10 gongs for 'ol Enery - RIP Henry Cooper

Henry Cooper has passed on age 76.

This content is protected

Sir Henry Cooper: farewell to a true British working class hero

from The Telegraph (UK) - 1st May 2011

Henry Cooper was a unique and warm-hearted champion loved by all the nation.

Henry Cooper has gone and it is not just boxing’s loss, it is a nation which is the poorer for his passing. Because he was not just a champion, he was our champion, our favourite. Yes, Our 'Enery.

This content is protected

For those of a younger generation who will wonder why there should be such a fuss about the death of a man who never won the world heavyweight title, who was portrayed in many ways as the archetypal great British sporting loser, it should be pointed out that Cooper stood for all the things that we love in our sporting heroes.

He was always modest, always charming and approachable, which is why long after his retirement and joshing around with Kevin Keegan in adverts for Brut aftershave, he retained all the popularity of his fight career. A proper working class hero.

It was no coincidence that he should be the first sportsman to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award twice (in 1967 and 1970) and that he should remain one of only three two-time winners in the award’s history. His affable, natural manner out of the ring made him seem a lovely natural.

But he was a very fine fighter too. It is all too easy to remember him for the one golden moment, unquestionably one of British sport’s great cameos, when his left hook downed the young braggart Cassius Clay in 1963 at Wembley Stadium.

 

Sir Henry is probably best remembered for his first bout with Ali. In it he became the first man to knock Ali down, and Ali commented later that Cooper had:

"hit him so hard that his ancestors in Africa felt it".

Ali survived the round and was then given several minutes extra to recover when Angelo Dundee in his corner found (or perhaps created) a tear in Ali's glove, which then had to be changed. Ali went on to win that non-title bout at Wembley Stadium by cuts stoppage in the following round.


Muhammad Ali vs Henry Cooper I

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London. 18th June, 1963.

from Boxing Memorabilia dot com

This content is protected

Clay's first fight with Henry Cooper began to make his legend. Shots of Cooper's bloodied face and the quick thinking of Angelo Dundee probably kept Clay's career on track.

Clay vs Cooper

The fight was scheduled for the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Cooper was a hero in Britain and especially in London. Cooper was on old school pro with a big left hook. Clay's description of Cooper as 'a tramp, a bum and a cripple,' did not endear him to the British public, at least at first. The British newspapers pronounced him 'unsporting.'

Undeterred, Cassius predicted a fifth round win and then proceeded to visit various dog tracks and night clubs for the benefit of the press. Clay had not stinted on his preparation though, boxing almost 100 rounds in sparring with brother Rudy and Jimmy Ellis and running miles through London's Hyde Park.

Jim Wicks, Cooper's streetwise manager, had organized some sparring of his own, bringing in Alonzo Johnson, who had taken Clay the distance in Miami, to tune up Cooper. Johnson, not only had experience of Clay, he could produce an uncanny imitation of Clay.

With Wembley Stadium full to the rafter with fans cheering for Henry Cooper, the stage was set. Clay entered the ring wearing a red robe and crown, and he began regally. For the first three rounds he destroyed Cooper, who was fit and game, but simply outclassed. Clay began clowning around, every time Cooper was on the verge of falling, he would step back and start dancing. Bill Faversham shouted at angelo Dundee to stop him, but to no avail.

By the end of round four,Cooper was bloodied and exhausted, his notoriously fragile skin sliced open by Clay. On his very last legs Cooper threw a historic punch, an example of Ernery's Ammer at its finest. It caught Clay flush on the chin and sent him threw the ropes and on to the apron on his backside. The huge 55,000 crowd roared and Angelo Dundee could see Clay had gone. Clay somehow regained his feet and stumbled forwards again, to be save by the bell and Dundee's arms.

Desperate to buy his man some time, Dundee alerted the referee to a split on Clay's gloves, from which horsehair was protruding. The futile search for a replacement gained Clay an extra minute on his stool. With his powers of recovery, it was all Clay needed.

When the fight resumed, he began to butcher Cooper, opening horrific gashes over bnoth eyes. With Cooper effectively blinded, Clay launched a sustained assault. The crow screamed at the referee to stop the fight, which he did with 45 seconds left.

Dundee's quick thinking entered boxing history, with the story and rumour being at the point that Dundee cut the glove with a razor. Angelo Dundee had actually noticed the split at the end of the first round and had told Clay to keep his fist closed.After the knockdown, he simply pushed a finger into it to open it a little more and then showed it to the referee.

The fight had been dramatic and Cassius Clay had become the most talked about boxer in the game. In his dressing room after the fight he was visted by Jack Nilon, manager of Sonny Liston. 'I've flown three thousand miles to tell you we're ready,' Nilson said. Cassius was to fight for the Heavyweight Title he believed was his destiny.

 

Here's but one article that incorrectly states Henry was the first to knock down Ali HOF:


How does it feel to knock down Ali?

Henry Cooper recalls knocking down the then Cassius Clay at Wembley Stadium in June 1963

from Observer Sport Monthly - Sunday 2 November 2003


'I caught Ali with a clean left hook in the fourth round, one of the best I'd ever thrown. As the punch connected, I could see that he was gone.

In boxing, the eyes tell you everything and I could see the whites of his. It was a shame that he wasn't in the centre of the ring because as he went down the ropes broke his fall. Then, of course, the bell came to his rescue.

This content is protected

and I remember thinking how lucky the bell was for him, because when I had people in trouble in those days I always finished them off. But I didn't have chance because his trainer, Angelo Dundee, was a shrewd man and stuck his nails into Ali's glove to rip it and cause a delay.

I remember sitting in my corner wondering what was going on. I hadn't been surprised that he went down. I'd fancied my chances because I suspected that he wouldn't like my style. He was flash, but people forget that he had great heart in the ring.

Ali has since said that I hit him so hard that when he hit the ground his relations could feel it reverberating in Africa, which is a rather nice line, I think.'