sir henry cooper

I'd say Cooper was the sixth best British heavyweight. After Lewis,Fitzimmons,Farr,Bugner and Bruno.

 

I'd definately have Cooper ahead of Bugner - Bugner could barely beat the shadow of Cooper - the 63 version of Cooper would, I think, give Bugner quite a pasting actually - I probably put Cooper on about a par with probably Frank Bruno - possibly a shade better - I personally rate Farr very very highly amongst heavyweights from these shores

 

Rightly or Wrongly The Folly (II) Johanson and Patterson quick Dismissals will condem Henry to be rated an erratic second stringer by many non-european boxing fans, who may not fully appreciate the true abilities of Henry's Euro/dometic rivals. of course Ingo Brutally crushed Machen and Patteron (1st), Floyd and Folly where hard to beat when on form (if you are not a Charles SL) so no real disgrace in getting Caught by these renown ringmen. You pays your money and make your choice i suppose.

One Area where Henry deserves utmost respect in his treatment of the boxing fans who paid their Hard Earned money to see him fight, he paid them the repect and tribute of always training like a trojan, and win lose or draw, never entering the ring less than 100% fit. theres many a recent vintage Heavyweight, perhaps more naturally talented then Henry, who treated boxing/the fans and indeed themselves with distain by entering the ring in shoddy condition, and making lacadaisical efforts, and often revealing so called injuries after the fight, you knew that Henry would never cheat the fans of an honest effort both in prep and in the ring.

And if Matched with other world class/Ranked fighters of his generation he might of gained a few more notable wins, Amos Lincoln,thad Spencer, Doug Jones, Harold Johnson etc theres quite a few i think Henry would have had good chances with.

 

That's spot on.Henry was a very honest fighter,always gave it his all.If people actually study the two Ali fights he really did hold his own in there.There is a misconception that apart from the knockdown in the 1st fight that Ali battered him in there which certainly wasn't the case in either fight.

 

Agreed! Watched the first fight not too long ago and no doubt he gave Clay an argument. OK, he wasnt gonna beat him, but its one of the few times ive seen Clay/Ali complaining to the ref.

Good,honest fighter who would get more pats on the back if he stopped whinging about certain decisions and fighters. Id have him well ahead of Bruno and behind Ruby Robert,Lewis and Farr

 

I watched both Cooper fights with Ali and felt he more than held his own. It would have been interesting to have seen what would have transpired had it not been for the cuts around the eyes. I don't recall seeing Cooper hurt or even staggered in either fight. He certainly looked better with Ali than he did with either Patterson or Johansson. Again styles make the fights and Cooper's style seemed to bother Ali more than most.

 

Cooper having a brilliant left hook had much to do with it. Ali never dealt well with that punch.

 

Imagine that knock down in the first fight vs clay had come a minute earlier and not right at the end of the round, one wonders what would have then happened

 

Depends on how you define British? Aussie too? If so, Peter Jackson was better and so was Frank Slavin. The two fought for the UK title London in the late 1800's.

From a legacy standpoint, 'Enry had a memorable career. Top ten for sure.

 

Your right. The one thing i'll always give Cooper is that he went out to have a go

 

Wasn't that a robbery?