Bert Cooper career

My favorite Bert Cooper fight was the Richie Melito bout.

Melito was a short, talentless New York fighter whose handlers were trying to build up into a "White Hope." They paid a number of fighters to take dives. The F.B.I. got involved, because the dives were so obvious.

When Melito's family got Richie a shot at the "WBF" title ... the opponent was Bert Cooper, who had been losing for a long time and had nothing left.

The rumor going around was that Cooper had agreed to take a dive.

The F.B.I. visited Bert in his dressing room minutes before the fight and frankly did him a favor. They told him they were investigating Melito, and they heard Cooper was going to take a dive. They explained to him that if he went down and it looked fishy, they'd indict him as well.

So old Bert Cooper, who wasn't in any kind of shape, went out and just DESTROYED Melito in a round. It was hilarious. You could tell by the look on Melito's face he wasn't expecting that at all.

Probably the last time Cooper tried to win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSrMl20znPg

If he had taken his career more seriously, he definitely could've been something. But he was an entertaining fighter. When he turned it on, he was tough for anyone to beat.

 

LOL, just watched the Melito fight. Cooper took him apart, for sure. That body punch had Melito bug-eyed. Thanks for linking :good

 

thanks for linking, I never saw this fight before,,,,

thats heavyweights for you :bbb

 

Cooper had skills, I watched him closely up until the Reggie Gross fight where he battled rough but quit, he was hot and cold and from what I was told was not always in the best form....here is a war with a young Corrie Sanders...watch the end

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQML8576KLA

 

I liked his game from the shoulders up, strictly offense. Defense, not at all & I don't like the cross arm stuff against certain opponents. Sure didn't like his legs whatsoever. Or the ability to bend at the waist either.

He needed guys that were going to be right in front of him and liked to trade. Those were some big shots he ate in those Holyfield and Moorer fights though. Picture perfect punches thrown--unfortunately for Bert--by the opponents. Hanging in that tough eating those kinds of clean punches for rounds are what ruins heavyweights.

 

Took way too much punishment in those fights (and the Mercer fight). It's a shame that Frazier didn't teach him better defensive skills, but Joe wasn't exactly blessed in that department either.

 

Isn't it just? I've watched that about 20 times and it never gets old.
I don't know when exactly I became a fan, but yeah I like Coop a lot. Any bit of news or info on the guy is always welcome.

I think poor old Cooper was just one of those fighters meant to be the bridesmaid but never the bride, so to speak.

Gave Moorer a war but lost.
Gave Mercer a war but lost.
Gave Holyfield well, a war for a round or two but lost.
He came so close to winning it all against Holyfield but couldn't quite make it all the way.
You had to feel a bit sorry for him. If only lady luck smiled down on him a bit more.
He had talent but defensively he was lacking and his conditioning was sometimes poor, as was his motivation.
I thought he was a tremendous prospect when I saw him beat Tillman for the NABF cruiserweight title (he also won the heavyweight version) but his career got derailed by his addictions.
But on his night he could give almost anyone a fight.

 

I absolutely love this fight. The reaction of the crowd afterwards (pro Melito obviously) was pure gold.

 

Richie Melito = Elijah Wood on Roids.

 

Bert Cooper`s career was a lot of fun. His fights were usually exciting and he almost always gave a great effort. The 80s are littered with fighters that wasted their opportunity because of drugs {especially Crack}.

I was definitely a Bert Cooper fan and I remember being disappointed when Carl Williams beat him on a Saturday afternoon.

 

I was ringside for Bert's war against Michael Moorer. It was such an amazing give and take battle. As my friend and I (who were clearly Cooper fans) were leaving the arena, two Mafioso looking gentlemen in dark $1000 suits and sunglasses took us aside and said "you were robbed." But, that's how it often was for Bert, so close, but, no cigar. With better handling and better conditioning his career could have turned out a lot better. But nobody can take away the joy and excitement he gave so many fans in his gallant losses to Holyfield, Moorer and Mercer.

 

Amen to that.

 

I remember his connection with Joe Frazier. He had the look and he had the nickname but he always seemed a bit delusional. I watched him win some close hard fought bouts at CW. I watched Foreman beat him and he seemed happy to have simply been in the same ring as Foreman... he picked Foreman up after the fight (as if to congratulate him).

It was his fight with Mercer that really showed how good he could be. Mercer was an up and coming undefeated Olympic Gold medalist and let's face it... he was hot shlt at the time. Cooper gave him a tough time. 2 1/2 months later he took on an undefeated Rid**** Bowe. Cooper gave him hell in the 1st round but was stopped in the 2nd round. 4 months later he came back and seemed to be better than ever. His out of the ring problems had been well known and it seemed that at least during this time he was doing well inside and outside of the ring.

He won 4 fights in a row, all by KO, including a dominate win over Joe Hipp, KO5. Next up was his fight with HW Champ Holyfield on short notice. Cooper fought well and even rocked Holyfield in the 3rd round. Cooper hurt Holyfield and Holyfield needed to grab the ropes to keep himself up... a KD was called correctly. Holyfield recovered and stopped Cooper in the 7th round.

He came back with a KO win and then took on Moorer for the vacant WBO HW title. This was a good match-up and a lot of people were picking Cooper to win. They beat the **** out of each other (2 knockdowns each) before Cooper was stopped in the 5th round. He should have remained a solid HW contender following this fight but he was more cold than hot after this point. He was 27-9 (24) after losing to Moorer. He was 0-2 in HW World title fights (he scored 3 knockdowns in these 2 fights) and he had been stopped 7 times. He was only 26 years old.

 

I remember that fight too. Never bet on it but it sure was a reality check.