i never actually have seen this fight, how did bert do in this fight? i heard he was winning on the scorecards when norris twisted his knee and could not continue, any thoughts?
Actually, it was Norris that was way ahead on points at the time. I notice Boxrec seems to have that the other way around, but it's not true. He was keeping out of range of Cooper and potshotting him, working the stick 'n' move. Then in the 8th, he whacked Cooper with a good punch but pivoted wrong and tore a ligament in his knee doing so. When he tried to step back his leg gave out instead and he collapsed, unable to get up and lost the fight on a TKO. Bit surprised they didn't go to the scorecards or anything.
Norris was on a good run, NABF HW champion with 5 or 6 defenses. He was actually at his peak at HW at that time, having beaten Greg Page, Renaldo Snipes and Jesse Ferguson among others. Soon after that Norris beat Oliver McCall and lost controversial decision to Tucker. At the time of Cooper fight Norris was ranked by The Ring as #6 at HW. It must have been one of the best Bert Cooper's wins in his career. "After winning the NABF heavyweight title from Orlin Norris by eight round TKO, Cooper’s tone and demeanor changed drastically. Norris had to retire due to a knee injury with Cooper leading on the scorecards. “He (Norris) was cocky. He thought he was going to get me out in the first round. I showed him. I beat him fair and square,” said Cooper"
Yep, Norris was on a nice run up until he lost to Tubbs (a fight I'd like to see), but that was changed to a NC due to a failed drug test by Tubbs, then he lost to Cooper immediately after that. Norris-Snipes was an excellent fight. Definitely worth a look. I remember Norris vs. George Foreman being in the works back then. Had to look it up to refresh my memory, but it was actually set for September 12, 1987. Any idea why that one never came off?
