you guys are so old!
lol.
ok, let me stop trolling the damn history section.
i'll vote for no, but preface things by saying that i was not alive, and have only seen that fight on youtube, and it's been a long time. i learned a lot about the build up of the fight on HBO's legendary nights.

what an expert, NE, you b#tch.
i don't think this one lived up to the hype in the sense that holmes was such a better fighter. that much was not understood among the casual fan going in. cooney did OK early on, but it was abundantly clear that the build up was more of a product of the whole "black - white" thing than it was the product of a great challenger trying to take the title from a great champion.
it was a good challenger, undefeated at at his peak with a big punch, going up against a great fighter in holmes.
this was one of the biggest fights ever. ever. was it contested among two of the best? not really. holmes is one of the best, but cooney was not. cooney was good, but not great. in that sense it wasn't fit for it's billing.