World title fight for Cooper and Ali

UNUSUALLY, for a boxer, the late Henry Cooper will probably be remembered for a bout he lost, rather than for any of the bouts he won.
He fought 55 times as a professional and he won 40 – 27 of them by knock-out but the fight that mostly comes to mind is when he fought the then Cassius Clay in Wembley in 1963. They fought twice and at each, when it was said he was ahead on points, the fight was stopped because of cuts to Cooper’s eyes.
Cooper was born in London in 1934, where he started to box with the Eltham Boxing Club. He won 73 of his 84 amateur contests and represented Britain at the Helsinki Olympics, where he lost on points to a Russian opponent.
After Helsinki, he was called up for his national service, following which he turned professional in 1954. He won British, European and Commonwealth titles and was the first person to win three successive Lonsdale belts for British heavyweight victories.
Cooper was one of the lucky boxers in that he retired in good health with no permanent damage from his 139 bouts. Known to the general British public as ‘Our ’Enry’ he appeared on a number of TV shows and advertisements. He became an investor in Lloyds of London, which unfortunately cost him quite an amount of money. Twice voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, he was made OBE in 1969. He was knighted in 2000 but had also been awarded a papal knighthood in 1978. He passed away recently at the age of 77.
His two most famous fights were against Ali, both of which ended in technical knock-outs against Cooper. The first in 1963 was a non-title bout. All commentators agree that Cooper was ahead on points when he knocked Ali to the canvas at the end of the fourth round.
As Ali got to his feet he was helped, illegally, to his corner by his trainer Angelo Dundee, who revived him using smelling salts.
Dundee also succeeded in extending the break between the rounds by reporting to the referee that Ali’s gloves were damaged and that he needed a new pair. The extra time was enough for a recovery and Ali was able to withstand Cooper’s aggressive start to the next round. Ali managed to cut Cooper over his eyes and the referee was forced to stop the fight.
Their second meeting was an actual title bout. Ali was by now world champion and this 1966 fight took place at Arsenal’s home ground in Highbury. The Ali camp had learned well from the earlier fight. He was more cautious of Cooper’s left hand.
When the referee called ‘break’, Ali made sure that he leapt back quickly and out of range of Cooper’s jabs. He was also aware of the vulnerability of Cooper’s eyebrows. Years of boxing had built up scar tissue prone to cuts and bleeding. Ali worked constantly on Cooper’s eyes and succeeded in causing serious bleeding. The referee stepped in and again Cooper suffered a technical knock-out when ahead on points.
That world title fight between Henry Cooper and Muhammad Ali took place in Highbury Stadium, London on May 21, 1966 – 45 years ago this week.