man for sure...when he was in a tough spot he always came back fighting even harder...balls and technique....these two fighters are now very close friends.
I think that deep in Larry's heart, for saying:"let's have a good fight" right after referee's opening, there was the awareness of it all not being a racial shit, but being an honest match between two good men who only wanted to fight, regardless of any stupid cause attributed by promoters just to make more money.Respect to both
As time goes on, my appreciation of Larry Holmes just grows and grows. One of the greatest heavyweights that ever lived. He's finally starting to get a lot of the credit he deserves. Would have been competitive and potentially a champion in any era.
I always wondered what would be some good fights to bring? I wish Mayweather would get one maybe Mayweather Pacquiao? Also I wish they could do a Roy Jones one. Maybe Roy Jones Antonio Tarver.
@@Capecrusader79 I agree that Marquez and Pacquiao had battles in the ring. But I'm not sure their fights make the legendary nights list. I would put Marquez up there but not Juan Manuel. I'd put Rafael Marquez vs Israel Vazquez. On legendary nights. The fights were far more brutal had far more drama and exacted far greater toll on both world class fighters. Only one of their fights went the distance. I've always enjoyed the Pacquiao Marquez fights. Especially the 2nd and 4th. But what really made them most significant was that they were unification fights between Hall of Famers but none of the fights were fights of the year or had elements like Foreman-Moorer or Holmes-Cooney which made them iconic. What was I think most significant about Pacquiao-Marquez was 3 of the 4 fights ended in controversy. I don't think we'll every see that again in this lifetime. As a matter of fact YOU ARE RIGHT. Pacquiao-Marquez belong on Legendary nights because of the high controversy that follows those fights to this day. DJ You made me a believer.
Gerry cooney is a good contender. He only ever lost to hall of fame fighters. He deserves that much credit that he fought great fighters and had a good career. But Larry Holmes is a living legend of the sport. His style laid the blue print for many fighters to come and was a great champion regardless if he got the respect he rightfully deserved and it does my heart good that Larry Holmes won out in life. He is a rich and successful business man now. He won in the end. screw what anybody else has to say Larry Holmes is a all time great
Cooney never beat anyone in their prime. His best wins was Ron Lyle. Jimmy Young and Norton when they were all washed up. He did good against Holmes that night but the lack of competition hurt him
I always respected Larry Holmes. You can't defeat Ken Norton in the latter's prime and knock out Ernie Shavers who has the highest knockout-to-win ratio in the history of the heavyweight division and not get respect.
What? Lmao one of the biggest trash comments ever. Norton was way past his prime in1978, he was in his absolute peak in 1974 when FOREMAN destroyed him, a.1978 finished Norton gave to a prime Holmes the hell. And Shavers had a.trash chin and was a crappy fighter with a heavy punch.
I still can't believe that Larry got up from that Shavers punch, been watching that back since Shavers passed a few weeks ago. Larry was tough as nails as well as a great boxer
Ken Norton was announced first when he was defending his championship belt versus Larry Holmes. They shouldn't act like this was something that had never happened before.
Shows how much of a gentleman Holmes was too when they met in the middle of the ring and as he touched gloves he said "Let's have a good fight" true sportsmenship and like he said...all the bullshit goes out the window at that point anyways....good guy and good sprtsmenship for real. ☺️
Holmes to me is among the most strong, respected and serious champions of the 20th century. Hands down Holmes belongs in the Heavyweight Elite Champs of all time.
As a teenager and a frustrated amateur fighter I admired Larry Holmes for his technique and skill. I became a fan when he beat Norton and solidified my fandom when he beat Weaver in the last 30 seconds of the 15th round. That jackhammer jab stunned most fighters early in the bout. You could see the reaction when he landed it early. I never could develop that trip hammered left jab.
solidified your fandom when Weaver ko'd Tate with 45 seconds left in the 15th when Holmes ko'd Weaver in the 12th round Mike was 20-9 and wasn't expected to go 2-3 rounds jesus fucking christ get your shit together
My Grandpa always tells me a story about Larry Holmes and he is indeed one of the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. I watched most of his fights he truly deserves the respect.
The sad part.. Larry got no disrespect as the champion. In this fight, they introduced him first, then Cooney. Never should the challenger be introduced before the champion.
AMEN! It was 100% wrong, insulting, undermining, disrespectful & a blatant slap in the face introducing Holmes 1st! I'm not even close to being a Holmes fan but FUCK'EM ALL for doing that shit to Holmes!!!!!
Ken Norton was introduced first when Holmes challenged him for the title. Funny how no one ever mentions that; as it turns out it was by the same announcer.
I also have no doubt in my mind that A prime Norton from the early 70s what have knocked Gerry Cooney out cold Same with a Prime Ron Lyle Cooney was trash
Larry Holmes was a great, great fighter who never received his due. Even when he fought Gerry Cooney his got disrespected. For crying out loud, a special hot-line was placed in Cooney's dressing room so he could receive a congratulatory phone call from President Ronald Reagan. But that was okay. Larry, you were right there with the all-time greats. That Norton fight was amazing, and you got off the canvas to beat Shavers and Snipes. You blew out Cooney and won the 2nd Spinks fight.
This was such a Great Series by HBO! And this Episode was probably the Best of all of them. What is really So Awesome about this Championship Fight is that to this day, Holmes and Cooney are Great Friends and Talk or Text each other just about every other day or so. It just goes to show that in the end, Love Conquers Hate.....Even Manufactured Hate, LOL!!
I was a kid on this night, me and my brother Jeff and our best friend Keith Turner. Went to see E.T. but after the movie I listened to the radio and Holmes won. I was happy because Holmes won. And I will never forget how Larry was dissed for not being introduced last.
Tony Perez is his name. He reffed Cooney/Norton, Tua/Ruiz, and Morrison/Mercer. *ALL THREE* of the most brutal heavyweight knockouts in the entire history of the sport. He was a _terrible_ ref who had no idea when to step in and stop it. Dude is lucky he didn't get anyone killed.
I miss these great days. I was in my own prime and these guys were my idols. It didn't matter a damn to me what color they were. They were both inspirational.
If Rappaort and Jones had given Cooney a tougher road to get to the title, he would have had a better chance when he got in there with Holmes. Instead, they put him in with people he could cream to catch a headline and make money and in the long run they did a disservice to Cooney.
According to Cooney himself Don King prevented his fighters from facing him early in his career (Don had most of the good fighters) which was why he faced such poor opposition. Don't know if it's true or not.
Yeah remarkably Cooney wasnt even that bad of a fighter. Stopping Lyle and Norton were impressive but he wasn't ready for twelve rounds with Holmes. Maybe if he had two more fights against good fighters. At it stands he went in there not ready and lost his chances at stardom imo
Something I've learned when making money.....make it, while it's hot! That's what both King and Rapapport did! A "tougher road to get to the title" risks the fighter losing, and all title hopes go down. That's an unfortunate reality, like it, or not! A first-round knockout of a name like Norton, washed up but still a name, keeps the opportunity hot!
Coney threw the fight he took all that punishment and in the 12th Holmes still couldnt hurt him so he gave him a low blow looked at the ref no penalty then drops his guard the rest of the round he still couldnt finish him. He had to take a dive.
Gerry Cooney is one of the greatest journeyman fighters of all time. The third time I ever cried during a fight was during the 3rd round (2nd was when Gerry Cooney allowed Holmes to say something when the touched gloves, gracefully). Underrated.
Nothing wrong with crying. As I reached my mid forties, and lost my parents, I find myself getting emotional over a lot of things I didnt when I was young. Last week I think I cried after a commercial for KFC. Crazy shit.
The numbers and accomplishments do not lie and they speak for themselves- Larry Holmes was one of the all time greatest Heavyweight Champions. He was a victim of being sandwiched between two great eras. Period. He may have had the most devastating jab of all time, he was lightning fast, had knockout power and was a great counter-puncher. One can only fight in the era in which they come along and he did all he could possibly do- take on and defeat all comers, defend his title against the best contenders available and sustained that level for a long time. He deserves recognition as one of the 4 best ever IMO- Ali, Holmes, Lennox Lewis, Marciano (alphabetic order).
Cooney was a big guy with a good punch and a lot of heart. However, this was a manufactured mega fight built upon race. Cooney was not ready to fight Holmes. Cooney was a C+ fighter at best.
again taking credit from holmes when he knockes out norton all of you said he was the reall deal a legit contender then holmes destroyes him and all of a sudden he is"C-level fighter at his best" man you dont know shit
Sullivan, Jeffries, Johnson, Dempsey, Tunney, Braddock, Louis, Charles, Marciano, Patterson, Liston, Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Holmes, Spinks, Tyson, Douglas, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis, Moorer, Klitschko, Ruiz, Rahman, Fury, Wilder, Joshua, Usyk are the many names that made the World Heavyweight Championship of pro boxing so special for over 140 years
Screaming Dean After all the crap, Cooney was revealed to be nothing more than a very competitive man . A man with a dream being asked to shoulder a weight he didn't want He just wanted to be the Heavyweight Champ. It was mano y mano and Larry was the better man this night. If only Larry was treated as a man worthy of it.
+Screaming Dean +Screaming Dean First of all, he didn't "earn" the right to be in the ring with Larry Holmes. White hope and Privilege gave him the opportunity that should have been given to other more qualified fighters. Secondly, he didn't let "everybody" down. He only let some of the people down, most of whom supported him for the wrong reason. He stayed on his feet as long as he did only because he didn't want to let the white race down, and in the end even that wasn't enough to keep him standing on his feet. White privilege then, and now, are the only things that separate the white races from others in America. Can anybody "honestly" disagree with that?
+rwalfrey Really??? A "very competitive" man..."a man with a dream"..."mano y mano"..."Larry Holmes was the better man this night"...."asked to shoulder a weight he didn't want". Wow, now that's revisionist history at its worst. Truth is, Cooney wanted to win that fight for the same reason that his supporters wanted him to win the fight. I remember him along with the rest of his camp doing all they could to promote this as show of which race was superior, and all of white America got behind them 200%. Larry Holmes brought Jessie Jackson in to try to cool down the climate that was being created by Cooney and his team. Black were angry with Don King for trying to justify and over simplify the hate-filled racial "characterizations" that whites were making when, at a press conference, he said that "It's a white and Black fight...there's not way you can change that". But it wasn't that simple. The rhetoric being used by the Cooney camp and their supporters back then, turned the fight into this huge battle for white supremacy in the minds of many whites, who turn out in droves at every viewing venue across the country to support this unqualified and undeserving white guy. If Cooney had won, for many, it would have said everything that they've always believed about the superiority of whites over African-Americans. But, since Cooney lost, Holmes' dominating defeat over the white guy, for those in the supremacists camp, now makes no statement whatsoever as to the fallacy of white supremacy. Cooney was anything but "competitive"... becoming a fighter was his father's dream, not Cooney's. Mano y Mano???...NO, it was Mano y "boyo". Larry Holmes was the best MAN that night and would have been the best man on ANY and every night that he and Cooney would have fought. Cooney's trainers and promoters are in complete and total agreement with me on this, and here's how I know this to be true. They never asked for a REMATCH! I would have loved to see a rematch. Who wouldn't??? Well, I guess I can imagine the hurt and disappointment of many of those who where into the fight for all the wrong reason. So, ok, I guess there would be some who would not want to go through such grand-scale humiliation again.
+Becca Lou I won't bother trying to argue whether or not white privilege had something to do with the fight, but even Larry Holmes admitted that Gerry Cooney gave him a good fight and that Cooney would have beaten anyone else and that Cooney had the misfortune of having to fight Larry Holmes himself. After winning that fight, Holmes should have gotten more respect, that much is true.
Screaming Dean He could’ve been great but lack the bottle better than boxing! it’s his own fault he wasted two years after the homes five when he could’ve got back in the ring forgot about it and move Don and Faught homes again but no he wanted to sulk and to drugs .
Its so nice to see how Holmes and Cooney have a great relationship nowadays. The shit that went on outside the fight and outside the fighters themselves is horrible.
Even though he was totally outclassed, I thought Gerry gave Larry way too much respect in their fight. Didn't fight his fight whatsoever. I thought he went in way too intimidated.
Cooney became a boxer because his dad practically forced him to become one, not because he really wanted to. He may have wanted the heavyweight crown, but didn't want it with the degree of *intensity* it takes to overcome a lack of raw physical talent. Yes, he could hit hard, but as Joe Fraizer once said, any big man can hit. In addition to punching power, you also have to have superior quickness, hand speed and timing to be heavyweight champion. In those three regards Cooney was simply out-classed by Holmes. If Tommy Morrison in his prime had stepped into the ring with Holmes that night, the end result would have been the same.
If Cooney fought Ocasio,Weaver, Snipes, Berbick or Spinks, The result would have been the same as Young and Norton. He would have blown them out of the ring....Cooney had freakish punching power...The fact is Holmes was too complete a boxer for Cooney...BUT IF Cooney got right back in the gym instead of mentally collapsing ......a second Holmes fight would have been epic.. BTW Cooney NEVER said one racist thing.
Holmes had a very interesting style, backing up and circling in some fights. Learned a ton as Ali's sparing partner,(IMHO) plus his own energy and supportive wife. Live long, Larry and Jerry.
The biggest shame of Larry Holmes' career is that he didnt get to feel the respect and adulation that his talent deserved until he fought Mercer almost a decade after this.
The show mentioned how Holmes was in Ali’s shadow but it also didn’t help him that the man that followed him was Mike Tyson. Holmes being sandwhiched between those two must have been hard for him BUT today everyone respects Him
I am proud to say that at the time of the people I knew in my life I was the only white person to be rooting for Larry Holmes. Not because I disliked Gerry Cooney but I was angry at how people were cheering on Cooney just because he was white. The hate for Larry Holmes was tangible, and sad. I saw a boxing match and may the best man win. I thought that man was Larry Holmes, my favorite fighter at the time. It's good to hear that Cooney and Holmes are good friends today.
This is a dumb comment. First off there were just as many blacks rooting for Holmes simply because he was black. Racism is NOT only a problem of white people. Second, one shouldnt be proud because they rooted for Holmes because you wanted to somehow "make up" for white people cheering on Cooney because he was white, again even tho blacks were cheering on Holmes because he was black. You shouldnt be proud of it because either way by doing so, you took part in racism. You didnt cheer on Holmes because you thought he was the best or your favorite or anything. By your own words you cheered him on to make up for all the white people cheering Cooney. You cheered him on because he was the OPPOSITE color. So either way you were taking part in racism.
@@morrnmanderson7376 "This is a dumb comment." A more prophetic statement of your gibberish that followed could not have been advanced. Well done. I agree...it was a dumb comment.
thanks for the up. that was cool. as messed up as allot of this was, it shows how little boxing and the world has changed over the years. Boxing is unfortuantly a spectacle for most people... but at the same time, that's what makes history. An almost paralel event to Tex Rickard's 1910 fight between Jim Jeffries and Jack Johnson.
They make a point that Holmes was introduced first. However if you go back to the Holmes/Norton fight, Norton, who was the champion, was introduced first and Holmes, the challenger, was introduced last. It may have been a venue practice because both fights were at the same venue.
I know some of these provincial places were a bit backward in the 80's but it's still mindblowing how someone might introduce Larry Holmes as George Foreman... fuck Larry did not get the respect he deserved in his time.
