If Cooney was a black guy, he would not have got a title shot at that stage of his development, nor would there be much memory of him as a fighter (sad, but true)

At the time, he was freaking huge - I think he was 6'6" or 6'7", so there was a certain amount of freak show hype around him, and his handlers also managed to tap into that American love for the Irish - and they did market him appropriately. I definitely agree he was carefully matched, overhyped and then fed to Holmes before someone else found him out.

Undoubtedly, Cooney had power, he had a big big left hook and therefore was pretty eye-catching at times. Probably his best win was the Norton fight ........ but Ken did always freeze when he fought big punchers, and he was pretty shot by the time he was in front of Gerry. Technically, poor old Gerry was very limited, he pawed with his jab, was pretty upright and didn't throw his right properly.

Having said that, Gerry himself didn't realise this and was therefore a better fighter than he appeared to be. Also, I don't think anyone could question his heart or his desire - Cooney did not cheat his audience, ever.

So, should Cooney be mentioned in the same breath as Louis, Holmes, Ali etc ....... no, absolutely not. Should be be bracketed with the Walcott's, the Patterson's ....... I don't really think so either although he would always have a punchers chance.

Where does he stand against other actual 'world' champions - Bruce Seldon, Mike Tate, Frank Bruno, John Ruiz, Oleg Maskaev? I think Gerry, limited as he was, would have got past those guys. I think he would beat today's Briggs, and be competitive against Valuev.

A decent honest pro. Hope he is in a happy retirement.