Two things ive got to say, Briggs vs botha - man what a fight! i thought briggs won it but botha is one tough *******! i had no idea how tough he was! cooper vs ali - cooper was whipping that ass!!! he was flogging ali till the glove incident!! cooper really took the jab off ali. ive never seen ali hit with so many hard jabs..
Did you really watch the fight? Ali was easily handling Cooper. Sure he was getting hit with some shots but he was basically playing around with him. And the reason he was playing around with him is because he didn't want to beat Cooper before the round he predicted. The glove incident is a completely exaggerated myth.
no ****ing way i always thought ali was playing around and the hook was just a lucky shot that gave cooper some undeserved fame. but watch the fight closely yes ali is playing around at first but then cooper starts banging away at him. cooper gets really unorthodox in his punching and there is a point where ali even looks a little slow. he stops moving and punching and cant seem to figure henry out. he does start to pick it up though and was on the way back when he got floored.
Cooper gave a good account of himself, no doubt about it. A lot of what you say is true, but unfortunately like you say, the 'official' history was that Cooper captured lightning in a bottle with that left hook, which is a bit unfair. I haven't watched the other fight you mentioned, but Botha was a pretty tough guy. He wasn't the most skilled heavyweight ever, but he did well for himself financially and made the most of what he had.
Cooper - Clay Actually, using the 10 point system, Cooper was ahead at the time of stoppage. Rd. 1 Cooper 10-9 clearly the aggressor & bloodied Clay's nose. Rd. 2 Clay 10-9 Clay starting to get down to business. Rd. 3 Clay 10-9 Young, handsome Cassius dictating things; cuts Henry. Rd. 4 Cooper 10-8 The KD....
But since Clay/Ali usually gave the first round away this doesn't tell us that much. For me, Clay was clearly in control and taking it a bit easy when he was tagged at the end of round 4. I think his control of the fight is shown by just how emphatically he takes command directly in round 5. He comes out and absolutely whips Cooper's ass. Even before the cut is reopened it's clear that Cooper is being overwhelmed.
I thought Cooper made Ali look bad in both fights. I don't buy the glove incident myth but I do feel that Cooper was giving Ali some trouble. Botha is definitely a tough guy, he recently won a decision over Timo Hoffman at 40 years of age.
Definitely wasnt one sided, and besides it was an exciting fight. Fight was stopped in the 12th but Botha came on strong in the second half of the fight. One judge had within a point, two others 100-106, hardly one sided. Watch it again, its a good one. Funny Botha has only lost to Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Wladmir Klitschko and Michael Moorer, with Moorer being his closest loss. Not bad for a white boy.
I think Ali looked better in the second fight, but a bit sloppy and immature in the first. However, Cooper with his speed and aggressivenes had the style to pose Ali some problems.