Henry Cooper
Page 18
FIGHT NO. 22
Venue: Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, 11 January 1958. Weight: 13st 9lb.
Opponent: Heinz Neuhaus (Germany). Weight: 15st 1lb.
Result: DRAW 10 rounds.
RINGSIDE REPORT (Gilbert Odd, Sporting Review): Even the German fans booed the puzzling decision to give a draw at the end of ten rounds, at least seven of which were decisively won by a confident and composed Henry Cooper. Neuhaus laboured against Cooper’s solid left jabs that were rarely out of his face as he tried to bully his way forward in predictable lines. They are talking of Neuhaus making a world title challenge, but on the evidence of this contest Cooper is much better suited for that elevated level of boxing.
HENRY: What a joke! As I went out for the tenth round Jim Wicks said, ‘You’ve just got to stay on your feet to win.’ It’s the first draw I’ve ever had, but I know in my heart that I won by a mile. Still, it’s better than a defeat.
FIGHT NO. 23
Venue: Festhalle, Frankfurt, 19 April 1958. Weight: 13st 5lb.
Opponent: Erich Schoeppner (Germany). Weight: 12st 8lb.
Result: LOST, disqualified round 6.
RINGSIDE REPORT (Alan Hoby, Sunday Express): Henry Cooper was robbed here in Frankfurt after throwing a perfect punch that knocked German light-heavyweight champion Erich Schoeppner cold in the sixth round of their scheduled ten rounder. The Bellingham Belter had no sooner had his hand raised in victory than the German boxing officials decided instead to disqualify him for an alleged and illegal rabbit punch. Henry’s mighty left hook landed on Schoeppner’s ear as he turned to try to avoid it. No way was it a foul blow. The only person who does not know of the scandalously reversed decision is Schoeppner. He is on his way to hospital, still unconscious.
HENRY: This is the first time I’ve ever been disqualified as a pro. It’s diabolical. My punch was aimed at the jaw, but he turned and took it on the ear. I’ve never rabbit punched anybody in my life. The referee didn’t say a dickie bird, but German officials cooked up the change of decision among themselves.
FIGHT NO. 24
Venue: Coney Beach, Porthcawl, 3 September 1958. Weight: 13st 4lb.
Opponent: Dick Richardson (Newport). Weight: 14st 9lb.
Result: WON, knockout round 5.
RINGSIDE REPORT (Steve Fagan, Daily Sketch): Henry Cooper got off the canvas here at Porthcawl to knockout Dick Richardson with a left hook that lifted the giant Welshman off the ground before he fell backwards, out to the world. It was a fifth round punch that could be measured on the Richter scale, and confirmed that the Bellingham twin is back in business as a championship contender.
HENRY: When I went down in the fifth, Dick made the mistake of thinking I was in trouble, when all I was doing was gathering my senses. He was a wide-open target as he came rushing at me. I have rarely hit anybody harder than that, and the moment I connected, I knew it was ‘Goodnight, Dick’.
FIGHT NO. 25
Venue: Wembley Pool, 14 October 1958. Weight: 13st 5lb.
Opponent: Zora Folley (USA). Weight: 14st 2lb
Result: WON points, 10 rounds.
RINGSIDE REPORT (Reg Gutteridge, London Evening News): What a difference a year makes! This time last year Henry Cooper looked washed up after four defeats on the trot. Now he is buoyant as a genuine world title contender after this stunning ten rounds points victory over number three challenger Zora Folley. Cooper had some uncomfortable moments, including a brief visit to the canvas in round three, but his efficient jabbing and ringcraft gave him a distinct edge over his illustrious opponent, who many considered the best heavyweight on the planet.
HENRY: He caught me with a good right hand early on, but it was a wake-up call and I made sure I wasn’t around when he kept trying to repeat the punch. I kept whacking him with counter punches as he set himself to throw the right, and I was finding him easy to hit as he tired in the second half of the fight.
‘Zora Folley ducks Henry’s lead and lands with a body shot’
FIGHT NO. 26
Venue: Earls Court, 12 January 1959. Weight: 13st 8lb.
Opponent: Brian London (Blackpool). Weight: 14st 12lb.
Result: WON points, 15 rounds (British and Empire heavyweight title).
RINGSIDE REPORT (Jack Wilson, Boxing News): Tamed, tormented and tantalised by a superb left hand boxing display by Henry Cooper, Britain’s heavyweight Lion, Brian London, went out like a lamb in his first British and Empire title defence. Both boxers bled profusely as Cooper won by the length of Blackpool Promenade and gave the outgoing champion the boxing lesson of his life. An indication of just how bemused and bruised London was is that he held up Cooper’s arm in victory at the end of the fourteenth round. It must have come as an unpleasant shock to discover there were still three more minutes of misery to come!
HENRY: We had the needle before the fight because of the silly things Brian was saying. He was obviously trying to get under my skin but it didn’t work. In fact, it just made me more determined to beat him good and proper, just to shut him up. But he was very sporting in defeat and now we can be pals and put the past behind us. It was nice of him to hold up my hand as the winner with a round still to go. Jim Wicks called it a ‘half-time score’, but it was more like injury-time.
FIGHT NO. 27
Venue: Coney Beach, Porthcawl, 26 August 1959. Weight: 13st 3lb.
Opponent: Gawie de Klerk (South Africa). Weight: 13st 11lb.
Result: WON referee stopped fight round 5 (British Empire heavyweight title).
RINGSIDE REPORT (Gerard Walter, News Chronicle): It took four rounds for Henry Cooper to shake off his ring rust, then he went to work on his South African challenger Gawie de Klerk and finished him off in the fifth round of this British Empire title fight. The contest was scheduled for fifteen rounds, but as soon as Cooper applied real pressure, de Klerk folded under a battery of left hooks. He visited the canvas twice and did not know whether he was in Porthcawl or Pretoria before the referee came to his rescue as Cooper hammered him against the ropes.
HENRY: It took me time to find my rhythm and I knew I needed to be careful after he’d clumped me with a big right hand in the opening round. Once I got my range I knew I could take him out because his defence was not the best. Now I want to be more active. I don’t like having long lay-offs between fights, but Jim says we’re not fighting for the taxman, who takes a huge bite out of every purse.
FIGHT NO. 28
Venue: Wembley Pool, 17 November 1959. Weight: 13st 6lb.
Opponent: Joe Erskine (Cardiff). Weight: 13st 10lb.
Result: WON referee stopped fight round 12 (British and Empire heavyweight titles).
RINGSIDE REPORT (Tim Riley, Boxing News): In one of the most stunning and spectacular finishes ever to a British heavyweight title fight, Henry Cooper left his old rival Joe Erskine spread across the bottom rope in the twelfth round like a giant bow over a violin string. The Welsh warrior had just taken two counts and the referee was thinking of jumping in when Cooper landed with a ferocious left hook that sent Erskine backwards and through the ropes. He went out like a light and there was no need for a count. It was imperative to shift him off the bottom rope, and fears that he might have broken his back were, thank goodness, unfounded.
HENRY: We were worried that we’d badly hurt Joe, but I’ve been in the dressing-room to see him and he’s fine. I’ve never seen a boxer go through the ropes like that that before. This is a tough old game, but once the punching is over we’re always pals. Joe and I go back a long way to our Army days together and he’s a smashing bloke. Our fights are usually close, but tonight I always had the measure of him. His manager Benny Jacobs is kicking up a stink because I landed with a punch as the bell rang to end the fifth. It was on its way before the bell rang. Joe knows I would never deliberately foul him.
FIGHT NO. 29
Venue: Wembley Pool, 13 September 1960. Weight: 13st 2lb.
Opponent: Roy Harris (USA). Weight: 13st 1lb.
Result: WON poi
nts 10 rounds.
RINGSIDE REPORT (Freddie Deards, Reynolds News): Recently married Henry Cooper husbanded his energy against Texan Roy Harris, and was a clear points winner over ten interesting rather than exciting rounds. Unusually for an American, Harris fought mainly on the retreat, which meant Cooper could not make an impact with his preferred counter punches because he was too busy forcing the pace. Harris took Floyd Patterson twelve rounds in a world title challenge, so we now know that Cooper is comfortable in world-class company.
HENRY: Harris had done his homework and knew all about my left hook. He continually moved to his left to nullify it. I felt very rusty in the early rounds, but I was never in any trouble and was always boxing within myself. There wouldn’t have been a fight if I hadn’t gone after him – he was only interested in boxing in reverse gear.
FIGHT NO. 30
Venue: Wembley Pool, 12 December 1960. Weight: 13st 1lb.
Opponent: Alex Miteff (Argentina). Weight: 15st 1lb.
Result: WON points 10 rounds.
RINGSIDE REPORT (Charlie Hull, Exchange Telegraph): Strolling to a comfortable ten rounds points victory, Henry Cooper got careless against Argentina’s bull-strong Alex Miteff and walked into a swinging right that dropped him for a nine count in the final round. The British champion survived a final flurry by Miteff to emerge a clear but rattled winner.
HENRY: Jim has given my earhole a bashing for that silly moment in the last round. It was the only time in the fight that he landed anything like a telling punch, and it caught me off balance. It just goes to show that in this game there’s always danger around the corner. But on the whole I’m pleased with my performance. Miteff is no mug and has beaten the likes of Nino Valdes and Alonzo Johnson, and apart from that stupid knockdown, I was always his guvnor.
FIGHT NO. 31
Venue: Wembley Pool, 21 March 1961. Weight: 13st 5lb.
Opponent: Joe Erskine (Cardiff). Weight: 13st 12lb.
Result: WON referee stopped fight 5 rounds (British and Empire title).
RINGSIDE REPORT (Steve Fagan, Daily Sketch): For fifteen minutes of legalised mayhem, Henry Cooper stabbed his left hand into the face of his old rival Joe Erskine until his face was a mask of blood. It was a relief to spectators in general and old Joe in particular when the referee waved this British and Empire title fight over at the end of the fifth round with Erskine hardly able to see through two swollen and cut eyes. The victory gives Cooper a coveted Lonsdale Belt outright.
HENRY: That was the easiest win I’ve had over Joe in all our fights. We just couldn’t miss him with the left jab and I would not let Joe get into that rhythm of his when he is one of the world’s classiest boxers. I’m thrilled to be taking home the Lonsdale Belt as my own property. It’s one of the greatest prizes in sport.
FIGHT NO. 32
Venue: Wembley Pool, 5 December 1961. Weight: 13st 2lb.
Opponent: Zora Folley (USA). Weight: 13st 7lb.
Result: LOST, knocked out round 2.
RINGSIDE REPORT (Reg Gutteridge, London Evening News): Plans for Henry Cooper to challenge Floyd Patterson for the world heavyweight crown went out of the window with this shock knockout defeat by Zora Folley. The second round punch that did the damage – a short, shuddering right to the jaw – sent Cooper into slumberland and he would not have beaten two counts. It is a big backward step for the Bellingham Bomber, who was a convincing points winner over world-ranked Folley when they last met three years ago. Henry failed to climb the same mountain twice.
HENRY: It’s a fact that I’ve been having specialist treatment on my left elbow and it interrupted my training, but I can’t use that as an excuse for this defeat. Folley is a class fighter and caught me with a cracking punch. It was a case of ‘Goodnight nurse’. For the first time I trained at home for this fight, and Jim says it will be the last time. He says I’ve become soft, but regardless that punch would have taken anybody out.
FIGHT NO. 33
Venue: Wembley Pool, 23 January 1962. Weight: 13st 3lb.
Opponent: Tony Hughes (USA). Weight: 13st 9lb.
Result: WON referee stopped fight 5 rounds.
RINGSIDE REPORT (Bill Martin, Press Association): Rocky Marciano’s protégé Tony Hughes showed none of his mentor’s aggression before being unhinged by Henry Cooper’s lethal left hook. The punch to the jaw, delivered in the fifth round, had Hughes out on his feet and the referee was right to step in as the British champion prepared to follow up with even heavier ammunition.
HENRY: Rocky was one of my idols and it was a bit daunting to know he was in the opposite corner, but thank goodness only as a second! It’s good to get back into a winning groove and this win has done my confidence a lot of good.
FIGHT NO. 34
Venue: Belle Vue, Manchester, 26 February 1962. Weight: 13st 7lb.
Opponent: Wayne Bethea (USA). Weight: 15st 8lb.
Result: WON points 10 rounds.
RINGSIDE REPORT (Frank McGhee, Daily Mirror): New York-based Wayne Bethea arrived with a good reputation, including such impressive scalps as old Ezzard Charles and young Ernie Terrell, but he found Henry Cooper far too smart and ring-wise. Winning comfortably on points, Cooper tamed the American with his always-accurate left jab and often had him seeking the safety of a clinch after clubbing him with his trusted left hook.
HENRY: He was a cagey old pro and every time I thought I had him going, he would grab me and lock me in a clinch. The only danger to me was that he might strangle or crush me! He was a big old lump and felt like a sack of coal when he leaned on me. My confidence is back after that nightmare against Folley.
FIGHT NO. 35
Venue: Nottingham Ice Rink, 2 April 1962. Weight: 13st 7lb.
Opponent: Joe Erskine (Cardiff). Weight: 14st 2lb.
Result: WON referee stopped fight 9 rounds (British and Empire titles).
RINGSIDE REPORT (Desmond Hackett, Daily Express): Henry Cooper has just about won Joe Erskine outright now and should be entitled to take him home and put him on his mantel shelf. This was their eighth meeting including their amateur contests, and the Englishman leads the Welshman 5–3, including three successive victories in which Erskine has been strictly second best. Cooper’s left jab was in Erskine’s face like an angry wasp throughout the fight and old Joe’s features were a bloody mess when the referee rescued him from the torture chamber after nine painfully one-sided rounds.
HENRY: I think me and Joe have had enough of hitting each other now. Our contests used to be even-steven, but in the last three fights, he has hardly been in it. I wish him luck with his future, but I don’t think it will include any more fights with me. I’m sick of the sight of him in the ring, but will be happy to meet him anytime outside as a pal.
‘Joe Erskine rolls on the ropes under Henry’s two-fisted assault’
FIGHT NO. 36
Venue: Wembley Pool, 26 March 1963. Weight: 13st 6lb.
Opponent: Dick Richardson (Newport). Weight: 14st 9lb.
Result: WON stopped fight 5 rounds (British and Empire titles).
RINGSIDE REPORT (Peter Lorenzo, Daily Herald): For the first time that anybody could remember, Gentleman Henry Cooper lost his temper in the ring after Dick Richardson had hit him after the bell at the end of the third round. The two fighters had to be pulled apart as they went for each other like angry bulls. The Welshman was made to pay for his overtime punch when Cooper flattened him with a series of rapid left hooks in the fifth round. The referee waved it over as the Newport giant struggled to get off the canvas. This was a repeat of Cooper’s victory at Porthcawl five years ago, and the whisper is it could have set up a showdown with the Louisville Lip, Cassius Clay.
HENRY: Dick can be a bully if you let him get away with things, so when he hit me after the bell I hit him back so that he knew he couldn’t take liberties. Jim has given me a telling off, but I would do the same thing again if anybody tries any foul stuff: you have to fight fire with fire.
FIGHT NO. 37
Venue: Wem
bley Stadium, 18 June 1963. Weight: 13st 3lb. (Henry actually weighed 12st 12lb, but Jim Wicks placed lead weights in his boots.)
Opponent: Cassius Clay (USA). Weight: 14st 9lb.
Result: LOST referee stopped fight 5 rounds (cut eye).
RINGSIDE REPORT (Frank Butler, News of the World): Gaseous Cassius Clay did exactly as he prophesied when he stopped Henry Cooper in the fifth round at Wembley Stadium, but Our Enery very nearly shut his big mouth and came oh so close to one of the upsets of the century. Enery’s ’Ammer – one of the most vicious left hooks in the business – floored Clay in the closing seconds of the fourth round. No winning goal at Wembley has brought a bigger roar as the arrogant American crashed back into the ropes and onto the seat of his pants. He was in a complete fog of despair as the bell came to his rescue with the count at four. He wobbled back to the refuge of his corner on rubber legs that were betraying him with every step, and his wily trainer Angelo Dundee won him extra precious recovery seconds by complaining about a torn glove. Clay the clown came out for the fifth round with serious intent, and hit Cooper with a stream of deadly left jabs that worsened a cut over the British champion’s eye to the point where the referee had no option but to call it off as blood gushed from the wound. I wonder what story I might have been writing had Henry landed his pet punch just ten seconds earlier?