‘New’ Gerry Cooney Eager to Face Foreman

Gerry Cooney looks and sounds like a new man. But the pattern is suspiciously familiar.

Once again, Cooney is saying he is newly dedicated. Once again, Cooney is saying he is finally healthy. But once again, Cooney is fighting an old man, and, it appears, trying to take a shortcut to the heavyweight championship of the world.

Cooney, who retired following a fifth-round knockout loss to Michael Spinks on June 15, 1987, officially announced his fourth comeback in the past seven years Thursday. “This is a dream thing for me,” he said. “I’m finally in control of my life and my career. I feel better about everything now.”

Now a 33-year-old with gray streaks in his brown hair, Cooney, free of his managers -- Dennis Rappaport and Mike Jones -- and trainer Victor Valle, will fight 42-year-old George Foreman in a scheduled 10-round bout on Jan. 15 at the Atlantic City Convention Hall, hosted by Caesars Hotel and Casino.

Promoter Bob Arum, trying to hype a bout many in boxing consider a farce more suitable for professional wrestling, dubbed it “The Preacher vs. the Puncher.”

But one member of the always cynical boxing press, Dave Raffo of UPI, came up with what might be a more appropriate tagline: “The Two Geezers at Caesars.”

And yet, considering the stagnancy of the heavyweight division, Cooney-Foreman -- a match between a former heavyweight champion who had been retired for nearly 10 years, and a reluctant contender who has fought just four times since his 13th-round TKO loss to Larry Holmes on June 11, 1982 -- is expected to do socko business, both at the 15,065-seat arena and on closed-circuit and pay-per-view television systems. Foreman is an early 2-1 favorite.

The reasons for the interest are many. Not the least of them is the appeal of two powerful punchers meeting in the ring with the winner likely to fight Mike Tyson, the fearsome world champion, in an even bigger closed-circuit fight next year. And, as always when Cooney fights, the suspicion arises that at least some of the appeal is Cooney’s white skin.

Foreman tried to make light of the racial issue Thursday -- “That I’m white and Cooney’s black has nothing to do with it,” he said -- but in 20th century America, race still sells boxing matches. Cooney and Foreman are guaranteed $1 million each, and percentages of TV revenues could double the payday. The winner is expected to get a fight with Tyson -- without having beaten a fighter ranked in the top 10.

Thursday, Cooney, who looked fit at what he said was 228 pounds, tried to explain why this time would be different. “I’m finally at peace with all the things in my turbulent life,” Cooney said. “I can’t change the past, but all that happened to me is over and done with. I’ve made a lot of changes that needed to be made.”

Among them was giving up drugs and alcohol, which Cooney said became a problem during his periods of inactivity. For the past six months, Cooney said, he has been considering a comeback against Foreman, fueled by street talk and offers from various promoters. “Now that I’ve finally gotten away from all the nasty things and people who were around me, I’m ready to do it,” he said. “I’m around some really healthy, nice people now.”

Cooney (28-2, 25 KOs) replaced the discharged Valle with Gil Clancy, the former manager-trainer of five-time world champ Emile Griffith. Clancy was highly critical of Cooney’s performance against Spinks (“He was awful,” Clancy said at the time), but is also parroting the “New Cooney” line. “My first job is to inform the press and public that Gerry no longer wants to be called Gentleman Gerry,” Clancy said. “He’s not a gentleman and he won’t be when he climbs into the ring. Did I do it right, Gerry?”

Clancy trained Foreman (64-2, 60 KOs) for several fights, including the final bout of his first career, a 12-round loss to Jimmy Young on March 17, 1977, after which Foreman retired to become a minister.

Foreman has fought 19 patsies in his comeback, stopping 18 of them. “If I knew about Gil Clancy training Cooney, I might not have signed for the fight,” Foreman said, struggling to keep a straight face. “He knows more about me than anybody in boxing.”