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00:00You're watching Home Rocks Office.
00:08This is Larry Holmes.
00:10He is the WPC's heavyweight champion of the world.
00:14And this is Mike Weaver, the WBA's heavyweight champion of the world.
00:19These two warriors possess boxing's most coveted titles.
00:23But lurking in the background is Jerry Cooney,
00:27a number one-ranked WBA and number two-ranked WPC heavyweight contender.
00:32A proven, undefeated knockout artist nearing his shot at the title.
00:37But tonight, he must face a veteran hungry for a comeback in one round.
00:44As HBO Sports presents a sports special.
00:57Live from Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.
01:27HBO Sports presents the Coliseum Collision.
01:31A scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout between number one-ranked WBA heavyweight contender Jerry Cooney and Ron Lyle.
01:38And we welcome you to the Nassau Coliseum.
01:41A crowd of 10,000 on hand.
01:43And they're here to see a matchup of two sluggers.
01:46One on the way up, the other perhaps on the way out.
01:50Good evening, everyone. I'm Meyer Valbert.
01:52And it's my pleasure to be working along with Sugar Ray Leonard and Larry Merchant.
01:56And Sugar, first of all, how do you assess this matchup tonight?
02:00Well, Bob, I like what I see in Jerry Cooney.
02:02A big man with fast hands and good body shots.
02:06But then again, he's fighting Ron Lyle.
02:08Ron, a veteran with the experience that could spoil a guy like Jerry Cooney.
02:15But I think Cooney's motivated because you can see the crowd.
02:18The people are here and there's room for one man, Jerry Cooney.
02:21This is no question Jerry Cooney's home territory.
02:24That he is from nearby Huntington, Long Island.
02:27And there's speculation that Cooney, with a solid performance this evening,
02:31could go up against the winner of tomorrow's South African battle
02:36between Mike Weaver and Hedy Kosia.
02:38They are fighting for the WBA heavyweight championship.
02:42What about all the critics of Cooney?
02:44They say the man only has a left hand, and that's it.
02:48Well, they've criticized Cooney just like they criticized me for a period of time.
02:53They say one hand, but a guy's big and has a big punch like a Jerry Cooney.
02:59That's all he needs is one hand.
03:00Without that big, that's all I would need is one hand.
03:03What does Ron Lyle have to do to beat Jerry Cooney?
03:06What Ron Lyle must do, he must start fast, get his punches off,
03:11and try to slow down Jerry Cooney.
03:14I really don't believe that Ron Lyle would have the same strength as he did starting out.
03:19Well, he's listed at 38 years of age, but there's some question about that.
03:22He could be 40 plus.
03:24Ron Lyle and Jerry Cooney coming up in a few moments right here on HBO.
03:29We had an opportunity during the course of the week to spend some time
03:32with Jerry Cooney during his training days up at the Catskill Mountains.
03:36So, let's visit with Jerry.
03:39Right straight up to the surface.
03:40This is 24-year-old Jerry Cooney of Huntington, Long Island.
03:44He's a heavyweight on his way to making history.
03:46He dreams of becoming the first white heavyweight title holder
03:49since Ingemar Johansson some 20 years ago.
03:52Yet, color is of no concern to Jerry Cooney.
03:57I just like to do that alone, you know, train hard and win my fights
04:01and hopefully win the title.
04:03White hope doesn't mean anything.
04:05I mean, 100 years ago maybe it did, but now we're supposed to be in a time
04:10where, you know, things are all supposed to be changed
04:12and people are not supposed to think that way anymore.
04:15Sometimes it's sad that they do.
04:17Jerry is more than a white fighter, okay?
04:20He's the best heavyweight in the world.
04:22And I look at it as an insult when people say,
04:24well, he's a white hope or a good white fighter.
04:26He's not a good white fighter.
04:27He's a great heavyweight fighter.
04:29And all the racism and all the Archie Bunker mentalities put aside,
04:33he's going to prove not only what he is in the ring,
04:36but what type of human being he is.
04:38Well, Jerry Cooney did impress the boxing world
04:41in his last outing against a trim,
04:43but what many observe as an aging Jimmy Young.
04:46Cooney and his managers have their own observations.
04:48Jimmy Young, I mean, he was in good shape.
04:50He trained hard.
04:51The fight was postponed.
04:53He stayed in the training camp.
04:54At this stage in his life, he was looking to win, too,
04:56to get back on the track.
04:58He'd go into the fight, and he'd win the fight,
05:00and all of a sudden, the writers filled their credits back up.
05:03They downplayed the other person.
05:05After the fight, Jimmy Young was finished.
05:08Jimmy Young's an old man.
05:09Jimmy Young is this, and Jimmy Young is that.
05:11So we're used to the criticism, all right?
05:13I don't think it's warranted.
05:15I think there has always been critics.
05:17I remember the days of Joe Lewis, okay?
05:20It seems that for whatever reason,
05:22a fighter is not given his just due during his own time.
05:25They tried to downgrade and denigrate Lewis
05:27by calling it the bum of the month club.
05:28They did the same thing with Marciano, okay?
05:31But rather than anything that I could possibly articulate,
05:34seeing is believing, okay?
05:36And Jerry will do the proving in the ring.
05:39Still, most critics claim Cooney had his own stable of bums
05:42in his early fights.
05:44Against Leroy Boone, even Cooney downplayed his opponent
05:47and his own mental conditioning.
05:49It's harder to get up for certain fights.
05:51It's easier to get up for other fights.
05:53So that fight, really, I was not conditioned for the fight.
05:56My head was not into that fight.
05:58It was just something I went through, you know,
06:00because my managers and my trainers
06:02went through a lot of problems to get me that fight,
06:04and I had to keep my competition.
06:07I don't have to prove anything to anybody.
06:09Just for myself and the people that are around me
06:11that are close to me.
06:13I mean, you know, I'll be here, and I'll be gone, too, you know?
06:17Someday I'll be gone.
06:19So I just have to live with myself.
06:21And the people that care about me, that's fine.
06:23We'll have a great time.
06:25It's not going to mean anything to me.
06:27And this fight tonight against Ron Lyle
06:29means a lot to Jerry Cooney as he trains in isolation
06:32and prepares to take one step closer
06:34to a shot at a heavyweight title.
06:36Training hard up here.
06:38In the Concord up here,
06:40the mountains going up and down, the hills,
06:42the cows and the deers. It's nice.
06:44It's kind of rough here. It's kind of lonely.
06:47But I think it's real good for training.
06:49The air is real fresh,
06:51and we're with a bunch of good people.
06:54So it's nice. We have some fun.
06:57And the whole thing involves me winning the fight, you know?
07:01If you lose, you know...
07:07You're nobody, you know?
07:09So you got to win today.
07:11In anything you do in business or anything,
07:13you have to be a winner.
07:15So I like winning more than losing.
07:17Yeah.
07:23Jerry Cooney looking to his 24th professional fight,
07:27looking to continue that unbeaten string.
07:30Now to Cooney's opponent, Ron Lyle,
07:32out of Denver, Colorado.
07:34And for more on Ron, here's Larry Merchant.
07:37Ron Lyle has had a very successful,
07:39if not spectacular, boxing career.
07:42In the 70s, he fought most of the top heavyweights
07:45and beat many of them.
07:47And given where he came from,
07:49the third of 19 children,
07:51and what he's been through,
07:53seven years in prison on a teenage gang murder rap,
07:56and just recently, two years ago,
07:58acquitted on another murder rap on a defense charge,
08:01it says something about his single-mindedness
08:04that he is still here.
08:06But at this stage of his career,
08:08he's using his name as a sort of credit rating,
08:11a credit rating for him to get a good payday
08:13and for Jerry Cooney to move up to the top of the rating.
08:17Ron Lyle is what is known in the game now as an opponent.
08:21Be that as it is, Ron Lyle says,
08:24I've been to hell and back, so what else is new?
08:27I had a chance to talk to Ron Lyle earlier,
08:29and you may be impressed by his single-mindedness.
08:32For all we know, so may Jerry Cooney in a few minutes.
08:36Ron, we've just seen a hell of a fighter
08:39go to a shell of a fighter,
08:4138-year-old Muhammad Ali.
08:43What's different about Ron Lyle at 38?
08:47It's impossible to identify with Muhammad Ali.
08:50You didn't identify me with Muhammad Ali 10 years ago,
08:53so how can you identify me with Muhammad Ali at this point?
08:56Are you in better condition?
08:58You've been a fellow who's never gotten out of that condition
09:01as a prize fighter.
09:03I'm in the best shape a man could be in in his life.
09:06They took my blood pressure, who was it?
09:1171, yeah, 171 over 20.
09:14That's, hey, what is that telling you?
09:17Well, I'm not an expert in blood pressure,
09:20but what about your strategy for Jerry Cooney,
09:23who has never fought a big puncher like you?
09:28Just bring it to him, bring it to him, and perform.
09:32I'm a performer, and I intend to perform for the people,
09:35and I intend to show the people of the world
09:38that I'm a qualified champion,
09:42both physically, mentally, morally, economically,
09:46and spiritually a champion,
09:48and that's what I intend to do tonight.
09:50I'm going to blow him out of there.
09:52Ron, just before the fight,
09:54Jerry Cooney refused interviews with us.
09:57Does this say to you anything about his mental state?
10:01I can't deal with that. I can't deal with that.
10:04I'm in the me. I'm in the me.
10:06You know, I'm in the me.
10:08Thank you very much, Ron Lyle.
10:10And now back to ringside with Marv Albert.
10:14All right, Larry, and here is Ron Lyle entering the ring.
10:18He is not the favorite of the two here at the Nassau, Tennessee.
10:23Well, he's not very often been the hometown boy.
10:28And you hear the cheers in the background.
10:30Now that means that Jerry Cooney,
10:33who is the hometown boy from nearby Huntington, Long Island,
10:37is making his way toward the ring.
10:48Here comes Cooney.
10:55Jerry Cooney, a young man who is finally receiving the recognition.
11:01A good showing against Lyle tonight would be another step in that direction.
11:09Aside from his last three bouts,
11:11the only so-called name that he's fought and beaten,
11:15Eddie Anibal Lopez, back in January of 1979,
11:19a decision in an eight-round bout.
11:22So this is a very significant fight here this evening.
11:26You know, you wonder at this point, Marv,
11:28what's going through a veteran like Ron Lyle's mind?
11:31He's been in with Muhammad Ali,
11:33he's been in with Ernie Savers,
11:35he's been in with George Foreman.
11:37What does Jerry Cooney mean to him?
11:42It's obvious what Jerry Cooney means to this crowd.
11:45It is a standing ovation.
11:48Now let's go to the public address announcer, Jimmy Leonard.
11:51Here we go.
11:52Tiffany Promotions, Incorporated of New York.
11:57Sam Glass, President and Muhammad Ali Professional Sports
12:01of Santa Monica, California.
12:03Sam Marshall, President,
12:05and Lauren Cassina, Co-Operating Promoter.
12:09Ladies and gentlemen, the winner in all probability
12:13will have a title shot
12:15at the winner of the Gary Crooksy-Mike Weaver bout.
12:20Congratulations to the winners.
12:22Thank you so much, everybody.