Henry Cooper

Cooper was and still is the most beloved of all British boxers, known universally to Britons as Our 'Enry. He was the British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion but was unfortunate to meet Mohammed Ali at his best when challenging for the world title. Cooper fought Ali twice, firstly in a non title fight in 1963 at Wembley Stadium when Cooper knocked Ali (then Clay) down in the 4th with his trademark left hook, Enery's 'Ammer. The bell rang before Cooper could finish Ali and Ali was so dazed that his trainer, Angelo Dundee, cut his glove and another had to fetched which gave the future champion time to recover (1). After this fight a spare pair of gloves was always required ringside. Ali was obviously impressed by the knockdown and on the 40th anniversary telephoned Cooper to reminisce. The second time they met, in 1966, it was a world title fight. Cooper succumbed again to his weakness, a tendency to cut, and Ali went on to be The Greatest. The most notable of his other fights was arguably his 15 round loss to Joe Bugner in the final fight of his career, this result so disappointed British fans that Bugner never had the support he deserved after that.

After his boxing career Cooper was very active in charity work.

Cooper cannot be regarded as more than just one of the best British heavyweights, such boxers as Frank Bruno, Bob Fitzsimmons, Joe Bugner, Tommy Farr and the undoubted best Lennox Lewis rank at the top with him.

Henry Cooper was knighted in 2000, the first boxer to receive the honour.

Career: 1954-1971, 40 wins (27 KO), 14 defeats, 1 draw

(1) This is disputed, some say the glove was split during the fight and Dundee just pulled the insides out to make it look worse and furthermore that the glove wasn't changed and the time between the rounds was just 5 seconds longer than standard.

External Links

• Full Professional Record
• Remembering Clay v Cooper

Referenced By