BoxRec

By GAVIN GLICKSMAN

SIR HENRY COOPER can lay claim to being one of Britain's greatest heavyweight boxers of all-time.

He won the British, European and Commonwealth titles and even sent Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, to the canvas.

So when Our 'Enry tells you boxing is at its lowest point you have to sit up and take notice.

Sir Henry floored Ali with one swing of his left hook, or 'Enry's 'Ammer as it was called, at Wembley Stadium in June 1963.

The soon-to-be legend was saved by the bell and his trainer Angelo Dundee moved quickly to bring a torn glove to the referee's attention.

A lengthy delay followed and Ali was given enough time to recover before going on to stop the ever-popular Brit by re-opening a cut above his eye.

But Sir Henry doubts the heavyweight scene will ever hit the same heights again - especially with the current crop of boxers slugging it out.

SunSport Online put your questions to the British legend on a recent visit to our London office.

You came so close to beating Muhammad Ali in 1963, but do you feel you were cheated of victory because of the incident with his 'split' glove?
Andy Parker, Tooting

I suppose you can look at it from that aspect but it was a shame I caught him so late in the round. The count got to four or five while he was on the deck and Angelo Dundee got him back to his corner.

Angelo has admitted to me on a couple of occasions that there was no way he had enough time to work on Ali. He said he had to do something to get Ali extra time and could see the stitching on his right glove had stretched - but it hadn't torn. Angelo's got a sharp thumb nail and he just stuck it in, ripped the glove and called the referee over.

The referee then had to go and get the steward in charge, who had to send someone back to the dressing room to get another glove. So by the time he came back Ali had been recovering for two-and-a-half minutes, which to a fit guy is all you need. So after that it was just too late because my eye had been so badly cut in the third round.

Angelo has always maintained that Ali was in trouble and there was no way he was going to recover in the 50-second break between rounds. So I guess Angelo, being the great trainer that he was, did what he had to do.



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If Ali had not beaten you, would he still have gone on to be come 'The Greatest' and do you agree that he is the best heavyweight ever?
Tony Smith, Surrey

I think he would have, yes. Ali was only young in those days and even if he had lost he had the ability to come back and win again - just as he proved in latter years.

He was the best because he was the fastest moving heavyweight of all-time. Ali wasn't the greatest puncher - he punched a bit harder as he got older - but when I fought him in 1963 and 1966 he was at his prime and his main asset was his speed.

Ali had great leg speed and fast hands even though he was a big man. When you have a big guy weighing about 14 stone but moving like a middleweight he's always going to be a bit special.



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When was your most recent meeting with Ali and what did you discuss?
Dave Read, Bromley

I still speak to Ali every now and then. The last time I saw him was about two-and-a-half years ago but I spoke to him last June, which was the 40th anniversary of when we first fought.

The phone rang about 9.30pm and on the end of it was Muhammad Ali. We spoke for about 10 minutes and we had a good chat and a laugh.

He's still got a cheeky sense of humour and he asked me how old I was. I told him and he went, "Oh yeah, you are getting old", so he's still got the humour that made him so great.



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Do you have any regrets about your career and would you have preferred to box in recent years with far bigger purses up for grabs?
Lisa Riley, Manchester


No, I've got no regrets at all. I think I had a great career and all the major decisions I made were the right ones. My career couldn't have been any better even if I had beaten Ali. Boxing opened a million doors for me and I'd do it all again.