Henry Cooper

Although Cooper was left-handed, he used the "orthodox" stance, with his left hand and foot forward, rather than the reversed "southpaw" stance more usually adopted by a left-handed boxer. Opponents were thus hit hardest with left handed punches which Cooper could throw from his front hand, closest to the opponent. At its most effective, the so-called left hook had an upward uppercut-like trajectory. A formidable left jab completed his offensive repertoire.[3][7] He generally tried to force the action in his bouts. After developing a left shoulder problem in the latter half of his career, Cooper adjusted to put more stress on right-handed punches which he had hitherto neglected.[7]

Cooper was affectionately known in the UK as "Our 'Enery". He started his boxing career in 1949, as an amateur with the Eltham Amateur Boxing Club, and won seventy-three of eighty-four contests. At the age of seventeen, he won the first of two ABA light-heavyweight titles and, before serving in the Army for his two years' National Service, represented Britain in the 1952 Olympics (outpointed in the second stage by Russian Anatoli Petrov). Henry and his twin brother, George (boxing under the name Jim Cooper) turned professional together under the management of Jim Wicks. Wicks never allowed his boxer to be the victim of a mis-match. When promoters were trying to match Cooper with Sonny Liston, Wicks said: "I would not allow 'Enery into the same room as him, let alone the same ring."

Henry Cooper represented Great Britain as a light heavyweight boxer at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. His results were: Round of 32-bye, Round of 16-lost to Anatoly Perov (Soviet Union) by decision, 1-2.

Henry was at one time the British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion. His early title challenges were unsuccessful, losing to Joe Bygraves for the Commonwealth belt (KO 9), Ingemar Johansson for the European belt (KO 5), and Joe Erskine (PTS 15) for the British and Commonwealth. He then won on points over contender Zora Folley, and took the British and Commonwealth belts from new champion Brian London, in a 15-round decision in January 1959. The winner of the fight was pencilled in to fight for Floyd Patterson's heavyweight title, but Cooper turned down the chance; London fought instead and was knocked out by Patterson in May 1959. Cooper continued to defend his British and Commonwealth belts against all comers, including Dick Richardson (KO 5), Joe Erskine (TKO 5 and TKO 12), Johnny Prescott (TKO 10), and Brian London again (PTS 15), although he lost a rematch with Folley by a second-round KO.[8]

Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper following their fight on 18 June 1963

Cooper twice fought Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), firstly in a non-title fight in 1963 at Wembley Stadium, Wembley Park. Ali's mobility, fast reflexes, and unorthodox defensive tactic of pulling back from punches made him a frustratingly elusive opponent.[7] In the final seconds of the fourth round, Cooper felled Ali with an upward angled version of his trademark left hook, "Enry's 'Ammer".[7]

Ali stood up and started towards Angelo Dundee who guided him into the corner. At first Dundee talked and slapped Ali's legs, but after Ali misunderstood and tried to get off the stool, Dundee used smelling salts.[9] The use of smelling salts was prohibited in boxing, and their use would have led to disqualification if the offense was caught, ceding victory to Cooper by default.[10] Dundee has since claimed to have opened a small tear in one of Ali's gloves and told the referee that his fighter needed a new pair of gloves, thus delaying the start of the 5th round. Cooper insisted that this delay lasted anywhere from three to five seconds according to the footage and that this did not deny him the chance to try to knock Ali out while he was still dazed.[11] Tapes of the fight show that Ali received only an extra six seconds, and the gloves were ultimately not replaced.[12][13][14] Cooper started the 5th round aggressively, attempting to make good on his advantage, but a recovered Ali effectively countered and Cooper was hit high on the face with a hard right which opened a severe cut under his eye. Referee Tommy Little was forced to stop the fight, and thus Ali defeated Cooper by technical knockout.[15]

After this fight, a spare pair of gloves was always required at ringside.[16] On the 40th anniversary of the fight, Ali telephoned Cooper to reminisce. In 1966 Cooper fought Ali, now world heavyweight champion, for a second time at Arsenal Stadium, Highbury.[17] However, Ali was now alert to the danger posed by Cooper's left and more cautious than he had been in the previous contest; he held Cooper in a vice-like grip during clinches, and when told to break leapt backward several feet.[7] Accumulated scar tissue around Cooper's eyes made him more vulnerable than in the previous meeting and a serious cut was opened by Ali, which led to the fight being stopped, Cooper again losing to Ali via technical knockout.[7]

After the loss to Ali, Cooper fought former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, but was knocked out in the fourth round. After that, he went undefeated until the final fight of his career, and made more defences of his British and Commonwealth titles against Jack Bodell (TKO 2 and PTS 15) and Billy Walker (TKO 6). In 1968 Cooper added the European crown to his domestic titles with a win over Karl Mildenberger, and later made two successful defences of his title.

In his last fight, in May 1971, a 36-year-old Cooper faced 21-year-old Joe Bugner, one of the biggest heavyweights in the world at the time, for the British, European, and Commonwealth belts. Referee Harry Gibbs awarded the fight to Bugner by the now abolished quarter of a point margin. An audience mainly composed of Cooper fans did not appreciate the innately cautious Bugner, and the decision was booed with commentator Harry Carpenter asking, "And how, in the world, can you take away the man's three titles, like that?"[18] Cooper announced his retirement shortly afterwards. Cooper refused to speak to Gibbs for several years, but eventually agreed to shake his hand for charity six months before Gibbs died.[19]

In Cooper's later years, he retired from commentary on the sport as he became "disillusioned with boxing", wanting "straight, hard and fast boxing that he was used to from his times."[20] While acknowledging that he was from a different era and would not be fighting as a heavyweight today, Cooper was nonetheless critical of the trend for heavyweights to bulk up as he thought it made for one-paced and less entertaining contests.[21] In his final year, he said that he did not "think boxing is as good as it was", naming Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton, and Amir Khan as "the best of their era", but asserting that "if you match them up with the champions of thirty or forty years ago I don't think they're as good".[22]