BoxRec

Chris Byrd

Jimmy Young

James Toney

Evander Holyfield

Michael Moorer

Tim Witherspoon

Shannon Briggs

If this means who out of those would he beat, none of them.

Cooper could certainly hurt & outwork Shannon Briggs. This is a man who has been knocked out by Darroll Wilson, outworked by Sedreck Fields and beaten silly by Frans Botha. Cooper wouldn't find him as elusive as a peak Muhammad Ali.

He would probably out-hustle Briggs, &, perhaps, get the better of an inconsistent Witherspoon.

Chances vary with the rest, but he's not a starting favourite.

I struggle to picture Cooper beating Witherspoon, seems a very bad style match up for him, but he's definitely not the joke fighter some of these recent threads are making him out to be. He was a hard working, hard hitting British, Commonwealth, and European champ who fought some elite heavies and also has some respectable wins.

Chris Byrd UD15 Henry Cooper

Jimmy Young UD15 Henry Cooper

Henry Cooper MD15 James Toney

Evander Holyfield TKO7 Henry Cooper

Henry Cooper KO6 Michael Moorer

Tim Witherspoon TKO8 Henry Cooper

Henry Cooper UD15 Shannon Briggs

I see Cooper losing them all I am afraid to say.

Really Robbie, even with all of your vitrol towards the oldies in these mythical matchups, Cooper manages to lose to Shannon' couldn't beat Sedrick Fields Briggs? Really????

You can argue that Cooper is the ONLY person to put Ali down with a single shot. Shortsighted IMHO to underestimate his punchers chance in some of these.

DF

In this scenario....just for you :)

I do not dislike all the oldies.....:) and I think Briggs has many a
faults. But I think an in shape, peak...as rare as that was...version
of Briggs would beat Cooper. But I would not be shocked and could
be convinced other wise.

I think coopers blast to Ali was also a case of Ali relaxing and getting
caught flush..regardless of Coopers power (which is very real).

An old Cooper was able to give a young Bugner a tough fight which could've gone either way, he came back to beat a peak Folley (although I think Folley actually edged that one), put then Cassius Clay on queer street, fought and lasted with a lot of tough bangers.

Briggs on the other hand lost to EVERYONE in the upper class he ever fought unless you count a flabby Lyakovich as elite, well as some lower-echelon fighters such as Wilson and Fields. Briggs will go in swinging in the first round and might even hurt Cooper with some crazy shot early, but by the 3rd will be gasping for air per usual and Cooper would outfight him winning every round thereafter outworking and outlanding the dreadlocked one.

DF

You argue with such passion.

I can see it going either way. I will watch some prime Briggs this after noon,
and then rewatch some Cooper.

I will then cast my vote on this one. You may get it yet..

BoxBuzz wrote:You can argue that Cooper is the ONLY person to put Ali down with a single shot. Shortsighted IMHO to underestimate his punchers chance in some of these.

"ONLY person to put Ali down with a single shot"

???

Maybe that left that Frazier put Ali down with was a mirage.

yancey wrote:

BoxBuzz wrote:You can argue that Cooper is the ONLY person to put Ali down with a single shot. Shortsighted IMHO to underestimate his punchers chance in some of these.

"ONLY person to put Ali down with a single shot"

???

Maybe that left that Frazier put Ali down with was a mirage.

cmon yancey I'm not trying to be cute, I'm just being thoughtful. Ali bounced back up so fast after that shot that you have to at least give pause as to the odds of that happening earlier in the fight. Was it the single shot or a bit of weariness?. I did say "arguably", didn't say one would win the argument. Henry's moment was ALL about that single shot. I suppose people can claim Wepner did as well, but it was ARGUABLE that their was some balance issues playing out there

Not tryin to sell Frazier's moment short, but Ali had taken a pretty good softening up before Frazier took care of that bit of effective business.

Am I being a "shill" here?

Cooper outworks Toney, stops Briggs late and loses to everybody else on the list.

BoxBuzz wrote:

yancey wrote:

BoxBuzz wrote:You can argue that Cooper is the ONLY person to put Ali down with a single shot. Shortsighted IMHO to underestimate his punchers chance in some of these.

"ONLY person to put Ali down with a single shot"

???

Maybe that left that Frazier put Ali down with was a mirage.

cmon yancey I'm not trying to be cute, I'm just being thoughtful. Ali bounced back up so fast after that shot that you have to at least give pause as to the odds of that happening earlier in the fight. Was it the single shot or a bit of weariness?. I did say "arguably", didn't say one would win the argument. Henry's moment was ALL about that single shot. I suppose people can claim Wepner did as well, but it was ARGUABLE that their was some balance issues playing out there

Not tryin to sell Frazier's moment short, but Ali had taken a pretty good softening up before Frazier took care of that bit of effective business.

Am I being a "shill" here?

"Am I being a "shill" here?"


Arguably.








p.s. Joking aside, I don't see how one can say the Frazier knockdown of Ali was a combination of punch/weariness/accumulation. It really has to be attributed to that single punch.

The Great John L wrote:Cooper outworks Toney, stops Briggs late and loses to everybody else on the list.

I'm gong with John L.

I think Cooper has a chance against Moorer bu I'd expect Moorer to prevail.

Ezzard wrote:

The Great John L wrote:Cooper outworks Toney, stops Briggs late and loses to everybody else on the list.

I'm gong with John L.

I think Cooper has a chance against Moorer bu I'd expect Moorer to prevail.

He sure does have a chance against Moorer. Cooper could punch and Moorer's chin wasn't stellar, so a Cooper KO is certainly feasible.

Moorer was tougher than they credited him with being there.

He had the power to hurt & floor him, but I doubt Cooper could keep him there. Moorer gets a bad rap for being fragile. He proved against Holyfield & Cooper he could take it & exhibit heart.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:Moorer was tougher than they credited him with being there.

He had the power to hurt & floor him, but I doubt Cooper could keep him there. Moorer gets a bad rap for being fragile. He proved against Holyfield & Cooper he could take it & exhibit heart.

Yes the Cooper fight was incredible, and I would never question Mooere's heart, but I just can't forget his complete fold when Foreman caught him with a single, decent arm punch. Yes, George was a great puncher, but during his second career he seldom displayed one punch KO power, especially in the fights leading up to the Moorer fight.

BTW, I did pick Moorer over Cooper, but it hardly seems a stretch that Cooper would have been able to beat him.

That's exactly what gives him the bum rap, IMO. I think in the rematch with Holyfield (where he was out-gunned &, frankly, hammered) & the fight with Cooper should be weighed against what happened with Foreman. Sometimes, things just happen --- or maybe you just under-estimate Foreman's punch. Certainly, Moorer did.

In any case, I don't disagree that Cooper could out-point Moorer. He was a smart, patient fighter, with ability. However, if he bested Moorer, I don't think it'd be inside the distance, & I also think Moorer should be a starting favourite.

Bottom line for me is that Cooper is generally underestimated, and I've always thought in my country it was simply because he was from "over there". But if Brits marginalize him as well maybe I should just give up the defense.

He's probably underrated on your side of the pond, overrated on ours...

I pray to god people talk about ricardo mayorga like this in fifty years

Moorer whilst a mile ahead on points against Foreman I feel had been somewhat softened up prior to the shock kayo - he had his head knocked back with hard jabs all night.