British Bare Knuckle Champ vs Pro Boxer (Bert Cooper)

Yeah I've seen it before, funny thing is that fat baldy will probably be a genuine hard case wherever he's from, just shows how pro's are on another level.

 

Yeah Cooper against Joe Savage who was supposedly an unbeaten bareknuckle fighter from here in the Uk ,except no one I know had even heard of him.

 

Thought i read that he came from the Midlands where worked in scrapyard or similar.

I guess if the noble art can have a multitude of World titles and holders of these, then what stops this guy professing to be the bare knuckle champ of Britain (along with a multitude of others i'm guessing).

Ah well it gave smokin Bert a little target practice, though i'm thinking Bert boxing his own shadow would have been a more challenging contest.

 

Yup seen it before. This fight should have never been sanctioned.

 

Damn, that dude got laid out cold. That's what he gets for getting in the ring with Smokin' Bert!

 

Zakman,

Where does that fat tub of lard rate on the glass chins list?

 

This is a beautiful fight to illustrate the difference in class between a professional fighter and a 'hard man' from the streets.
Joe Savage was alleged to have been a real monster in his domain of bare-knuckle fighting. Some of the stories of his exploits (His stories it must be said) were downright frightening.

Savage most probably was a bit of a hard case and he weighed around 240 lbs, so to the average guy he'd be a bit scary. He'd probably be a decent doorman or bouncer. But here, against even a shopworn Cooper, the difference in skill is massive.
Unfortunately for Savage, Cooper was a a big hitter and he as there for Bert to hit.

 

Just clicked on the link...awesome! I've only watched the grainy, shitty looking version.

 

With it being advisable to throw straight punches and not load up, Savage didn't have too much of a chance against a hooker like Bert.

It must be said though, the modern clan of Bare-knucklers are not as well conditioned or technically sound as the heroes of yesteryear who, while still up against it, would not be crushed so easily.

 

There is a lot of circumstantial evidence pointing to this being the case.

 

I remember Joe Savage appearing on a late night Midlands regional chat show with various other "hard *******s" some time before the Cooper fight. He claimed a record of something like 42-0 with practically all of them won by KO.

He was due to be a part of that tournament fought over 3x3 rounds in one night which Tony Tubbs won but pulled out just before.

The Cooper fight was shortly after.

 

You know, Bert's nickname used to be "Sure", before they changed it.

 

Yeah, so have I. That said, he barely had a chance to look good. (If he could look good.)