Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1982)
SPORTS UJ UJ PORTLAND OBSERVER Portland Observer Volume XII, Number 36 Section II W hy Cooney will win Holmes in three! Som e w ill say, “ O h , no, I d o n t w a n t to h ear a n y m o re a b o u t th a t great white hope m y th .” O k a y , be lieve it or not it does exist. How ever, this w riter believes that Cooney docs possess the skills to defeat an aging L a rry H olm es, but also realize that there's something extra Cooney will have in his fa v o r and th a t m y frie n d s is the rig h t p ig m e n ta tio n . C all it fair or not but always realize that it is a fact. Fact: It has been m ore than tw o decades since In g em aar Johannsen knocked out Floyd Patterson to be com e the firs , w h ite h e a v y w e ig h t since Rocky M arcian o. Fact: T h e re w ill be no b lack ju d g e s at rin g s id e when G e rry C o o n e y and L a r r y H o lm e s c lim b through the ring and se, foot on the QERRVCOONEY by Ron Sykes, Sports E d ito r apron. As we go to press the outcome o f the most b a lly h o o e d h eavyw eigh t fig h t o f this decade w ill not yet be k n o w n . B u t, w hen this newspaper reaches the streets a verdict w ill have been rendered. A nd if all the smoke ever clears those eyes you w ill finally see pecking through this heavy maze w ill belong to one G e rry C o o n e y . Yes, we realize that Cooney has yet to meet a top-ranked heavyweight, and w e're rem inded every day th at he’s only had a mere 22 fights, and how often must we hear that those oppo nents C o o n e y d id d e fe a t w ere a ll ch arter members o f the " O v e r-th e - hill-gang.” S o, n ow th a t a ll these s ta rtlin g revelations have been m ade, and to this w rite r stacked end to end they w o u ld n 't am ount to a h ill o f beans. I ’ ll give you the reasons why we pre d ict a Cooney victory. Fact: I f a decision is necessary, and I d o n 't believe it w ill be, then Cooney w ill have the help that he'll need to keep this thing fro m going another couple decades on the black side, but G erry w ill see that no help is needed by fla tte n in g H o lm e s around the fifth or sixth round. Fact: L a r r y H o lm e s has done most o f the ta lk in g , w h ile C oo n ey chose to let his fists do the talking. Fact: Holm es, one o f 12 children, b o rn in 1949 to Jo h n an d Flossie H olm es, in C u lb e rt, G a ., w ill be in the best shape o f his life . T h o u g h com fortably rich. Holmes is still de scribed as a h u n g ry fig h te r . H e know s very well how fa r he’ s come and is not in a h u rry to re tu rn . H e once loaded tru c k s fo r a g arm en t c o m p a n y , w o rk e d in a car w ash , p o u re d hot steel an d d id a little farm ing to make ends meet. H olm es w ill bring a perfect 29-0 record into the ring but like Cooney . . .H o lm e s ’ re c o rd was not m ade ag ain st a ll to p n otch fig h te rs . In 1976 L a rry faced such blockbusters as Joe G h o ls to n , F red A skew and R oy W illia m s — h a rd ly household names. A n d i f 1976 was b ad , then *77 d id n ’ t get any b e tte r w hen he K O ’d T o m P ra te r, H o ra c e R o b in son, Y o u n g S a n fo rd and Ib a n A r rington all inside ten. H o lm e s ’ s tiffe s t c o m p e titio n came in 1978 when he faced an old but hard-hitting Ernie Shavers. It was a c la s s ic .. .th a t is i f you view a slugging m atch as such fo r these tw o gallant gladiators ripped each other with rights and lefts from round one 'til Holmes finally K O ’s a very tire d Shavers in the 12th. But n o t b e fo re E rn ie had n e a rly had L a rry out in the 8th. O n closer per sp ective H o lm e s ’ re c o rd leaves much to be desired. W ith all the talk about C o o n e y ’s lack o f top caliber opponents, then wha, about Larry! F ro m 1977 through 1982 Cooney has only fought 85 rounds; he’s won 25, o f which 22 were knockouts. In 1977 he won a fo u r-ro u n d decision over M a tt Robinson; ,978 he go, the decision over Sam M c G ill in eight rounds and January 1978 Eddie Lo pez m an ag ed to s u rv iv e a b ru ta l eight rounds only to d ro p a u n a n i mous decision to C o o n e y . C o o n ey has amassed 8 firs t ro u n d k n o c k outs in his b r ie f c a re e r. G e rry C o o n e y ’ s m ain assets are his fists. The young man from New Y o rk is a devastating puncher and is quick o ff the m a rk . H olm es has a history o f being h it and going d o w n . H e w ill get hit by Cooney and the belief here is th a t he w o n ’ t ge, u p . “ N u f f ” said. SENTRA FEVER GET IT HERE!! a by A ! M cG ilb erry June is busting out all over and so will Las Vegas on June the 11th. A ll the high rollers and stars o f film and stage will be there. The occasion, o f co urse, is th e h e a v y w e ig h t c h a m p io n s h ip . G e rry C o o n e y , c h a l len g er, and L a rry H o lm e s , c h a m pion, will be in the square circle try ing to decide w ho w ill be standing victorious at the end o f round 15 or by k n o c k o u t o r T K O in an e a rlie r round. T h e victor o f course w ill be Larry Holmes. I k n o w p u b lic s e n tim e n t is fo r C oo n ey to w in . W hy? Because the m e d ia is p ro m o tin g h im in every w a y . “ W h a t a c h a m p io n he w ill b e ,” they say. Hogwash! Sure he is younger an d m aybe even stron g er bu, beat Holmes? N o way. F ig h ts a re w on in th e rin g and not on p a p e r and he w ill have to beat L a rry . A n o th er thing is he has never fought a man like L a rry , who w ill hit him back harder than he has ever been h it b e fo re . H o lm e s w ill p un ish h im ro u n d by ro u n d w ith tha, great ja b that he has. Folks, let me te ll y o u , L a r r y is g o o d . V e ry good. It is a shame that he had to fight after A li. W e all loved A li, but after the last F ra z ie r fig h t A li was th ro u g h . H e knew how to fo o l the people and the judges. It was show time and we all loved just to see our hero in action. B ut a ll fig h te rs lose som etim es an d o u t o f the ashes cam e L a rry Holm es. H e could not recite poetry. H e d id n 't tell stories; he d id n ’ t joke w ith C a s e ll. A ll he c o u ld do was fight. F ig h tin g is to u g h business and Larry is just that. H e has fought all comers and has ducked no one. He d id it easy som etim es, got careless sometimes, but as always a, the end he remained victorious. H e has mas tered his tra d e ; he is a c o m p le te fig h te r. H is nam e w ill go d o w n in history as one o f the greatest cham pions o f ali time. Yes, A li, all tim e. C o o n e y has been p ro m is e d ten m illio n d o lla r s . C a n you b elieve that? W h a t a g u a ra n te e fo r a guy who never fo u gh t a top contender. Michael Doaks and Greg Page really w a n te d h im , b u t w h y sh ou ld he fight tough guys when he could fight bums and get a title shot? T he pub lic should be ashamed fo r going for this type o f hype. M illio n s o f dollars will be spent to see this spectacle. W tif* LARRY HOLMES W h y not H o lm es against D oaks o r Page? W h y C o o n e y ? M o n e y , m oney, not records, or being tested to earn the shot at the title . T h a t’ s why Cooney is fighting Holmes. H e should be fighting R ocky on the m o vie screen. T h a t ’ s th e closest th is fight w ill come to reality. So, folks, d on ’t go to your refrig e ra to r o r to the can dy c o u n te r. It w ill be over quick. Holm es in three. Satchell Page by A t M c G ilb e rry Som eone fin a lly caught up w ith Satchel P aige. It had to be the big reaper fo r no one else could catch h im } he was running the game o f life so fast. H e was a legend in his own tim e, a master o f the Am erican game called baseball. H e was black and great; he could th ro w the baseball faster than any m a n ever d id b e fo re o r since. H e ju s t c o u ld n ’ t p la y in th e m a jo r leagues because o f his color. H e p layed ag a in s t th e m a jo r league stars a fte r the W o rld Series each y e a r. H e show ed th e s p o rt w orld he was the best ever to throw a b a ll— b e tte r th a n F e lle r, G ro v e and the rest. H e made a living by barnstorming across the country— entertaining the whole country by striking out teams o f m ajor and m inor calibre. H e was h u rt because Jackie was the firs t o f his race to go in to the m ajo r leagues, then he saw C am p y, N e w k , D oby and others go into the m a jo rs . I t b o th e re d h im so m uch that he stopped playing the game he loved so very much; his disappoint m en t in not m a k in g th e m a jo rs p la y e d so heavy on his h e a rt he stayed at home and w ondered why not him , why! why! But soon they called fro m C leve la n d . A t th e age o f 5 5 , w h en his great speed had slowed to where you c o u ld now see th e b a ll, S a tc h e l Paige stood in fro n t o f eighty th o u sand p eo p le w ith tears in his eyes and threw his first pitch in the m ajor leagues. H is dream now fu lfille d , he could relax and say, “ T h an k G od I finally made it .” I t ’s too bad that the coun try co uld not have seen him at his greatest level o f speed. H e was really great. N ow he is on the greatest all-star te a m . H e is th e n e w ly a p p o in te d c a p ta in . I can see h im w in d in g up striking out Babe, M e l, L o u , Jackie. G o sh , he is s till the fastest o f them a ll. T h is league has no re s tric tio n . Everyone can play. Strike them out, Satch, yo u ’re a w innerl M AKE A NEW HOM E A T T H E O LD A D D R E S S «+------ W ITH A NEIGHBORHOOD PROFESSIONAL All new 198214 Nissan Sentra 2 Door, Front wheel drive CHECK OUT THIS EPA RATING! SURPLUS H ouse Garden Cultivators or Trowels A n d N O W on ly ‘4994°° stk no 21045 Remember, use estimated MPG for comparison 'four mileage may differ, depending on speed, weather and trip length Your actual highway mileage r*» f i r m w / i m n r ateo / w ill probably be less Ginseng Soap 25‘ U v. Victorian , O O 0 0 Hurricane Lamps 2o Masking Tape 45‘ C oke Recipe File Collectors’ • 1«» Fold Over ’ »» o n *1M Lots ol Stationary 50* from Shop where the week never ends. Sales, service and parts open 7 days a week JIM FISHER 10115 S.E. STARK * • 226-2260 5577 MALL 205 Dish Towels cX n ° n< _______ 90' Contcm porarv l iqht Fixtures -11 ------- 2x12.12x23____ I eather W ork Gloves I'lacemats (set ol 61 2 m M o w ers • r t stop Ir w r In te rio r * Exterior A d d itio n » * W e a th e riza tio n « | 8 ( 1 HARDWARE N TOOLS U S A Made Screwdriver Sets Iiww i s»,Ml sw aa -» Fl *»' 5 l*« •s SHowL *e ¿lamps iÖ~ Aoldcr 1 lb Roll ler 1 Acid R omo »3?» ruttv knives 1'/«" ^•turn I Beck Court Rekv I need pruteM*onet help' 85’ M e m b e rs h ip Stay Physically Ht and Have Fun 2" ‘I * 5"__________ '2»» Bell M achine Flee Motors *3” ’2’* 35’ 30’ 115v 12v "Preppte" Shoetac es Sunglasses /u Tik»t Tjjw, r *3" Tournaments M onthly C lg w e f Group All Strokes Video Taped a Privale Albina Tennis Tournam ent »i*® i2®« Just Bought Out Large Snoopy Inventory! 424 S.E. GRAND CALL: 289-1600 Vhrottle Cables 9v l'/iv T arpaullns HslO 16x20 W m . D. H erb o th R em o d elin g 239 9099 'Not Your Ordinary Surplus Store” Located inside the National Guard Bldg.
