Henry Cooper had a world class left hook. He knocked plenty of fighters OUT COLD with his left hook. And, yes, it was the timing and accuracy of the punch that caused such an effect on Ali. I don't think Foreman hit Ali with any sharp punch like that. Joe Frazier had Ali in ALL SORTS of trouble when they fought in 1971 though.
Ali took Cooper lightly to say the least. Cooper did have a powerful left hook for a man of his size and it landed flush on his unprotected chin. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtzDhGlQexQ[/ame]
Clay barely got past Doug Jones in his previous fight. Sonny Banks had dropped him pretty hard about a year earlier. It's not a HUGE surprise, in hindsight, that a man with a hook like Cooper in front of his home crowd, would put young Cassius down. I think it's more remarkable that Liston could not do something similar in Clay's next fight.
I'd say Ali improved after his mistakes in the Cooper fight. He knew how dangerous Lison was, & would have prepared for it, physically & mentally. He needed to have done. He did say that he only considered Cooper as a 'warm up' for the Liston fight.
The only reason that Cassius Clay did not get hit by the Sonny Liston left hook. Because, 'the fix was in'.
Stepin Fetchit toured Britain a year or so before the fight. He may well have met Cooper and tutored him.
Bill, They don't use anchors in Britain. I believe it is called a 'mainstay' The 'mainstay punch' was originally developed by Buckwheat.
Cooper caught him with a tremendous punch and why shouldnt he? He was a world ranked top 10 heavyweight professional boxer, hes entitled to hit him. More kudos should be given to Cooper rather than dwelling on how Ali coped with the punch IMO
Liston didn't catch clay with a left hook because he simply wasn't quick enough, even when he blinded clay he couldn't catch him.