Good point s. I also think that Cooper put up a fast pace from very early on, even before the cut. He actually surprised Ali coming out like that, that wasn't really normally cooper's style.
People don’t realise Cooper was an excellent boxer. He was not quite “world level” But he had all the moves and the answers for Ali. Cooper knew what he was doing. He knew he was more seasoned than Ali. Cooper had paid his dues as a fighter. He had done 15 rounds before. He had fought in big arenas and football stadiums before. Cooper had a lot more confidence going in with Ali than people realise. Home advantage too. Henry fought Ali with intelligent aggression behind a fast jab, and worked Ali onto his lead left hooks. He had seen the Doug Jones fight and was keen to rough up the youngster. Cooper was always surprised people thought Ali was already “an untouchable talent” when he first fought him. Henry always said it was the big slower guys who made Ali look so good. The way he looked at it was if Doug Jones can almost beat Clay (as he was then) then he had nothing to worry about. The cooper fight was a coming of age fight for Ali. The experience of it was good prep for Liston. Ali went up a level getting through that fight the way he did.
Cooper had an excellent left hook at 185 pounds...Ali never really learned how to block a left hook...
This. Styles certainly make fights. Guys that had a good left hook and could either beat him to the punch or cut the ring off on him were always tough matches for Ali.
Listoj ws also a far , far greater and more dangerous opponent than Cooper who was a bad bleeder and simply not champion caliber status .. again , the Liston Ali fought was likely conservatively about 35, supremely overconfident and had fought less than two rounds in two years .. a terrible combination going into a fight with such an opponent ..
That’s correct. Ali liked a guy to come to him who gave him what he wanted to do. That way he knew what they did next. Everyone wanted to rush him but once Ali started dancing he was making traps to pick them off and they soon became wary. Once they were wary Ali knew what they were going to do. He would have a picnic. As you say, The guys that bothered Ali were the ones that maintained an aggression who punched their way in and cut the ring down. The guys who did not give him time to show Ali what they were going to do next.
I think it was that picture perfect left hook Henry got him with. Sonny did just about everything else better than Henry but not that hook
