Scar Tissue Part 23; Magical Performance Transference
By Jess E. Trail (Aug 13, 2007) Doghouse Boxing
Magical Performance Transference is an illness of the mind. It afflicts fighters, fans and analysts alike. It has a strong relation to delusions of grandeur but stops short of the afflictions that cause someone to believe they are Alexander the Great, even though they may live in Frakes, Ky, or even in “a van down by the river” like Chris Farley’s motivation speaker on SNL. It is similar to those who claim they have been abducted by aliens who seem to be primarily concerned with a thorough study of the human rectum. It is an interesting, colorful world to live in. Come, let me give you an example or two. But as we walk through,
please don’t pluck pieces of the pink sponge cake fencing that separates property lines. One second...I have to change into my red and white striped outfit.

How incredible it must have been to be Gerry Cooney at the end of the seventies and first part of the eighties. He seemed to be single-handedly (literally – a little foreshadowing here) cleaning out the division. His jab was thrown to rattle, not just score. His hook and uppercut were closers and his hook to the body can be felt by many to this day. Enter Larry Holmes.

Gerry Cooney’s showdown with Larry Holmes had the entire boxing world salivating. It had everything boxing fans could want – a brutal and undefeated challenger and a proud and skilled champion at the top of his game. There is little doubt that Cooney believed that Holmes would also fall to his brutal left. Many respected gurus were picking Cooney to destroy Holmes inside of five rounds. Upon close analysis, however, the outcome should have been easier to call.

The problem for Cooney in this match had to do with where Holmes’ vulnerabilities were. He was much more susceptible to looping right hands and only hooks when the whole body was committed. Norton hurt him. Shavers hurt
him. Weaver hurt him. Cooney, however, was a standup boxer with a right hand that he may as well have used to juggle red rubber balls... or perhaps he could have worn a puppet on his right hand while smashing opponents with his left. His hook was awesome, but he did not commit his body to the punch the same way a Frazier or a Norton did. Gerry Cooney, along with many experts at the time, was transferring the image of Larry Holmes into the bodies of those he pounded with that hook. A true image transference would have shown a different picture. It should have shown an image that was going to be very hard to reach with any real impact. Again, it was simply an offensive style to which Holmes didn’t have particular susceptibility.

It is an understandable malady. It must feel awesome to wield the incredible power that his hook carried. It must have felt awesome to see the effect it had. Cooney and his fan-base transferred that same power to a source that would not receive it, like trying to stick a steak bagel into an electrical outlet. Believe me, it doesn’t work.

Magical Performance Transference can occur to even the greatest of fighters. To this day, I believe the same phenomenon occurred on March 31, 1980 when Sugar Ray Leonard iced Dave Green with one wicked left hook. I believe the defeat to Roberto Duran in Montreal was sealed with that awesome shot. After all, who could stand up to that punch? I think that, even if subconsciously, Sugar Ray Leonard slugged with Duran to a great degree because of that incredible clean knockout. Again, if you do a transference of images, you have to be sure that it is totally accurate. Duran saw the Green bout also. And in Montreal, his underrated defensive abilities were never sharper. That same punch never landed against Duran. The transference was an illusion. It would take Leonard’s signature style and skills to defeat Roberto Duran, rather than a transferring of images from Landover, Maryland.

Unlike the first example, in the case of Leonard, I was part of the transferring crowd. In looking at the bout from every angle, I didn’t believe Duran could defeat him, no matter the style Leonard chose. And I had my gingerbread analysis violently shoved up my backside.

It is a beautiful illusion, a fairy tale world with bright colors and dancing gnomes. Conclusions are right and good conquers evil. The scent of fresh cakes and cookies can be enjoyed daily up and down the red brick lane and Carmen Electra stops by every day with a basket of fruit.



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