Sonny Liston vs Henry Cooper

liston by ko in 12 seconds if cooper runs.in that short time liiston will cut cooper too.

 

We might be British ,but we ain't stupid.:good

 

I think it paid off for Henry,I have seen interviews of him,he speaks clearly,and seems to be enjoying good health and a good life.While Ali,is a definate example,of a fighter along with many others,who stayed around ,way too long.

 

Maybe, but if Ali never fought the Fraizer's, Foreman's and Shaver's of the world, he end up like a Patterson title rein, ducking the best fighters.

I would hate to think what kinda of rein Cooper would have had if he was able to win the heavyweight title.

All thsos big punchers would be left in the cold.

 

i have met henry. when sombody asked if he was scared of liston cooper said he would have "gave it a go", he liked fighting bigger felahs but that jim said "no" and he respected jim wicks judgement. He explained how he prefered bigger guys like miteff and bygraves and used Ali's size as an example that it wasnt listons size they were wary of.

cooper is very uncomplimentry to liston in book he had "ghost writen" in the late 1970's (about his 5 greatest heavyweights) before it became fashionable to rate liston as an ATG. he said that although liston looked great at the time it was common knowledge amoung the fight trade a good mover would make him look a bit daft. I have the book somewhere so i cant quote exactly but it was pretty stinging stuff a long the lines that sonny was built up to look beter than he was. i also remember reading that cooper thought frazier was underrated and that george foreman was over rated.

 

Fair points, but Ali was of a higher calibre than Cooper, and would be a match for anyone who ever lived, in a boxing ring.

Cooper was not in this 'Premier League,' and his manager knew it. There is a great difference between being British/Commonwealth/European Champion and Undisputed World Champion. (as many British Champions have found out!)

With more caring management, Ali could still have fought the Liston's, Frazier's, Norton's and Foreman's and won the title back. If he had retired after Zaire, he would have still been 'The Greatest' and have gotten out of the game with his health intact.

I think much of the damage done to Ali came after Zaire, when he was taking so many more hits because of his rapidly declining skills. Frazier III, Shavers and Holmes to name but three, were horrific beatings for Ali that must have impacted on his health.

He was a shadow of himself for his last four fights particularly, and was absorbing tremendous punishment while doing his legacy more harm than good.

 

Interesting.

It's funny how Sonny Liston has become in vogue again as a "Great Heavyweight".
I can see why some rate him that high, but really he wasn't a true ATG.

 

Cooper is recognised by many people as a bitter old man.

Some of the statements he's made about Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis are, frankly, laughable.

 

I know he wasn't too keen on Bruno.
I dont remember what he said about Lewis though.

 

Any disparaging comments by Cooper regarding Lewis have to be the product of envy. Lewis would have disposed of Cooper in a much more definitive and brutal way than did Ali, and similar to the jobs Ingo and Patterson did on him.

 

I have been ridiculed ad nauseum for stating these same things. I think he was a great heavyweight but his abilities are so blown out of proportion over the past 15 years that it is difficult for me to appreciate him at times.

In regards to Cooper, I think he would last longer than most think. If it was Cooper in the ring instead of Marty Marshall in their first fight....

 

you forgot to mention that cooper is a tory too.the twat:twisted:

 

He still winges about the Bugner loss sometimes.

 

sometimes.everyday if somebody is willing to listen