Hello Z! Great match up of two big time bangers here. At thae time Foster was almost considered a sure bet to win it all because of his great size, strength and power before he ran into Irish Jerry Quarry who knocked him out in 6 rounds. And Gerry Cooney as many thought, was going to be the man to unseat Champion Larry Holmes because of his great punching power particularly his left hook which was indeed a damaging weapon in the ring. Cooney did have some good victories over Lyle, Young, and Norton though neither of these men were exactly in their primes but he did beat them in devstating fashion. Foster was a hard puncher himself so this would have been a fight of who could catch who first you could say. I believe that Cooney would come out and use his reach advantage and work to the body of Foster who would wince in pain. Foster would fight back gamely but this one wouldn't last too long before someone got knocked out. It would have beena battle while it lasted but Cooney would prevail.
Cooney WTKO5
Mac Foster lasted 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali on April 1,1972, in Tokyo. Mac was severely injured facially in that fight as again Ali was unmarked. Jerry Quarry also knocked out Mac, prior to that fight.Gerry Cooney was a big hitter who padded his resume with victories over fighters who had seen better days and should have been fighting at a local retirement community, Ken Norton and Jimmy Young. He suffered from the Toro Moreno syndrome, that character from the 1956 movie The Harder They Fall, starring Humphrey Bogart. He feasted on the has beens and the never was fighters. He failed miserably when he challenged WBC Heavyweight Champion Larry The Easton Assassin Holmes, in June 1982, in Las Vegas. Cooney was stopped in round 13, after he landed several low left hand blows, before the referee rescued him. Cooney was a very tall and clumsy fighter, falling over those clod hoppers of his. I would have to give the edge to Mac, because he is accurate, more so than Gerry. And the fact that Foster has fought better opposition and is young and not ancient. Foster, by a unanimous decision, crisper punching.
I never had a great deal of respect for Gerry Cooney, I always though allowing a high profile ex-champ like Kenny Norton who had suffered such a traumatic head injury in that auto accident to some how be licensed to fight professionally reeked of Boxing at it's most un-ethical. That one was almost as bad as Calzaghe fighting Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy shortly after Lacy's Left Shoulder Surgery.
Foster by KO because Cooney was as much a media creation as Tyson or Calzaghe, and I was never a big fan of any of the three.
Gerry had height, 3" reach 81" and punching power over Foster although Foster was 21- 0 with 21 KO's when he met Jerry Quarry. Quarry eventually KO'd Foster because MacArthur, didn't like the left hooks to the body that Quarry was connecting with.AND who had one of the deadliest hooks to the body was Gerry Cooney. Gooney KO's Foster like he did to Norton.
Could Mac get to Gerry before Gerry got to him?
