clarinews@clarinet.com (DAVE RAFFO, UPI Sports Writer) (01/16/90)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (UPI) -- George Foreman, looking for another shot at the heavyweight championship past the age of 40, won his 20th straight bout Monday night when he knocked out former contender Gerry Cooney at 1:57 of the second round. _x_ _x_ _x_ _s_e_c_o_n_d_ _r_o_u_n_d_. Foreman, a 41-year-old Houston minister, improved his career record to 65-2 with 61 knockouts. Cooney was knocked back on the heavyweight scrap pile in falling to 28-3 and likely will never fight again. Foreman dropped Cooney twice in the second round after a slow start. A left uppercut in Cooney's corner started the damage and Foreman followed with two chopping rights that hurt Cooney. Foreman fired another right uppercut and left hook that sent Cooney sprawling to the canvas with 1:16 left in the round. Cooney was up when the count of referee Joe Cortez hit four, but obviously was dazed. Foreman walked in and hurt Cooney with another left hook and a right to the head sent Cooney down on his side. Cortez immediately stopped it as Cooney rolled over on his back and did not move for about 30 seconds. ``It was a combination of everything,'' Foreman said of the knockout. ``People have gotten down on me because I haven't finished off my opponents cleanly. I thought I'd come out throwing punches and get it over with.'' Foreman, who won the heavyweight title 17 years ago, began his comeback four years ago and stopped his first 18 foes before Everett Martin took him the 10-round distance in June. Cooney, a 33-year-old from Huntington, N.Y., fought for the first time since losing a fifth-round knockout to Michael Spinks on June 15, 1987 in the same Convention Center ring. ``You have nothing to be ashamed of,'' Cooney's trainer, Gil Clancy, told him as he cut the tape off his hands. Foreman weighed a rotund 253 1/4 pounds, while Cooney was a slim 231 for the scheduled 10-rounder, which was televised on pay-per-view and closed circuit and paid each brawler at least $1 million. Although the fight often was mocked and called the ``Geezers at Caesars'' because Caesars Hotel and Casino sponsored the bout, Foreman-Cooney drew a sellout crowd of 12,581. Cooney, at 6-foot-5, was an inch taller than Foreman and more aggressive in the first round. He nailed Foreman with left hooks to the head and body but did no damage. Foreman's first stiff punch, a left jab 65 seconds into the bout, sent Cooney's mouthpiece out of the ring. Still, Cooney carried the first round and opened the second with a good flurry before Foreman opened up. _x_ _x_ _x_ _o_p_e_n_e_d_ _u_p_. Cooney, a 3-2 underdog, seemed to hurt Foreman once late in the first round. A left hook sent Foreman stumbling with 25 seconds left in the round, but Cooney never followed up. Foreman won the heavyweight championship by dropping Joe Frazier six times at Kingston, Jamaica, on Jan. 22, 1973 in a stunning second-round knockout. After stopping Joe ``King'' Roman and Ken Norton in defenses, Foreman lost the title to Muhammad Ali on an eighth-round knockout Oct. 30, 1974 at Kinshasa, Zaire. Foreman won his next five bouts, then retired after losing a 12-round decision to Jimmy Young on March 17, 1977. Foreman was inactive until launching his current comeback March 9, 1987, with a fourth-round knockout over Steve Zouski at Sacramento, Calif. Foreman also won the 1968 Olympic heavyweight championship as an amateur. Cooney has won just one fight in the past five years -- a first-round knockout of Eddie Gregg on May 31, 1986. His next fight was 13 months later against Spinks and he laid off until Monday night. Cooney's other loss was a 13th-round knockout by Larry Holmes on June 11, 1982 in a championship bout. Cooney was 25-0 before losing to Holmes, building his record on older fighters like Ken Norton, Ron Lyle and Young.