Apparently Liston had offered a title shot to Henry Cooper and cooper's manager turned it down saying he didn't even want to be seen on the same street with sonny atsch I heard that Sonny was a real down to earth guy, despite all the negative **** he was involved in. Who do you feel would have won at the time?
Cooper got knocked out by Joe Bygraves,Zora Folley and Ingemar Johanssen,I imagine Sonny has a good chance against Cooper.
Cooper had no chance against Liston. Once Cooper's best left hook bounced off Liston's chin, then a brutal mauling would occur. Liston in 4 rounds (if fought for the Hvywt. title)
I know your saying this to get under my skin..but I will bite anyway. :yep What Ring Magazine top 10 contenders did Lennox, Bowe, Vitali, Tyson, Foreman, Frazier, Ali take on in there 6th pro fight? Yes, check the ring ratings, Marshall was a top 10 fighter.
This would have been a total mismatch. Henry would have stood the proverbial snowball's chance in hell.
Liston would have cut him as bad as Ali did (when he was known as Cassius Clay) to take the victory. Cooper, as game as he could be can't beat Liston. Cooper had a cracking left hook, but horrible skin. Liston, man...we all should know Liston. A true champ that was never desired in the public stratosphere. Liston had the NAACP against him and they even feared that if he would beat Patterson for the title that he would be a negative image! Crazy stuff.
I think that Cooper and his manager had a very old fashioned kind of relationship. As memory serves, they didn't even have a contract, as such...they just shook hands, did their best for each other and stuck together through thick and thin. They were more like friends than business partners. Coopers manager looked after him as a friend, instead of treating Cooper as a cash cow. What a shame that other fighters weren't as fortunate as Cooper. Imagine if Ali's manager had looked after him properly, instead of sending him out to die against Holmes and Berbick. I think Cooper's manager said he'd never send Henry in against a Marciano or a Liston. He knew his man's limitations, and didn't want to see him badly hurt.