Henry Cooper was the Darlin' of the British Fight FansHenry Cooper became more successful as a boxer during the 1950's and 60's with victories against the high classed Zora Folly in October 1958, but Zora Folly returned to Britain in December of 1961 with a vengeance, Zora Folly was at his utmost peak as he simply blew away Britain's darling Henry in just two rounds. It was the quickest defeat of British Champion's whole boxing career. That defeat ended Cooper's running streak of 8 wins in a row beating Brian London for the British and Empire titles, beat Welshman Dick Richardson and his old nemesis Joe Erskine in April of 1962. There is a little bit of history relating to Joe Erskine and Henry Cooper in which they had fought each other five times as a professional and three times as an amateur. On the other hand Cassius the brash young kid was without defeat and had won 18 straight fights in a row since became a professional boxer after winning Olympic light-heavyweight gold in Rome. He Had The Fastest Pair Hands Ever Seen on Any Heavyweight FighterThe young American fighter shows signs as a gifted boxer but was not taken too seriously then, because of his unorthodox boxing style of lowering hands by his side, leaning back from punches and dancing on his feet as if he was some kind of flyweight boxer with all of that Clay was blessed with exceptionally fast hands for a heavyweight boxer. Cassius left jab was a third faster than Sugar Ray Robinson. It was discovered that his Jab could smash a balsa board 16.5 inches away in 19/100 of a second and It actually covered that distance in 4/100 of a second, which is the blink of an eye. He had the fastest pair hands ever seen on any heavyweight fighter. However, enough of stats. Lets get with the fight between the British Heavyweight Champion and the young upstart Cassius Clay from Louisville, Kentucky, USA, that took place in London, England at the Famous Wembley Stadium on the 8th of June 1963. Henry Cooper: Commonwealth and British Heavyweight ChampionHenry Copper had a record of 27 wins 8 loses and 1 draw against his name while Cassius Clay was unbeaten with 18 wins in his coffer. The British Champion was a long shot with the bookies to beat Cassius Clay. However, A decision win for the pedantic Britisher  over the slippery, fast-moving, fast-punching Clay was highly unlikely. The only way Henry Cooper could win the fight he'd would need to knock out Cassius Clay. For the fight Henry Cooper weighed in at 186 pounds compared to the cocky Cassius Clay's 206 pounds. In one of Clay's previous fights he was made to look like an amateur fighter as he was staggered several times by Doug Jones in the first round of their fight. The young American fighter was hit several times throughout that fight with well placed right hand shots, so there was no reason why the more experience British Fighter could not win this fight match between the both of them. But Henry Cooper had one major worry. He cuts easily in boxing matches, especially, above his eyes. Cassius Created a Big Hype About Henry CooperClay's entourage felt that Cooper was a perfect match to stop him from sitting around idling out of the ring while he waits to challenge Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Crown. The young American Boxer was his usual self mouthing off British Boxer by stating that if Cooper does not fall in five he would not return to the United States of America until 30 days after the night of the fight. Henry Cooper knighted by the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the world of British boxing. Cooper is now known as Sir Henry Cooper. He was then the Empire Heavyweight Boxing Champion now re-titled Commonwealth and British heavyweight Title. Cassius created a big hype about Henry Cooper that decidedly upset the British fight fans and the British public as a whole, they all wanted to see "Our 'Enry" teach the young American brat a lesson. Cassius Clay entered the ring through the ropes at the Wembley Stadium wearing a large “crown” on his head created out of a cardboard box, but this act of the American boxer only served to inflame the crowd at the packed Wembley Stadium to a fever pitch, roaring ovation as Henry Cooper their darling British Champion entered the ring. Henry Cooper was greeted as if he was the World Heavyweight boxing champion. The British fight fans gave him a long vicarious standing ovation |
Henry Cooper Floors Clay Jaw with His 'Ammer The first two rounds of the fight was placidly fought by Clay but the crowd was on fire, Cooper landed punch in 1st round that caused Clay's nose to bleed. The British Champion was out punched in the second round. The young American boxer was the sharper, of the two in this round. In the third round, Clay opened a cut above Cooper’s left eye. In the 4th round Clay was just toying with British fighter, but in the last few dying seconds of the round, Cooper's 'Ammer strikes a blow, knocking down Clay hard on his bum. The young American Boxer struggled to get up when the bell rung to end the round. Clearly, Clay was dazed, he was fortunate Angelo Dundee was in his corner. Rest period was 65 minutes due to Clay's torn glove. The was stopped in fifth round with the American Boxer getting judges vote | |
