British legend Henry Cooper dies aged 76

Heavyweight boxer famously floored Ali in the fourth round at Wembley in 1963.

LONDON:

Former British heavyweight champion Sir Henry Cooper, who famously knocked down Muhammad Ali in 1963,

before becoming a cult hero for his lion–hearted performances in the ring and modesty out of it, died on Sunday aged 76.

He passed away at his son’s house at Oxted in Surrey just two days short of his 77th birthday.

The London-born Cooper met Ali at Wembley in 1963, with the British fighter famously flooring the great American. Many fans were convinced Cooper had been robbed of victory by some ringside trickery.

Towards the end of the fourth round of that non-title bout, Cooper floored Ali with a trademark left hook known as ‘Enry’s hammer’. Ali was saved by the bell and then aided by some quick thinking from trainer Angelo Dundee, who noticed a tear in Ali’s gloves that he then opened up and brought to the attention of the referee.

“I’m not bitter about it at all,” insisted Cooper in 2007. “It was many years ago.” Cooper, who was the first sportsman to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award twice, retired from the ring in 1971 after a defeat to Joe Bugner.

“I always say if the boot had been on the other foot Jim [Wicks, Cooper’s manager] would have done something like that for me.”

Cooper, who lost his wife and twin brother in recent years, fought 55 times as a professional.

Current WBA world heavyweight champion David Haye led the tributes to Cooper. “He’s a guy who put Ali on the canvas and he’s got so much knowledge that he’s passed on to so many people,” said Haye.

WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan said, “He’d let you know his opinion whether you wanted to hear it or not. I believe the advice he’s given me over the years is working out because I’m now the heavyweight champion of the world.”



Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2011.