I think Galento is too rough, too dirty and too strong. Henry beat roughhouse fighters all the time. He knew how to deal with them. But Galento was a better class than miteff, Brian London, Jack Bodel, Billy Walker and Jose Urtain who were all strong mauling fighters & rated pretty highly. Henry would outbox Galento no problem until he was cut or punched out. And as a cooper fan, I can say he would have been.
In USA under "No foul Rule" would be murdered by Galento, but in England Galento would probably be thrown out by the referee in one or two rounds. (Then maybe Galento would punch the referee on the nose.)
Two Ton Tony Galento was a Bar Room Bouncer, he was fat and a typical rough guy. Henry Cooper was a classy fighter with one of the best left hooks, but his scar tissue around the eyebrows cost him many big fights. Henry would have to catch Tony early with his famed left hook in order to cause Galento to stagger, and maybe Cooper moves in for the kill. As another talented poster pointed out, in England with someone like Harry Gibbs as the referee, Tony would have been disqualified easily, but in the USA, As much as I admired Henry, he might have been seriously injured by a rough housed Tony, who is used to tossing out drunks.
In his autobiography, Henry Cooper tells of certain fighters whose styles he and management would avoid - he mentions specifically Marciano, Liston, and Frazier. I believe Galento would fall into this same class of fighter - rough, brawling. Interestingly ol' 'Enery said that he would enter the ring against Ali any day of the week. But if Cooper and Galento were to meet, I agree with the consensus that Henry loses by cuts in the U.S. and wins by disqualification in the UK.
Cooper was rarely beaten by any but elite Heavyweights. Brian London was borderline as was Alonzo Johnson. Joe Bygraves was World Class but lacked the connections and complexion. Henry was quick, clever and powerful and utterly fearless. Galento is one of Boxing's huge enigmas. He was an amateur Golden Gloves Champion at Middleweight. You have to wonder what he could have been if he hadn't been.... Well Tony Galento. Against Cooper, you needed movement. If you're there to be hit, he'll tag you and properly. I think Henry takes "Two Ton" out in four. Oh, @Richard M Murrieta , I think dear old Harry Gibbs would have thrown Tony out before the first bell !
I’m going with Galento. For some of the same reasons previously stated. He was a dangerously awkward fighter with a lot of power. Henry was a good boxer with a decent punch but wasn’t too good at taking it either
I agree, Harry Gibbs was a no nonsense referee, he was the British version of Mills Lane. Gibbs refereed the Muhammad Ali vs Brian London title bout on August 6 1966.
Maybe one of the older gentleman here can tell me this, but i've heard Henry Cooper could be quite dirty at times is that true ? I seem to remember seeing a clip of him fighting Erskine ? and he hit him while he was on the floor. And there was a few other dirty tactics aswell, i'm wondering how frequent that was for Cooper, or was it just that fight in question.
I remember him dragging Dave "Boy" Green off John Stracey by his hair. Dave wasn't really a dirty Fighter, he just threw it all in. Harry had been a reasonable amateur Heavyweight. He was a Foreman in London's troublesome docks. Gibbs was immensely respected inside Boxing and out.
While totally and understandably, surely, object to being age defined ! Cooper liked to fight. Jack Bodell always said that, in their first fight when Jack had Henry wobbling in, I think, the first, Cooper pulled him on to a left hook and knocked him out. In the re-match, Jack stamped on Cooper's front foot so he couldn't launch the hook. If the Ref was OK with it, so was Henry. He never squealed when he had to take it.
Dave Boy Green earned a shot at WBC Champion Carlos Palomino by stopping former WBC Champion John H. Stracey in round 10. I really thought that Green was going to beat Carlos on June 14 1977, but Palomino stopped him in round 11 with that left hook of his, after such a grueling war in Wembley Stadium.
It was insanely hot that night Richard M. Dave just blew up. A tough little fellow, he's done very well in business and is tireless for charitable causes.
Palomino had great fights vs both our British fighters Green and Stracey, although Green was far more competitive. Green was definitely ahead on points, but round after round. You could see the sand slowly running of the hourglass for Green. Palomino is just made of steel, very durable fighter and often underrated for his chin and toughness.