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- Mar 2008
- 29883
- An oasis in the middle of Somerset
- Bath City FC; Porthcawl RFC;Wales in most things.
- Fig roll - deal with it.
Cooper counted out
Does anyone have real insight into what he was really like as a boxer? He was a bit before my time and, obviously, I know about him knocking Ali down and that is about it.
He somewhat had that air of one of those British "nearly men" about him but I am not sure that is justified
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- Mar 2008
- 29883
- An oasis in the middle of Somerset
- Bath City FC; Porthcawl RFC;Wales in most things.
- Fig roll - deal with it.
Cooper counted out
Having had a look at his record, he was pretty good. 40 wins (27 of which were KOs), a draw and 14 losses. He lost to Ali twice, of course, the first of which, I had forgotten, Ali was saved by the "torn glove" excuse from Angelo Dundee.
I didn't realise that he had turned down a World Title fight with Floyd Patterson quite early in his career and his manager refused to let him fight Liston. Those fights would have been interesting.
Only appeared in one Olympics and didn't do well in it. Again, it would have been interesting if he had gone on to compete in another but no boxer stays amateur for long enough even then.
Simultaneously held the British, Commonwealth and European heavyweight championship and won three Lonsdale Belts outright.
So no Calzaghe but not exactly a "nearly man" but it would have been interesting if he had fought Patterson or Liston early on or even just competed in Melbourne in 1956.
Lost his last fight to Joe Bugner, of course, unfortunately
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Cooper counted out
It was hard to judge because, being the great British hope, he got more positive press than he would have if he'd been born in elsewhere. Until the first Ali fight I'm not sure he was regarded as all that much better than Brian London. A much more amenable guy though.
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Cooper counted out
I didn't realise until reading his obituary that, even at his absolute heaviest, he never weighed more than 13 stone 13 lbs (195 lbs/88-ish kgs) - so he was even under the cruiserweight limit of 200lbs (just under 91 kgs). Even Ali, who wasn't huge by today's standards, was a stone and a half heavier than him, so it's amazing that he fought as a heavyweight.
Only appeared in one Olympics and didn't do well in it.
I think the main reason there's such sadness is that he was such a likeable and decent man. This is from John Rawling:
When asked to explain Henry's enduring popularity, I would explain that if he were to be offered £10,000 to make an after-dinner speech, and it clashed with an unpaid appearance at a boys' club when he had given his word that he would attend, Henry would unhesitatingly refuse the fat cheque and be there for the youngsters. He was a good boxer, but an outstanding man.
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Cooper counted out
He was a good boxer, but an outstanding man.
Again, before my time, but you got the feeling that European/Commomwealth champion was the Zenith of his career, and he would have struggled against the top American fighters of the time.
His other problem was his proneness to cuts around the eyes.
His fame in this country was as much down to maintaining his profile as a celebrity after his fighting career as it was to his time as a boxer.
Incidentally, how do you propose that the undertaker will apply the embalming fluid? "Splash it all over!" would be my guess.
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- Mar 2008
- 29883
- An oasis in the middle of Somerset
- Bath City FC; Porthcawl RFC;Wales in most things.
- Fig roll - deal with it.
Cooper counted out
I don't think there is any disputing that he was a nice guy. Whether that stopped him from being a champion, I am not sure.
Where's that quote from, SR?
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Cooper counted out
Won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1967 and 1970, which shows how huge boxing was at that time. I think he could be partially credited with taking British boxing's image out of the seedy underworld and into the mainstream.
But there's also a conservatism in his image that harks back to the war and deference, i.e. a throwback to soothe people who felt threatened by the 60's social changes.
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