Defeating Cooney
On June 11,
1982, Holmes defended his title against Gerry Cooney, the undefeated
#1 contender and an Irish-American. The lead-up to the fight had many
racial overtones, with promoter Don King and others hyping Cooney
as the "Great White Hope." Holmes said that if Cooney wasn't white,
he would not be getting the same purse as the champion (both boxers
received $10 million for the bout). Although Cooney tried to deflect
questions about race, members of his camp wore shirts that said "Not
the White Man, but the Right Man." In their fight previews, Sports
Illustrated and Time put Cooney on the cover, not Holmes. Boxing tradition
dictates that the champion be introduced last, but the challenger
Cooney, was introduced last.
The bout was held in a 32,00 seat
stadium erected in a Caesar's Palace Parking lot, with millions more
watching around the world. After an uneventful first round, Holmes
dropped Cooney with a right in the second. Cooney came back well in
the next two rounds, jarring Holmes with his powerful left hook. Holmes
later said that Cooney "hit me so damned hard, I felt it, boom, in
my bones." Cooney was tiring by the ninth, a round in which he had
two points deducted for low blows. In the tenth, they traded punches
relentlessly. At the end of the round, the two nodded to each other
in respect. Cooney lost another point because of low blows in the
eleventh. By then, Holmes was landing with ease. In the thirteenth,
a barrage of punches sent Cooney down. He got up, but his trainer,
Victor Valle, stepped into the ring and stopped the fight.
After
the fight, Holmes and Cooney became close friends.
Trouble with
the WBC
Holmes's next two fights were one-sided decision wins over
Randall "Tex" Cobb and ex-European champion Lucien Rodriguez. On May
20, 1983, Holmes defended his title against Tim Witherspoon, the future
WBC and WBA heavyweight champion. Witherspoon, a six to one underdog
and with only 15 professional bouts to his name, surprised many by
giving Holmes a difficult fight. After twelve rounds, Holmes retained
the title by a disputed split decision.
On September 10, 1983,
Holmes successfully defended the WBC title for the sixteenth time,
knocking out Scott Frank in five rounds. Holmes then signed to fight
Marvis Frazier, son of Joe Frazier, on November 25, 1983. The WBC
refused to sanction the fight against the unranked Frazier. They ordered
Holmes to fight Greg Page, the #1 contender, or be stripped of the
title. Promoter Don King offered Holmes $2.55 million to fight Page,
but the champion didn't think that was enough. He was making $3.1
million to fight Frazier and felt he should get as much as $5 million
to fight Page.
Holmes had an easy time with Frazier, knocking
him out in the first round. The following month, Holmes relinquished
the WBC championship.
IBF heavyweight champion
Despite his no
longer being recognized by the WBC as champion, Holmes was still regarded
as the lineal champion as well as being recognized as world champion
by The Ring. On December 11, 1983, the newly formed International
Boxing Federation extended recognition to Holmes, and he accepted.
As
1984 began, Holmes and Gerrie Coetzee, the WBA champion, were signed
to unify the titles on June 15, 1984, at Caesars Palace. The fight
was being promoted by JPD In., but it was canceled when Caesars Palace
said the promoters failed to meet the financial conditions of the
contract. Holmes was promised $13 million and Coetzee was promised
$8 million. Even after cutting the purses dramatically, they still
couldn't come up with enough financial backing to stage the fight.
Don King then planned to promote the fight but Holmes lost a lawsuit
filed by Virginia attorney Richard Hirschfeld, who said he had a contract
with Holmes that gave him right of first refusal on a Holmes-Coetzee
bout. Holmes then decided to move on and fight someone else.