In any sport, whether amateur or professional, at its core, is sportstmanship.
Win, lose or draw boxing has always been the noble art and sweet science for a reason.
The vast majority of times once the fight is over that’s it then.
Respect is shown and more often than not, competitors become friends later in life.
This was the case as shown here by former heavyweight Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney:
Fair play.
Holmes won that fight inside the distance in Las Vegas to defend his WBC heavyweight title at the time.
Holmes, considered to have one of the best jabs in boxing history.
While, Cooney, is considered one of the best heavyweights to never win a world title.
Cooney since retirement has done great work for helping former boxers after their careers are done as well as being involved in programs aimed at preventing domestic violence.
Here’s what happened when the two above fought all those years ago:
