Bounce Magazine 77

MARCH 2019 | ISSUE #77
First Boxer to be
Knighted...
BY RALPH OATES
A series of articles which will feature boxing facts
from both the past to the present...
On the night of the 18th June
1963 at the Wembley Stadium
in London the then reigning
British and Commonwealth
heavyweight champion Henry
Cooper almost caused a
major upset in boxing. Cooper
sensationally dumped American
Muhammad Ali (then Cassius
Clay) on the seat of his pants at
the end of round four. Ali was
undefeated in eighteen bouts
and was widely regarded has a
fighter on the way to the top.
Cooper’s famed left hook known
as Enry’s Ammer was a fearsome
weapon and Ali painfully found
that the reputation of Cooper’s
punch was not exaggerated.
In so doing Cooper became
just the second man in the
professional ranks to put Ali on
the deck. (The first fighter to do
so was Sonny Banks who floored
Ali for a count in the first round
at Madison Square Garden in
New York on the 10 February
1962. Ali later stopped Banks in
the fourth stanza of ten).
Ali was badly hurt by Cooper
and looked ready for the taking
but fortunately for the American
the bell sounded to end the
session. Ali thus had time to
recover in his corner and thus
ended the fight in round five of
a scheduled ten with Cooper
being badly cut.
The pair met again on the 21st
May 1966 at the Arsenal Football
Stadium in Highbury London, on
this occasion Ali was the holder
of the World Boxing Council’s
World heavyweight crown and
was hence putting the title
on the line against his British
opponent. (Ernie Terrell held
the World Boxing Association’s
version of the title) This time
around Ali was wary of the
Briton’s left hook and was able
to avoid the damaging punch.
The fans in attendance hoped
that Cooper would succeed but
fight experts made Ali the firm
favourite to retain his crown
They were proven correct. Henry
made a brave challenge for the
championship but failed in his
bid due to a badly cut left eye
when the bout was stopped in
the sixth round of fifteen.
Cooper may not have won
the World heavyweight crown
during his career but he
achieved a great deal in the
paid ranks. Not only did he win
the British and Commonwealth
heavyweight title’s but also
the European crown on three
separate occasions. Cooper also
made history by being the first
boxer to win three Lonsdale
Belts outright for defending the
British Championship. There is
now a rule that a fighter can only
win one Lonsdale belt outright
in the same weight division so
Henry’s record is obviously safe.
It should not be forgotten that
Cooper was also awarded the
OBE and was the first and at the
time of writing the only British
boxer to be knighted.
Henry did not fight in America
but did venture abroad on five
occasions boxing in countries
like Sweden, Germany (three
times) and Italy.
Cooper who was managed by
Jim Wicks punched for pay
ranks for the first time on the
14th September 1954 at the
Harringay Arena in London
against opponent Harry Painter
and quickly gained a victory in
the opening session by way of
a knockout in a bout set for six
rounds. The curtain finally came
down on Henry’s career at the
Empire Pool Wembley London
on the 16th March 1971 when he
lost his British, Commonwealth
and European titles to Joe
Bugner on points over fifteen
rounds. Henry thus compiled a
record of fifty five bouts with
forty win’s fourteen defeats
and one draw. Cooper crossed
gloves with notable opposition
such as Muhammad Ali (twice)
Ingemar Johansson, Floyd
Patterson, Zora Folley (twice),
Karl Mildenberger, Joe Erskine
(five times) Brian London (three
times) Joe Bygraves (twice)
Dick Richardson (twice) Piero
Tomasoni, Jose Urtain, Jack
Bodell (twice) Johnny Prescott,
Billy Walker and Joe Bugner.
Henry who was born on the 3rd
May 1934 and died on the 1st
May 2011 was a credit to British
boxing and indeed sport in
general and was known to the
fan’s has our Enry.
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