On an old school heavyweight history run only 2 rounds into this and seems like a great fight i have gave patterson the first 2 rounds but london did hit him with a solid right hand im well aware patterson wins this this by a tko in later rounds but after watching 2 rounds seems like it will be one of his best fights maybe. London was a decent pro had ko henry cooper in one round that was probably it before he fought patterson lol a loss to eddie machen johansson cooper quarry and a ko off ali is no shame seemed like a decent heavyweight im thinking hopefully the next 9 rounds are as good as the first 2
Cooper beat London, but London got the Patterson fight due to "politics": 1959-01-12 : Henry Cooper 192½ lbs beat Brian London 208¼ lbs by PTS in round 15 of 15 Location: Earls Court Arena, Kensington, London, United Kingdom Referee: Ike Powell This content is protected Henry Cooper 12/01/1959 commonwealth (British Empire) heavyweight title "Henry Cooper, encouraged by his upset victory over Brian London that earned him the British and Empire heavyweight titles, today demanded a $140,000 guarantee before he dares step into the same ring with world champion Floyd Patterson. Cooper suffered the only knockdown of last night's brawl before 18,000 at Earl's Court Arena when a hard right to the chin in the 5th round dropped him to one knee. However, he jumped to his feet before referee Ike Powell started to count. London continued to blast away at his rival and in the 7th it appeared the fight would be stopped because Cooper's face was a mask of blood. But then Cooper started to rally. Employing a rugged body attack mixed with left jabs to the head, Cooper soon slowed down London's bull-like rushes and eventually took command in the 9th round. Both fighters were bleeding profusely when referee Powell raised Cooper's hand in victory at the finish." -United Press International *Unofficial AP scorecard (the UPI did not turn in a card) - 11-4 Cooper *At the finish Cooper was bleeding from the nose and cuts above and below the left eye. London was bleeding from cuts above and below the right as well as from the nose and mouth. *Although Cooper had signed an earlier contract with British Promoter Harry Levene agreeing to a $72,000 guarantee to fight Patterson, he now demanded $140,000. Post fight comment "There are at least two other heavyweights in the running for a title shot at Patterson. Cooper may be more valuable than London at the gate, but London is not eliminated. He put up a good fight last night. Many people are anxious to fight for the world heavyweight championship. None of them is in a position to dictate to the champion." -Cus D'Amato, Patterson's manager, balking at Cooper's demand.
Floyd shouldn’t be struggling with someone of London’s caliber. London got the title shot against Patterson coming off a loss, which tells you something. London was a average fighter at best. He did not deserve the title shot over high rated, more qualified, better fighters like Henry Cooper Eddie Machen and Zora Folley. Even the aging Valdes was a lot more dangerous stylistically and was rated above London. D Amato was very protective and chose floyds opponents very wisely for the most part.
After the loss to Cooper, London was rated below American heavyweights Folley, Valdes and Machen...some of these men had been waiting in line at or near the top of the ratings for the past 3 years like Machen and Folley. London bypassing the 3 men above for a title shot coming off a loss showed the lengths d Amato went to carefully select soft opponents for Floyd as much as possible
Patterson has always been difficult to rate as a champ imo due to his camp ducking better opposition.
Cooper had also knocked London out in the 1st round in their first fight, he loses to Cooper again yet somehow gets the shot!
Floyd was already scheduled to fight #1 contender Johansson in a highly anticipated matchup in late June. There's no question that D'Amato chose #8 London as an "easy" opponent as a May tune-up / payday. Can you imagine Wilder taking on a, say, #8 Dominic Breazeale in a November tune-up before taking on Tyson Fury in December?
Not very protective to soon after London put Floyd in there with the guy who had KO'd Cooper and crushed Machen like a paper cup.
It was a tuneup fight 7 weeks before fighting number one contender, Johansson. Cooper wanted double the original offer, refused, London stepped in - simple! Cooper was right in asking double, he only lasted 4, when he was crushed in his home town a few years later.
D Amato bought into the press about Johansson. That Johansson KO of Machen was a fluke Also what did Johansson’s victory over Cooper even mean? The version of Cooper whom fought Johansson was only 14-4 coming off two consecutive losses to journeyman joe bygraves and tomato can Peter Bates then would lose his next fight to Joe Erskine If you fast forward a couple years, by 1958-59 Cooper was knocking out Erskine all the time...It’s safe to say Cooper was very green when Johansson got him and would improve remarkably over the next few years
