The Fight
Wilfredo Gómez knocked out Juan Antonio Lopez in ten rounds to retain his WBC super bantamweight title in the semi-final fight, and Holmes and Cooney then took center stage without any incidents. Holmes versus Cooney was refereed by Mills Lane. The announcer that night named Holmes first. Some thought that this was unprecedented; it is tradition in boxing that the challenger be named first and the champion last. The announcement was considered shameful and intensely disrespectful toward the champion Holmes by the boxing community. In fact, when Holmes had challenged Norton for the title, Norton had been introduced first. Nevertheless, when the boxers touched gloves before the first round began, Holmes told Cooney, "Let's have a good fight."
Holmes dropped Cooney in round two, but Cooney got up and landed a damage-causing shot to the body by the end of round four. By Holmes' own account, he felt lucky that punch landed close to the end of that round. Holmes and Cooney fought closely from rounds five to eight, trading punches in mid-ring. This was the point where Cooney's inactivity started affecting him, however, and Holmes again dropped the championship hopeful in round nine. By round ten, Cooney's punches began landing low, and this caused him to fall further behind on the judges' scorecards, referee Lane deducting three points from him for the infractions.
By round thirteen, Cooney seemed to believe that he would lose the fight and was just trying to last the fifteen round distance. He had suffered a cut on his left eye and was taking heavy punishment. Midway through the round, a Holmes cross landed flush on Cooney's left cheek, and Cooney's legs buckled. He landed against the ropes, near his corner, and Holmes moved in, intent on finishing his job. Cooney's trainer, Victor Valle, prevented him from doing so, however, by throwing a towel from Cooney's corner, signifying that they were quitting. It should be clarified, however, that Cooney did not quit, his corner did that for him.
Read more about this topic: Larry Holmes Vs. Gerry Cooney
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