http://www.boxingnewsonline.net JULY 4, 2019 lBOXING NEWSl 5GUEST COLUMN
IDENTIFY in
some ways
with Dillian
Whyte. He was
used as the
guy to test all
these fighters
out. And he’s
supposed to
get his shot
but they’re
all avoiding
him. Everyone
is ignoring
him, even the
sanctioning
bodies. He’s the
mandatory and
he’s still not
getting the fights he deserves.
In my day, Don King owned
everybody. I couldn’t get the fights
because he owned everybody and
I wouldn’t sign with him. At the time
I needed four or five of those guys
to gain the experience so when
I fought Larry Holmes I had a better
shot. But I didn’t get that experience.
I was fighting once a year in
my heyday and that sucked. It
made me get distracted, made
me get in trouble. It’s a frustrating,
downheartening situation. Almost
like they do it to wear you down
purposely.
But the heavyweight division
is coming back. It’s going to be
exciting in the next couple of years.
On my radio show I said I was
picking Anthony Joshua to knock
Andy Ruiz Jnr out later in the fight.
But I said this guy can fight. He’s
going to test Joshua and we’re going
to find out a lot about Joshua. We
did. He didn’t know how to respond.
You get dropped, you hold on. You
stay close. You cheat, you breathe,
you get your boundaries, you get
your bearings back. You try to make
it to the end of the round and
then you go back to your corner.
Hopefully they’ll tell you something.
Everyone can’t win all the time
and we’re going to lose sometimes
and it’s how we come back. He
should not put too much time
between him and the fight. You
don’t want to talk yourself out of it.
You don’t want to think too muchon it. Get back in shape, get back
on the horse, maybe make some
changes in your game.
The great trainers have passed.
These younger kids are coming
around and they’re teaching a
watered down version of boxing...
It’s a watered down version of it and
it can’t work.
If you teach the guy to be
defensive and safe, and teach them
how to fight, he’s going to last a
lot longer. He’ll be more confident
in himself, he’ll be able to do a lot
more things in his life. That’s what
we’re missing. You have to really
keep growing, keep changing. Keep
becoming more aware. When you
stop becoming aware you stop
growing.
I’m getting the word out, I want
to train guys. I’ve got a great gym
and I want to move into the game.
I wish I could have had someone
that grabbed me by the arm the
night I knocked out Ken Norton in
one round and said, ‘stay with me.’It’s important that we stay focused.
I didn’t unfortunately and I got lost.
So what a dream for me to be able
to find a guy and take him past
where I went.
I grew up in a rough Irish Catholic
family. My father was a big drinker.
There’s a lot of abuse that took
place. I learned a lot of ‘you’re not
good enough’, low self esteem,
failure. I took that with me all my
life. I hid behind it through fighting.
It created a big hole right in my
chest and I felt empty. When I first
drank, the alcohol filled that hole
and made me feel attractive, funny,
confident. I drank for the next 20
years. A very big mistake.
I have a great life today, I have
a great family. None of them have
seen me take a drink or anything
like that and I learned how to love
myself and my family.
A big thing happened to me
when I was younger. I heard
somebody say, ‘can you help me?’
And I thought, ‘wow, you can say
that.’ And I’ve been asking that
question ever since. And now I have
a chance every day of my life to
help somebody else to get to that
place where I always wanted to be.‘DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP’
I want to teach others the most important lesson I ever learned
Photo: ANTHONY GRUPPUSO/USA TODAY SPORTS
LISTEN UP:
Cooney is keen to pass on
his wealth of experience‘JOSHUA MUST GET BACK
ON THE HORSE QUICKLY’
I
Gerry
Cooney
Former top
heavyweight