like this anymore.
I grew up during these guys. Ali, Holmes, Bone Crusher Smith, Renaldo Mr Snipes, Hagler, Hearns, Duran.. I was very very young, but was much into watching the FREE boxing matches back in the day! Times have changed.
Just watched George Foreman UA-cam video where he agreed with Larry. Foreman said that Cooney was one of the top 3 hardest punchers he ever fought. And yes Holmes was undeniably Great and under rated.
I watched this fight. Holmes had the best left jab in the world and he hit Gerry 500 times with it.
its always great to see two great adversaries become mates and hear the mutual respect they have for each other (like Tyson and Holyfield) after they've completed their business transactions.
I wish Ali - Frazier could have been cooler.
No Bells , No whistles,,,,,, Larry and Gerry made the world watch it that night back when boxing was so important. Greatest thing as time moved on that these guys are friends and talk all the time like Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray. Great people can do this. we should learn from the Humility these men have for the sport and respect they have for each other. !!!
What a great bit of footage. Two very different styles of fighting; Holmes a consumate box-fighter, Cooney a monster puncher. All said and done, a very competitive match up. One of the best Heavyweight Title fights ever. For me, Holmes was so underrated and lived in Ali's shadow for much of his career. And Cooney should have acheived much more than he did after his loss to Holmes. But all in all, great to see two proud warriors respecting each other.
And they both speak quite well.
'Gerry Cooney' a killer left hook, 'Larry Holmes' a Dominant Jab and both was Great fighters.
Short but very nice conversations! What is also remarkable is that these gentlemen fought any and everybody without hesitation or calculation.
The knockout of Ken Norton by Cooney was almost a murder scene. That, and Mercer's KO of Morrison are some of the most brutal beatdowns I've ever seen. If they were just average Joes, they most certainly would have been killed.
Fond memories of the 1980s. Enjoy your rest, gentlemen.
Foreman, Holmes, and Cooney, All class guys from another era.
Cooney was a tremendous puncher and a good boxer
Holmes was a great boxer with a deadly right hand and surprising quick recovery
They had a wonderful fight. The better guy one. Experience might have given Gerry that extra bit of luck. But don't bet on it. Two great guys who survived.
Larry's jab is legendary
Man how this fight was a HW fight?blows my mind!
These guys were moving like MW fighters. One of the best fights from that era.
Larry was the Best Heavy Weight Champion of his time. He also had a long reach and the best left jab I have ever seen in a heavy weight boxer, it could knock you out and or keep you at bay.
2 classic AF old school fighters!
Holmes is in my Top 10 Heavyweights of All Time. Cooney was an awesome fighter....lacked late round experience cause he just Bombed out all his opponents in one or two rds......Jimmy Young Earnie Shavers, and ken Norton..... Love these guys.....
To compare Mayweather vs Pacquiao to Holmes v Cooney is way off the mark. Great fights were happening almost every year during the 70's and 80's. With Ali, Forman, Frazier, Holmes, Cooney, Shavers, Tyson, Duran, Leonard, Hagler and Hearns etc.
I cannot name a single fight involving Mayweather that could be held up in the same level of expectation or delivery that the fights involving the names above can.
American boxing is at an all-time low atm. Even the UK with a population of just a 5th of the USA currently has better boxers. But us Brits loved those amazing days when boxing in America was phenomenal and hope it will return soon.
Give us real entertainment like Hagler, Ali and Tyson did, not commercial bullshit with clowns like Mayweather. If he is what American boxing has turned into you can keep it. The sport will die.
EXACTLY and I'm American
Plus all the tough as nails Mexican fighters like Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez, etc. Chavez went 89-0 before his first loss but Mayweather is mentioned as the only boxer to ever go 50-0.
@@shockinghonesty3971 Duran wasnt mexican.
Awesome clip, thanks for sharing.
Two absolute gentlemen
Larry was a great champion and Gerry only ever got beaten by 3 guys Holmes Spinks and Foreman who were all eventual champions
Gerry Cooney, you are a champion! Love listening to this guy. Holmes is good to listen to when he is not talking about himself. Is one of the top heavy weights of all time!
I dont care what the scorecard says-Holmes was way better than Cooney. Both are great guys.
King T Yomama sure he was a better boxer than Cooney. But man that left hook was a real equaliser.
King T Yomama holmes was behind on the score cards?
@harold mccoy Agreed. same thiing for the rematch Holmes vs spinks in 1986...
Gerry talks better now than when he fought!
"speaks"
They both are in the Top 25
Cooney was 18 months out of action going into the Holmes fight. They didn't want to risk Cooney losing because it could have put the Holmes fight at risk. So basically he wasn't only inexperienced, but ring rusty too. Seriously bad management.
13 months
I wonder if they look at those old films and go : “ Damn! We were young!
Big name fighters showing class in the aftermath of their highly hyped heavyweight showdown.....
Sometimes you get asked who you would invite to a dinner table if you had the chance to invite say, any 10 people. For me, 2 of those people would be Larry and Gerry. Complete gentlemen, both of them…
The Holmes-Cooney fight was big, but to say it was "the biggest fight of all time" as Cooney does is an overstatement. The biggest fight of all time would have been Ali-Frazier I in 1971.
For me, that would be Ali-Foreman, Rumble in the Jungle
If you were around at the time then you’d unquestionably know that Holmes-Cooney was the biggest draw in the history of the sport, even to this day.
You guys are awesome ! God bless you both !
It doesn't seem possible it's been almost 40yrs ago both men are looking great
Brilliant to see these two happy and healthy :o)
I agree
It's sad when you see fighters who are physically and mentally not there any more. In the old days the called it Punch Drunk.
And that’s how you handle your business.👍🏻❤️
Jerry, "the biggest fight in the history of the game"? Seriously? You're old enough to remember a little fight between two guys name Ali & Frazier in 1971.
It was the biggest purse in boxing up to that point in boxing history at $10 million.
Okay, *richest* fight in the history of the game, fine. There have been "bigger" fights both before and after.
Steve Starr
quit your damn squallin
LOL.......who are you, ROA? Gerry's aunt? LOL
Steve Starr
No I'm his dam NeeNaw. I've paddled his bare dam bahind more times than I can count and I'll paddle yours too if yee ain't watch it
It was very racially charged. The fact that Reagan had a phone line in Cooney's dressing room but not in Holmes' shows just how the color line existed!!!
Irish connection
Regan always was a racist
My Champion Mr. Holmes love both men !
Holmes is in my top 10 greatest Heavyweights of all time. Cooney, with that left hook of his, would certainly have a slice of the Heavyweight Title today. Both showing class here..
Holmes is in my top 5
In my opinion, both had underrated boxing skills.
Big, scary guys in their time, absolute gentlemen today!!
One of the best tittle fight in heavy weight division.
Larry Holmes. The most unpopular heavyweight champion of all time.
In my book 🥊Holmes is the #3 best HW🥊 of all time behind Ali and Louis.
Cooney ☘️fought a HELLUVA tough fight that night.
Only Society could take a lesson from these two men
Larry Holmes is a gentleman like he said you got to do what you got to do
Both guys are class acts. It is a shame that today’s fighters aren’t gentlemen like these two.
I love Holmes , Cooney was a rare breed back then a big white heavyweight which made for interesting fight with Holmes but Holmes was the king of his time ..
Gotta respect em both
Two class acts
Both were and are great gentlemen and a credit to the sport.
Two class guys.
Met Holmes a real funny guy got my pic took with him still a big old guy with huge fists ..both looking good
If Gerry Rooney had a good management team around him, they would've brought him up through the ranks a lot slower......he was way too early in his career to throw him in there with Larry Holmes!!!! If Gerry was managed by like a top rank org I know 100% fact he would've been a long reigning champ for years....fact!!!!!! His managers were only thinking about making money quick and not thinking about Gerry's future!!!!! Yes I know foreman said Gerry hit him the hardest any boxer ever hit him but that don't matter, there's more to boxing than power, macho, blood n guts brawn!!!! You know what it called???? A smart intelligent brain that functions!!!!! Fact!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Too true. It's a damn shame. Had the punch but needed more experience
Two good guys. Decent classy guys. Holmes a true champion.
I love how the law says do not discriminate it’s against the law, yet everybody discriminateS😮
He used to look like a really old looking young guy. Now he's a really young looking old guy.
Which one?
Holmes underrated - and a decent man.
Certainly a great boxer but not a great man. He took the Ali fight even though HE KNEW that Ali was in no fit state to box. That's NOT the behaviour of a "decent" man. He KNEW that Ali was ill but he still knocked his fuckin head in for 10 rounds.
To put your career and money before the health of the man who made heavyweight boxing what it is today is low!!!
@@KryptonitetoallBS you would have done the same thing if you were a 25 yr old boxer and they're waving millions at you. It's really easy to sit and say you would have handled it differently. But if you were in his position, you'd have done the same thing he did. Once he took the fight, he had to try to knock him out . Anything less would be disgraceful to the sport
@@Cincinnatus1869 And if I did I would hold my hands up and admit it, NOT cry crocodile tears for something which he knew about before the fight. He took the money knowing Ali was ill and that's what makes him a rat!!!
@@KryptonitetoallBS Or maybe that makes Ali's handlers rats , or Ali an idiot for agreeing to it. Holmes did what any young boxer at that time would have done.
@@Cincinnatus1869 Fighters need help and assistance when they are ill. Ali was in no fit state to make that kind of decision. Ali's doctor had left the group years before as he wanted NO part of it as he knew Ali was in no fit state to be fighting and was damaging his health. I agree his handlers and everyone around him were at fault, just as Holmes was!!!
I saw that fight. It was awesome.
Michael Franzese testified the mob new the outcome of this fight in advance.
Sounds like a lie.
@@redcomic619 When you watch the fight it certainly seems like a lie.
Larry is an all time e great ,but very underrated.
How good was Holmes? Check out 42 year old Larry's fight with Ray Mercer!!
Jerry was great in is Fighting Earlier Career , but seriously, Prior to his Heavyweight Championship Fight with Larry Holmes, I firmly believe, he wasn't Serious about Winning, just getting a enough "Money" from the Fight to buy his future "Restaurant" in Huntington, NY. ,was is real Goal.....! Why do I think this is True, because, I "Saw" Him in two different "Night-Clubs" that Weekend ; prior to his Fight , on both Friday & Saturday on Long Isand, N.Y.....? Why was he partying those nights & not resting & get ready to Fight Larry Holmes......?
The bad thing was the media made it a "racist" boxing match, and it wasn't even about that.
No, the biggest heavyweight fight in the history of the game was Ali-Frazier 1!!! Cooney's handlers squandered his career because although he had a devastating punch , he didn't have enough ring experience to deal with someone on the level of Holmes - cardio-conditioning , knowing how
to grab and hold when hurt , round pacing , etc. !!!
Great 👍 point
U are absolutely right, Larry just kept setting him up for the same right hand all fight and when he hurt Cooney he didn't have the knowledge or experience to know how to weather the storm or clinch to clear his head
I know that this is not MMA, but McGregor, this is how to behave, take note.
Larry Holmes is one of the greatest HW champions of all time. I think it's sad that he's never billed that way.
He’s billed that way
In hind sight it might have been better had Cooney fought the other Champion first because he could have been a World Champion if he'd faced anyone other than Larry!
That was a great fight !
Two cool dudes.
Holmes was at that time far too experienced for Cooney that's why Holmes wanted to fight Cooney before Cooney got more experience. Larry was one of the greats but he was smart to fight Jerry soon and not later.
Larry Holmes is a champ and a gentleman.
Larry Holmes is the greatest of all time .
Louis-Ali-Holmes. . Top 3 in my book.
Cooney is a top 5 all time great. If he had been trained well by someone like Cus D'Amato, he would have demolished everyone including Tyson, Foreman, Holyfield.
both made good money
Hey, New Yorkers - Anybody else, I observed him "Partying" that Weekend, prior to his heavy Weight Championship Fight................?
Jerry stole two packs of fire crackers from me in front of Joey Depinto's house on Luther Pl. in Huntington Station.
I watched that fight and I admit I rooted for Cooney because by then I was bored watching Larry boringly stave off contender after contender in his same old feather fisted way.But when I look back on that fight and that time I feel like Holmes was truly one of our great champs who gets very little credit while Cooney although talented was overrated and Larry exposed him that night as boxing often does like no other sport and like Larry said in this video to Cooney before the fight it just going to be me and you ,Gerry.
Gerry was not so much over rated as he was "under experienced". I saw no way back in 1982 that Gerry Cooney was going to defeat Larry Holmes with only 3 rounds of competition over the previous 1.5 years time. The other thing Cooney did that was unlike what Gerry usually did in his fights is he stood too tall, stood straight up for the Holmes fight. That tipped me off and probably it tipped Larry off too that Cooney was not going to try and fight and get into exchanges with Holmes but instead he was looking go into the later rounds and was conserving his energy. In retrospect he should have just shot his bolt and if it was good enough it was good enough. But he showed Holmes too much respect and Larry also showed a reluctance to get on Gerry as well.
Cooney only lost 3 fights - all to Greats. After besting Ron Lyle and Ken Norton who can blame him for taking a Title Shot? However he really did NOT have much experience on his side relatively speaking, and he was battling some substantial demons at that time. @@Jim_Harwood
@@engine2truck6 Well the problem was Don King pretty much had practically the whole top 10 Heavyweights under contract. Gerry was independent of being tied to a specific promoter. So it was going to be hard for Gerry to fight anybody good at that time because King and well Arum too had most of the top fighters under contract. Gerry would have to have been willing to give King options on his future fights in order to fight one of King's fighters. He wasn't going to do that. He probably made more money in the Holmes fight than Holmes did because not only did King get a promoters cut from the fight he was also taking a managers cut from Holmes even though that's technically illegal, he was doing it which is why Holmes was always pissed off.
Biggest fight in the history of boxing? Ali and Frazier say hello....
Too, GREAT Men.
TRUE GLADIATORS OF THE SPORT??????
Larry & Gerry, they need their own TV reality show
Biggest fight in history?? What?? lmao
Gerry lost all confidence after this fight, and was never the same. He wasn't ready for Holmes then, a little more experience and he would have gone the distance but results probably the same.
Cooney is a happy go lucky guy .
great to see that Gerry Cooney seems to still have his faculties.Holmes, i think, has been in too many fights
Two Gents of Fistacuffs, lol, great stuff.
I would take a prime Gerry Cooney over Tommy Morrison. I don't think either man though could have beaten Jerry Quarry.
I meet gerry in school.
You went to school?
Gerry Cooney’s only mistake was that he did not fight a Top 10 contender that could have pushed him.
who wins holmes vs coetzee and cooney vs coetzee
I think Cooney's management babied him too much. You don't get experience fighting guys who are way past their prime ( Young, Lyle, and Norton). He should have been fighting guys like Dokes, Page, and Snipes. So if you lose one of those it doesn't mean you can't become champ. Louis, Dempsey, the Klitschko's are perfect examples. Even after he lost to Holmes he didn't fight for a year. He could have been champ if his management had managed him better. That being said, I think even though he lost this fight, it was his best fight.
BTW I'm glad to hear that they became good friends.
Larry got an aging Ali. Ali would have smoked him when he was a younger man
Larry was so much better than Ali.
McElhinney65 HAHAAHAHAHA
L Holmes fault was he came after Ali.
He is the most over rated heavyweight boxer ever.He had most tools 4 a heavyweight,except a heavyweight punch.
The great Larry Holmes and Jerry Cooney were very much like the great Joe Louis and Billy Conn. I had Mr. Cooney ahead on points, but much like Mr. Billy Conn Jerry Cooney decided to go to to toe with Mr. Larry Holmes and just like Mr. Joe Louis Mr. Holmes knocked Jerry Cooney out. Like Billy Conn, Jerry Cooney came very close to being heavyweight boxing champion of the world. I actually bet on Cooney that night, and I lost. Great boxing match. Larry Holmes is one of my greatest heavyweight champions. Sadly for him, he boxed in the shadow of Muhammad Ali, another one of the all-time greatests.