Editing Larry Holmes (section)

===Defeating Cooney===
{{Main article|Larry Holmes vs. Gerry 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 (boxing promoter)|Don King]] and others hyping Cooney as the "[[wikt:great white hope|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).<ref name=USAToday /> Although Cooney tried to deflect questions about race, members of his camp wore shirts that said "Not the White Man, but the Right Man."<ref name=USAToday /> 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.<ref name=USAToday>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/boxing/2007-06-30-3180160253_x.htm|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|title=Holmes and Cooney recall divisive fight|date=June 30, 2007|first=Time|last=Dahlberg}}</ref>

The bout was held in a 32,000-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."<ref name=Tallent /> 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.<ref name=Tallent /> 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.<ref name=Tallent />

After the fight, Holmes and Cooney became close friends.<ref name=Tallent>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/3174/larry-holmes-gerry-cooney/|archive-date=February 21, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221080821/http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/3174/larry-holmes-gerry-cooney/|title=Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney|first=Aaron |last=Tallent|date=June 9, 2006|work=TheSweetScience.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldboxing101.com/2012/06/11/larry-holmes-and-gerry-cooney-foes-for-a-night-friends-for-a-lifetime/ |title=Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney: Foes for a Night, Friends for a Lifetime |work=Worldboxing101.com |access-date=February 25, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227022936/http://www.worldboxing101.com/2012/06/11/larry-holmes-and-gerry-cooney-foes-for-a-night-friends-for-a-lifetime/ |archive-date=February 27, 2016 }}</ref>