Henry Cooper
(1934)
Cooper
演员
Before the ascent of Lennox Lewis in the 1990s, Henry Cooper was
considered the greatest heavyweight boxer in modern British history.
Friendly, polite, well-mannered, and always a "good sport", he and his
twin brother George Cooper (he fought as Jim Cooper) embarked on
colorful professional boxing careers together. Jim Cooper, however,
never reached his brother's abilities or popularity and retired in 1964
with a 16-14-1 record. Henry on the other hand, went on to dominate the
European scene for 15 straight years. He captured the British
Commonwealth Heavyweight Title in 1957 and held the crown no less than
4 times till 1972. He was also a multiple European Heavyweight
Champion. He is most noted for knocking down a young Cassius Clay
(later to become Muhammad Ali) in
their 1963 elimination bout. He fought
Muhammad Ali for the championship
in 1966, only to be brutally battered and bloodied. In 1970, at the
advanced age of 36, he scored the biggest win of his career by
destroying the myth of invincibility surrounding Spain's Jose Manuel
Urtain, who had a 34-1 record with 33 knockouts. Cooper boxed him
beautifully and stopped him in 9 rounds to capture the European crown.
Previously, he had regained the British titles with an upset victory
over the much younger Jack Bodell. Seemingly on the verge of another
title shot, he lost a highly controversial and disputed 15 round
decision to 21 year old Joe Bugner to lose
all three of his boxing championships. Cooper was so angered by the
decision that he announced his retirement with a 40-14-1 record, never
to box again. It took almost 20 years for him to forgive the ring
official who voted against him. Henry Cooper today remains an honored,
respected, and popular man in the UK. He appears in movies and
television shows, and is an avid golfer.
