January 2002 - October 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

Cooney for what he was: A big guy with a good punch who won some fights
impressively. I totally buy into Larry Holmes' comments that Cooney moved up
the food chain faster because he was white---hey, like it or not, in the few
years after the "Rocky" movie era, there was hunger for a good white
heavyweight. Cooney was the closest thing out there to challenge effectively
for the title. And people like Holmes made good paydays on this basis! I was an
Ali fan, then a Holmes fan, so the color issue was never important to me---but a
lot of fans gravitated to the contending white heavies. The record and
opponents speak loudly: Jerry Quarry was the best of the group, but Cooney was
better than Bobick. And Forest, I never said that Cooney gave Holmes a great
fight---you pointed out guys who were bigger threats to his title (and you
missed Leroy Jones, who was giving Holmes a good fight for a few rounds before
his eye closed and Holmes won by TKO in Round 8). But Holmes also had a lot of
easy title defenses, like Leon Spinks, Marvis Frazier and I think Alfredo
Evanelista might have even been on the list. Gerrie Cooney showed some heart in
his loss to Holmes, taking it to the 13th round. Holmes had the fire that
Cooney didn't, and a lot more skills too. As I see it, it works both ways:
Yes, Cooney and Bobick got breaks because they were white. But it also seems to
me that they are judged more harshly now for the same reason. Why is it that
Bobick was a joke when he was knocked out in the first round by Norton and Tate,
but nobody laughed at Norton when Shavers and Cooney KOed him in one. Also,
when Quarry knocked out Shavers in one round, it wasn't fodder for late night
comedians like it was for Bobick. I remember the little jackass host of Family
Feud, Richard Dawson, making fun of Bobick after that loss. I'd love to see him
get in the ring with anyone. Having done a little boxing (very little), I
admire the fact that any of these guys do it for a living---it's not as easy as
they make it look. As for Cooney: Big heavyweight with a good punch, some
exciting moments and I think at his peak, he deserved the Top 10 rating, though
probably not a # 1 Contender status. |
|7/22/03 06:16:55 PM|Kent Appel|La Habra, Ca||oriononside@aol.com||||10|Bob, I
sent you an E mail regarding contacting Robert Quarry. EVREN, lENNOX
LEWIS ESCAPED WITH THE TITLE. HE WAS IN REAL DANGER OF LOSING IF THE KLITSCHKO
FIGHT HADN'T BEEN STOPPED DUE TO A SEVERE CUT. I THINK LENNOX IS ON THE WAY
DOWN.|
|7/22/03 06:52:32 PM|Forest Ward|South Carolina||joekevin@cs.com||||10|Angelo,
your the best. You made a lot of good points, many which never occurred to me
until I read your post. Are you the same Angelo who used write regularly on this
site a few years ago? If so it's great to have you back, you always wrote
candid posts. If you are a different Angelo, it's great to have you aboard, you
have a lot of insight|
|7/23/03 02:32:55 AM|Evren|London||@||||10|For Kent: Wake up and smell the
coffee pal. Lewis had an off night that night - was overconfident and still
splattered Klitscko's face. One thing I regret is that Lewis did'nt have the
chance to do the same to Larry Merchant who was very hostile to Lennox in the
afterfight interview. I find the Americans very anti-Lewis (the reporters,
commentators etc) and I think this is down to the fact that they cannot get a
fighter to cope with our 'British Champion'. Kent - he was'nt lucky he just
attained victory in a different way. I do agree that it was disappointing that
the fight was stopped on those terms but it makes for a great rematch I guess.
In my opinion I feel that Jimmy Young was never the same fighter after his close
decision loss to Ken Norton. He was still a good fighter to beat in '81, '82 but
not the force he once was. The same applies moreso to Norton and Lyle at the
time they met Mr Cooney.|
|7/23/03 07:07:22 AM|John Gerard|NYC||rock289z@yahoo.com||||10|EVREN: I don't
think Lewis had an off night. I think he is starting to show his age and
should seriously consider quitting and going out a winner. At first I thought I