George Foreman fought Gerry Cooney in the 20th fight of his improbable boxing comeback on January 15th, 1990. In a battle dubbed "The Geezers at Caesars," Foreman, after being stunned by Cooney in the first round, rebounded to brutally knockout Cooney in the second.
When Big George Foreman launched his improbable boxing comeback in 1987 after a long ten year hiatus, most boxing insiders and experts scoffed at the idea of George Foreman, bald, fat, and years past his prime, ever lacing up the gloves again and fighting. Sure, Foreman had once been one of the most feared heavyweights on the planet. His powerful fists had laid waste to such legendary fighters as Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, and he fought one of the most action-packed heavyweight brawls of all-time against Ron Lyle at Caesar's Palace in 1976. Foreman was a monster! But in 1987, when he returned to the ring, most people thought of George as a complete joke!
But Foreman didn't care. He had a plan. His mission was to work himself back into shape and back into title contention, and his ultimate goal was to regain the heavyweight championship of the world, a title that had been snatched from him by the guile and brilliance of Muhammad Ali.
So, after facing a string of second-rate nobodies and complete tomato cans, Foreman was matched for the first time in his comebck against a big, hard-hitting heavyweight. Gerry Cooney, who hadn't fought in over three years, since his disastrous knockout at the hands of heavyweight champion Michael Spinks, was attempting his own comeback. And what better way to vault himself back into the heavyweight spotlight than with a win against the comebacking and immensely popular George Foreman.
The match was set for January 15th, 1990, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and the fight was dubbed “The Geezers at Caesars,” a reference to the age of the combatants: Foreman was 40-years-old on fight night, and Cooney was 33.
Predictions on the fight varied. Foreman, up to that point in his comeback, had feasted on washed-up heavyweights and small, underpowered light heavyweights and cruiserweights. And Cooney, although having been inactive and with considerable ring rust, was a large heavyweight - 6'7”, 233 pounds - and he owned one of the hardest left hooks in history. The consensus was that the fight wouldn't go the scheduled ten round distance; somebody was sure to hit the canvas!
The fight started out with Foreman plodding forward and Cooney, well-schooled by veteran boxing trainer and one-time Foreman trainer, Gil Clancy, circling and firing stinging left jabs at Foreman. Cooney landed some big, thudding hooks against the massive-bodied Foreman, and Foreman, utilizing his customary cross-armed Archie Moore-type defense, chugged after Cooney like a locomotive and landed stinging jabs and straight right hands.
The crowd was energized towards the end of round one when Cooney, starting to open up more with power punches, connected with a short left hook to the head that momentarily shook Foreman. For the first time in his comeback, Foreman was nailed with a big punch from a big heavyweight. Wobbling slightly but regaining his composure, Foreman chugged ahead and traded a few punches with Cooney until the bell rang.
There was excitement in the air. The crowd in attendance could sense that maybe Gerry Cooney had a real shot at derailing George Foreman's comeback. Had Foreman made a mistake in deciding to fight Gerry Cooney?
The crowd was pumped as round two started. Both fighters got to work quickly, and both men landed some heavy punches. Foreman was starting to find Cooney more and more with his heavy left jab, and his straight right hand leads were landing on Cooney with more regularity. Cooney, for his part, was still throwing his left hooks, and he was landing them quite frequently to George's ample midsection.
But then the fight changed abruptly! Foreman, perhaps wary of tasting anymore of Cooney's power punches, managed to bull Cooney towards the ropes with his heavy jab, and he uncorked a powerful right hand to Cooney's head that caused him to stagger. Foreman, sensing that Cooney was in trouble, piled on the punches and Cooney slumped to the canvas. The crowd was in a frenzy. And Cooney, wide-eyed and stunned, gamely made it to his feet. But his rubbery legs were unable to move him out of harms way, and Foreman, moving in with bad intentions, landed a howitzer of a left uppercut and followed with a hard overhand right that sent Cooney crashing to the canvas as if he'd been shot!
There would be no getting up!
The referree, sensing that the administering of a count would be futile, moved in and removed Cooney's mouthpiece and signaled the fight over. George Foreman, registering his 20th consecutive comeback victory, had his hand raised and basked in the attention and glory that comes with brutally knocking out a high-profile, if faded, former heavyweight contender.
With the Cooney victory, George Foreman's comeback gained credibility, and many in the boxing world believed that Foreman had a definite shot to regain the heavyweight championship. The naysayers and skeptics, who doubted Foreman since the start of his comeback and labeled him a complete “joke,” were forced to take Foreman and his comeback more seriously. He had taken some big punches from a big, strong heavyweight, and after being stunned, he rebounded with a brutal knockout!
