BoxRec

How good a fighter was he ,and was he shot when Cooper beat him?

Wayne Beatha 28-18-4 (11) was one of those guys whose best prime years is hard to pin down. He was a very tough guy and I would say he was like a close second to the leading contenders of his era.

He beat guys like Terrell, Whitehurst, Bygraves, Charles. But lost to the better guys like Liston, Cooper, Mildenberger, Johnson, Williams, Machen and Valdes.

He was a dangerous fighter, as his last fight shown, as he killed Ernie Knox by kayo in the 9th round, though Knox was a journeyman boxer. I'd say his best years, and this is just my opinion, were 1962, late 1960, 1957, 1955-1956 and that's about it.

thanks Rufus,read a bit about that Knox fight very very sad,apparently he only weighed about 150-160 pounds and had not fought for a while,Bethea quit soon after .For some reason I always put Bethea together with De john ,Menderos and Miteff