50 years ago today, Henry Cooper......

[Old bones Ian]

Became Heavyweight Champion of Great Britain.
And he is still going strong

[metchampion]

My first hero..... and he retired when I was six months old! Top man.

[oliverfennell]

Overrated

[bennie]

It is galling when posters, some of whom parade themselves as journalists, instantly dismiss fighters they clearly know nothing about, largely because those fighters fought years before their time and thus had to be 'overrated' or just plain crap. Ignorance is bliss but only when ignoramuses keep it well and truly shut.
You know, boxing is a sick joke TODAY. The game has deteriorated to a point where not even diehards can keep up with the current crop of 'world' champions (cough, cough). Don't get me wrong, most of today's world champions would certainly have lived in Henry Cooper's era but they would never have prospered. This is not rose-tinted specs stuff. This is fact. You think Wladimir Klitschko could do 15 rounds?
Cooper was a small heavy by today's standards but he was nasty, dedicated, clever and brave, and he held the British heavyweight title from 1959 right through to 1971 (apart from a brief spell when he gave it up on a point of principle because The Board would not allow him to challenge the beatable Jimmy Ellis). Henry was an old man when he finally lost the title to Joe Bugner in his last fight - and even then it looked like a fight he had won.
Cooper fought in a golden era of domestic heavyweight boxing. He licked the likes of Brian London, Dick Richardson, Joe Erskine - all world-ranked at some time or another (the gifted Erskine would simply have embarrassed someone like Matt Skelton) - Billy Walker and Johnny Prescott. He took on three world champions: Ali, Patterson and Johansson (compare them to the Klitschkos). He won two ABA titles, he represented Great Britain in the 1952 Olympics, he won the European title, three Lonsdale Belts, he floored Clay... Yes, he had his losses but he always gave it everything and the majority of his losses were influenced by cuts. Mickey Duff described him as "a world class fighter" in his often acidic biography, Twenty and Out, and Duff is generally regarded as one of the shrewdest of boxing men. Cooper certainly possessed a world class left hook.
Half a century on from a nice piece of domestic boxing history, Henry, whose beloved wife Albina passed away last year, deserves a little bit of respect.

[harrygreb]

thanks bennie, brilliantly put. i must add that i do not know a single knowledgeable boxing fan who over-rates cooper, but there are plenty of people who are not so clued up that underate him. (usually just to try to look clever).
i know a few "boxing journalists" who are over-rated.

[lefthook82]

I think some people feel he is over rated because he appears to have gotten a knighthood for 1 left hook

I have only seen one fight of his (I think we can guess which one) so I dont know whether this criticism is fair or not

[harrygreb]

he got the knighthood for his long term services to the sport, being a great ambassador for boxing and i daresay for being a bit media-savvy too.
(oh, the left hook helped, i'm sure)

[dondada]

Overrated

I think you might need to offer a bit more than this, Oliver. Otherwise you risk looking rather cynical and needlessly mean - then again as a sub-editor, you've been called far worse.

[dondada]

It is galling when posters, some of whom parade themselves as journalists, instantly dismiss fighters they clearly know nothing about, largely because those fighters fought years before their time and thus had to be 'overrated' or just plain crap. Ignorance is bliss but only when ignoramuses keep it well and truly shut.
You know, boxing is a sick joke TODAY. The game has deteriorated to a point where not even diehards can keep up with the current crop of world champions, even though they really want to keep up with the sport's elite (cough, cough). Don't get me wrong, most of today's world champions would certainly have lived in Henry Cooper's era but they would never have prospered. This is not rose-tinted specs stuff. This is fact. You think Wladimir Klitschko could do 15 rounds?
Cooper was a small heavy by today's standards but he was nasty, dedicated, clever and brave, and he held the British heavyweight title from 1959 right through to 1971 (apart from a brief spell when he gave it up on a point of principle because The Board would not allow him to challenge the beatable Jimmy Ellis). Henry was an old man when he finally lost the title to Joe Bugner in his last fight - and even then it looked like a fight he had won.
Cooper fought in a golden era of domestic heavyweight boxing. He licked the likes of Brian London, Dick Richardson, Joe Erskine - all world-ranked at some time or another (the gifted Erskine would simply have embarrassed someone like Matt Skelton) - Billy Walker and Johnny Prescott. He took on three world champions: Ali, Patterson and Johansson (compare them to the Klitschkos). He won two ABA titles, he represented Great Britain in the 1952 Olympics, he won the European title, three Lonsdale Belts, he floored Clay... Yes, he had his losses but he always gave it everything and the majority of his losses were influenced by cuts. Mickey Duff described him as "a world class fighter" in his often acidic biography, Twenty and Out, and Duff is generally regarded as one of the shrewdest of boxing men. Cooper certainly possessed a world class left hook.
Half a century on from a nice piece of domestic boxing history, Henry, whose beloved wife Albina passed away last year, deserves a little bit of respect.

Hear, hear.

[Khaosai-Galaxy]

Overrated

Hugely overrated




Good 'ol Enerey, cant say enough good about 'im


Calzaghe on the other hand is ducking Carl Froch....

[Khaosai-Galaxy]

Henry, whose beloved wife Albina passed away last year, deserves a little bit of respect.

I agree, he isnt overrated, because his wife died last year

[dondada]

Henry, whose beloved wife Albina passed away last year, deserves a little bit of respect.

I agree, he isnt overrated, because his wife died last year

Jesus.

bennie offered plenty of evidence to support Cooper's legacy.

[Autobarn]

Cooper was a good fighter with great popularity.

I'm sure he could have done well in today's "fight twice a year, get an easy WBO title" era. Especially at cruiserweight.

[jamesmcdonnell]

It is galling when posters, some of whom parade themselves as journalists, instantly dismiss fighters they clearly know nothing about, largely because those fighters fought years before their time and thus had to be 'overrated' or just plain crap. Ignorance is bliss but only when ignoramuses keep it well and truly shut.
You know, boxing is a sick joke TODAY. The game has deteriorated to a point where not even diehards can keep up with the current crop of world champions, even though they really want to keep up with the sport's elite (cough, cough). Don't get me wrong, most of today's world champions would certainly have lived in Henry Cooper's era but they would never have prospered. This is not rose-tinted specs stuff. This is fact. You think Wladimir Klitschko could do 15 rounds?
Cooper was a small heavy by today's standards but he was nasty, dedicated, clever and brave, and he held the British heavyweight title from 1959 right through to 1971 (apart from a brief spell when he gave it up on a point of principle because The Board would not allow him to challenge the beatable Jimmy Ellis). Henry was an old man when he finally lost the title to Joe Bugner in his last fight - and even then it looked like a fight he had won.
Cooper fought in a golden era of domestic heavyweight boxing. He licked the likes of Brian London, Dick Richardson, Joe Erskine - all world-ranked at some time or another (the gifted Erskine would simply have embarrassed someone like Matt Skelton) - Billy Walker and Johnny Prescott. He took on three world champions: Ali, Patterson and Johansson (compare them to the Klitschkos). He won two ABA titles, he represented Great Britain in the 1952 Olympics, he won the European title, three Lonsdale Belts, he floored Clay... Yes, he had his losses but he always gave it everything and the majority of his losses were influenced by cuts. Mickey Duff described him as "a world class fighter" in his often acidic biography, Twenty and Out, and Duff is generally regarded as one of the shrewdest of boxing men. Cooper certainly possessed a world class left hook.
Half a century on from a nice piece of domestic boxing history, Henry, whose beloved wife Albina passed away last year, deserves a little bit of respect.

Whilst I think Cooper would have probably lost against the likes of Vitali and Wlad, that is only because of the huge size disparity. Cooper was only about 14 stone in his prime, but certainly generated phenomenal power in that left hook, and was a very skilled boxer too boot.

He deserves respect in my book, if anything he was an overachiever, even in his own era, he was considered small and yet he had a very good career.

[Khaosai-Galaxy]

Henry, whose beloved wife Albina passed away last year, deserves a little bit of respect.

I agree, he isnt overrated, because his wife died last year

Jesus.

bennie offered plenty of evidence to support Cooper's legacy.

Yes, and then had to bring up his wife's death, for god-knows-what reason

[Old bones Ian]

Well who here was around in the 1960's to say that Cooper was ever overrated?
As far as i can tell reading old articles from the 60's he was fairly assessed by the press, as a decent puncher that can pull off the win, but in his bigger fights he was the underdog.

Henry is well loved by the public, and they saw an honest entertaining heavyweight, and we don't get that many over here. He wasn't overrated

[WildWaylon]

People on here, have in the past, said things about Cooper which have upset me. I watched many of his fights including the one where he put Clay on his arse. Its unfair to judge fighters who fought before you were born and dismiss them as overrated. He was a rough tough, super fit fighter who didnt have all the benefits of modern training and diet programs. He was well loved and highly respected and totally deserved his Knighthood for all he acheived. I remember his Old Spice adverts "splash it on all over". Nobody asked whos that, the whole country knew who he was. Congrats to Bennie for another fine peice of writing but where is Scrap for his valued and respected view of the man.

[Old bones Ian]

Also Henry has done a huge amount of charity work (still does), that was one of the reasons he was knighted, not just what happened in the ring.

[WildWaylon]

Well who here was around in the 1960's to say that Cooper was ever overrated?
As far as i can tell reading old articles from the 60's he was fairly assessed by the press, as a decent puncher that can pull off the win, but in his bigger fights he was the underdog.

Henry is well loved by the public, and they saw an honest entertaining heavyweight, and we don't get that many over here. He wasn't overrated

I was around, I started following boxing in the 1950s. He was small for a HW so all things considered he was superb giving away weight advantage in many of his fights. A prime Cooper would certainly upset todays CW division.

[Old bones Ian]

He'd be up around the top CW's no doubt if he was around today, and would of won a title.

[bennie]

Henry loved punching up with that left hook, and he loved punching up on the break. Oh my God, he would have sparked Gentleman Wlad!

[jamesmcdonnell]

Henry loved punching up with that left hook, and he loved punching up on the break. Oh my God, he would have sparked Gentleman Wlad!

I really don't think so. I think he would have found it nigh on impossible to deal with the massive physical disadvantages.

He would have been conceding around 55 lbs in weight, over six inches in height, god knows how much reach.

Cooper wasn't the best in his own day, let alone now, and with the physical disparity, too much to overcome. The only men to hurt Wlad, were much much bigger and more powerful men than Cooper. I know he had a great dig on him for his size.

I know the arguments. Yes, Dempsey beat Willard, but cooper was no Dempsey, and Wlad is better than Willard technically.

[Autobarn]

He'd be up around the top CW's no doubt if he was around today, and would of won a title.

aye, if he had a promoter who pampered him a bit, got him a WBO belt & 2 fights a year on Sky/Setanta - then Cooper wouldn't be "overrated", he'd have made it to the very top!

[Scrap]

He always did well against the Big guys, had trouble with movers. Only got stopped on cuts 4 times, He was a good converted Southpaw with a terriffic Left Hook and strong Jab. I was good Freinds with Danny Holland in later years, who told some great tales. He loved Henry to bits, always spoke well of Him, Henry was a Gentleman, but not in the Ring. Even in sparring it was always Heavy. I remember one day Him sparring with Colletti, that was pretty heavy made you wince.

[WildWaylon]

He always did well against the Big guys, had trouble with movers. Only got stopped on cuts 4 times, He was a good converted Southpaw with a terriffic Left Hook and strong Jab. I was good Freinds with Danny Holland in later years, who told some great tales. He loved Henry to bits, always spoke well of Him, Henry was a Gentleman, but not in the Ring. Even in sparring it was always Heavy. I remember one day Him sparring with Colletti, that was pretty heavy made you wince.

I was hoping you would come on Howard. So there you are lads listen to guys who were around at the time and know the business. I was around, only as a fan but I certainly knew how good Henry was.