That left from Cooper that knocked down Ali was spectacular! Ali was lucky he got his legs back right when the 5th round started to do what he did best, finish it. Great fighters, both of them! RIP to them both!
I was working at a place called kings wood golf club in Surrey in 08/09 after moving to England from South Africa and there was a charity event held there and Sir Henry cooper walked in and asked for a pint. I said the pint is free as long as I get to shake the hand that knocked Ali down. Legendary man. Signed a piece of paper for me that I still have.
He could have been knocked out by Dempsey Marciano louis and Johnson ali fooled around too much a joe Frazier was a average fighter and still beat him even kenny nobody norton beat him
He Ali was JUST So Lucky That he get up ( Then they gave him 20 miutes to recover ! ( cause he had the fight against Liston and the curupted box industri could not have him to loose - the other "great luck for me Big Mouth was that Cooper had his bleeding eye - well
@@tottenhamhotspurish Yeah but but ali's prime weight (215lbs) is still alot heavier than even todays middleweights. Ali would still be a succesful heavyweight even today
Cooper's left was fast as lightning--being able to catch Ali with it when Ali was so young proves it. Ali could slip punches from anyone when he was young.
60000 fans was at this fight back in the 60s , ali was my favorite fighters but i cant remember anyone hitting ali that hard, if it wasnt for those ropes ali would have been in the 3rd row...ali and cooper became best of friends, ali visited cooper a few times in the uk, when they were much older they were in a parade together in london...the uk liked ali.
ALI WAS NOT TAKING COOPER SERIOUSLY AT THE BEGINNING ...,,until he was “floored “down !! THEN LOOK HIS RIGHT jab !!! Meant to destroy cooper left eye .. , RIP BOTH CHAMPIONS. !!
He may have lost to the best, but that left hook, & his likeable personality, made Henry a massive star to the British public, for the rest of his life!
@@yishakweldemariamweldesila13 Several boxers over the last ten years would beat him. He wasn't big enough, strong enough, or conditioned enough to fight today's best heavyweights.
@@Hume2012 what do you mean?!! He's not accounable for what happened after his era. Btw, to let you know. I am trading as zero and trashing your comment!!!
Cooper is very underrated, one of the best left hooks in the history of boxing. I’d say even better than Joe Frazier’s. He really used to dig that thing in hard and fast, it was a thing of beauty. He had one problem though… his eyes used to cut really easily and most of his losses were due to doctor stoppages because of cuts. If he would’ve knocked down Ali just a little earlier he would’ve won. Ali only comes back around just in time for the next round and Angelo Dundee even tried to cut the gloves to get more time, if it happened in the middle of the round Ali would’ve been finished and he might never have become known as “the greatest”.
I remember as a child, watching this live on tv, I think the whole country was tuned in to watch the fight. Henry was a full time greengrocer (a term you rarely hear today), but also a decent boxer. His downfall was getting cut just above his eyes, it happened in many fights, and his corner just couldn't stop the bloodflow.
@@DavidJsmith-dk5tf Thanks for that information. Yes, he did indeed carry on his business as a greengrocer, both during and after his boxing career. it was a different generation then back in the 60's.
@@pauldg837 Yes Paul, a different generation in 1960's and a slower life I think then. If I ever find a time machine, then I shall select "Reverse" and stop in the 1960's. LOL and best wishes to you and yours.
@@DavidJsmith-dk5tf If you ever get your hands on that time machine David, let me know. As I know so many people who like us would love to revisit that time again. Thanks for all your great comments and the best of luck to you and your family.
He tried to stand after about 10 and fell back to his seat. And he got extra time after that break to cut off the part of his glove that cut Coopers eye. Ali's corner knew what they were doing.
They split Ali's glove in the corner to give him more time to recover if they hadn't Cooper would have knocked him out very quickly at the start of the next round, as Ali was visibly dazed even when sitting in his corner. Ali said later in his career, that he'd never been hit so hard in all his life ! They remained good friends !
Little bit dodgy though. He got extra time after that knockdown round break to fix his gloves. Ali's corner had to cut off the loose part of the glove that cut Coopers eye.
You know Cooper had a good left hook when he could knock down prime Ali, something that Sonny Liston, Earnie Shavers, Larry Holmes and George Foreman couldn't do to Ali when he was an older man
Wow! This dude was game! He landed that left hook almost at will and the shot that floored ali was one of the 2 or 3 hardest he ever received. Had the bell not rung, history may have been significantly different. Give these guys 3 fights and i see cooper taking away at least one W.
Yes. The movie Rocky was based loosely on the Chuck Wepner Ali fight but I think the Cooper Ali fight was more accurately portrayed by Rocky. Wepnet was a brave warrior but Cooper came closer to winning
Angelo Dundee cheated, split the glove AND used smelling salts which was illegal in European boxing. I dont get why its seen as disgusting when other fighters cheat, but then they're fine with Ali cheating and this had prevented Henry Cooper from getting a title shot
@@rfj1156 I'm not very knowledgeable about boxing. I listened to the fight 2 more times but could not hear when the commentator mentioned the split glove. Sorry. Do you have a time mark for that comment? Is splitting the glove an old trick? Seems like boxing has more than its fair share of reprobates
I used to know his brothers Son, Alan and there was two things I remember him for, one he had Yamaha FS-1-E and the other was he went for a fight with someone on my behalf. I do not understand why we never became good friends but I still think about him to this day, we lived in the same Drive and Henry lived in a Road that the Drive came out of. Its weird trying to remember these things today but they were fond times. I suspect Henry and his Brother are on the other side now and I hope Alan is well.
Ali gave Henry Cooper credit when he said after this fight, “Henry Cooper hit me so hard it jarred my kinfolk back in Africa!” Cassius/Ali was shocked into taking Cooper VERY seriously after experiencing “Henry’s Hammer”. He really gets down to business in that last round!
Yeah after angelo dundee bought him ALOT of time to recover in the corner ali was the greatest but he was lucky he had such a crafty cornerman on this night
This was the Cassius Clay v Henry Cooper fight in June 1963, before Clay won the title and then changed his name. The second fight with Cooper was in May 1966 by which time Clay had won the heavyweight title and changed his name to Mohammed Ali.
The only boxer who bring down Muhammad Ali while he was in his full strength and in the prime of his power in two matches is Henry Cooper, and had it not been for the round bell, Muhammad Ali would have lost this fight. All respect to these two boxers
If there's a minute left in the round, Ali (Clay then) wouldn't of took much more, he didn't know what day it was!!! Smelling salts, ice cubes down his trunks got his faculties back. Enry's Hammer was some punch! He also slid down the ropes breaking his fall dramatically. Good fighter Sir Henry Cooper but he cut too easy. Also, the famous Dundee glove episode bought Ali 6 seconds at the most. RIP 🙏 both brave fellas 🙏
Wow Cooper was quite good! His punches packed some power. If he was a better defender who knows. Ali though, still the greatest. He fought the best and beat the best. Age and Parkinson's was Ali's biggest opponent. Ali was a great man after he retired. Much respect!
Even when Ali wasnt in his prime anymore, he could make Frazier go blind with his jab. Imagine it happens on Cooper eyes. Ali's jab was fast like sting of bee, just see the damage because of it. What a speed. RIP champ.
Robert Smilanich Well sorry but I do not consider Cassius Clay as being the greatest boxer, no I do not ! Besides he was a fucking clown always doing stupid mimics with his big mouth, he was rude and a bloody racist.
Ali took many hits during his career, and no, he didn't come close to being defeated. He got up and tore up his opponent. Just like he did during the rematch.
@@hislord1 He certainly did come close to being defeated that day. We'll never know what might have happened had the bell not rung to end the round but it did so that part's a bit irrelevant. But what we do know and what is relevant is that Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee knew he was in trouble and groggy on the stool so gave him smelling salts and admitted tampering with his gloves to buy more time to allow Ali to recover.
Henry was a gentleman outside of the ring. That’s why he was admired by his opponents including Ali. He had a powerfull left, anry’s hammer. He lacked the stamina to make him a champ.
Sonny Banks in 1962 hit Ali with a good left hook and dropped him. Joe Frazier also plastered Ali with a left hook in the 15th round of their 1971 "Fight of The Century".
Next to Joe Frazier Coop had the nastiest left hook in pro boxing and it was quick and powerful. He gained Ali attention with that punch and Ali adapted quickly.
Wauuuu , saludos cordiales desde mi pequeña isla de 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 Bendiciones 🙏 En está pelea Muhammad Ali, demostró que era muy bueno, Henry Cooper le dió buenos golpes, y en el 5 asalto, le contestó muy bien a Muhammad Ali, lo derribo muy bien, pero si se fijan, imetiatamente Muhammad Ali, cambio su estilo de pelea, fue más agresivo después de esa caída, y que pasó, Muhammad Ali lo dominó de hay a delante, eso demuestra que Muhammad Ali, podía pelear de diferentes formas, y tener éxito como sea, que descanse en paz el gran Campeón Muhammad Ali, para mí, el mejor de todos los tiempos, no solo como peleador, luchó por los derechos de la raza negra, y trajo los millones al 🥊 boxeo 🥊🙏 Bendiciones 🙏 Atte 🇵🇷🇵🇷 Albert Colon Lee 🇵🇷🇵🇷
He, Cooper, was rushing in, in the end, he knew it was going to be stopped, would have been very interesting to see how it could have turned out, otherwise, a pity
Ali didn’t want to open up because of coopers eye, that shows you how great he was, Taking nothing away from cooper....... Most boxers would have deliberately targeted his eye, It went against Ali physiologically thats why he played around, but after knockdown, the penny drops for Ali...... and I’m British.
Dangerous game by Ali. He could have finished Cooper in four rounds if he wanted. Instead he played around and was knocked down seriously. Mercy is not a good advice in boxing.
You can see Cooper saw the opening as he was rolling up off Ali's punches . Hook was impeccably. Timed. A great fighter(Ali) vs a very very good one in Cooper.
Cooper wasn't caught up in the Ali hype and legend. Mostly because it didn't yet exist at this point. Angelo Dundee ripped Ali's glove which bought an extra 5 minutes to "retrieve another glove" AKA give his fighter (Ali) more recovery time. Left hooks were definitely Ali's weak points (one of a few).
@@luetrevino7584 Right on. If it werent for Dundee cheating by using smelling salts (which Dundee later admitted to doing!), Clay wouldn't have been ready to start the 5th round!!!
@@luetrevino7584 He blind sided ali with a dirty cheap shot seconds before the bell. No way that would've happened earlier in the round. It probably took them both by surprise.
Too bad you have this insipid song that we’ve all heard 6 million times- looped no less- over an historic fight with a great announcer and crowd reactions.
Lol stupid folks living in fantasy land, ali knocked your boy and made him unrecognisable, if the ref never saved your boy coops you woulda had to help bury his ass right there under the ring
@@hstar2959 Cooper wasn't even seriously hurt or knocked down, it was stopped due to a cut. Which isn't a problem for Ali's record or anything, that's a legitimate stoppage. But let's not live in a fantasy land where Ali "nearly killed" him. For that, go watch the Cleveland Williams fight. If Cooper hadn't been cut, this fight very well could have been one of Ali's most narrow victories and the possibility of defeat was very real. Yes, he went very aggressive in the fifth round, but you could also see his reflexes on defense still weren't as sharp as before the knockdown. His intermittent clowning in the fight had put him in serious danger and he knew it, that's why he came out in round 5 like he did. As for why people say Cooper should have won, it comes down to the interval between round 4 and 5. Ali's corner has been accused based on film of using smelling salts and intentionally ripping Ali's right glove to delay the start of round 5, both of which could - and in the case of the smelling salts, absolutely would - result in disqualification. The latter of these accusations Angelo Dundee openly admitted years later, saying he knew he needed to buy time. If none of this had been done and Ali had been sent out as is on time, that could have at the very least made round 5 more dangerous for him. Would Cooper have won? Who knows, I say probably not, Ali would have taken a different strategy if stull hurt and stayed away. So the fight goes another round or two. But the cut on Cooper was severe, odds are it still stops on cuts later. But Ali could have been is serious trouble, we'll never know, and what Dundee did was profoundly low class.
Americans need to understand the huge affection we have in Britain for dear old Henry Cooper. Talented fighter sure, who never beat Ali, but came damn close. We brits love a trier, a gallant loser. Americans only care about winners. But we love a plucky underdog. Nobody in their right mind would say Henry was as talented as Ali, but for us, he won just by getting in the ring. RiP Mr Cooper. U will always hold a place 8n every british heart.
The bell saved Ali in that fight. So did Angelo Dundee by splitting Ali’s glove. Dundee knew if Ali came out straight away for the next round Cooper would have finished him. Good old Henry’s Hammer. 👍👍👍