Cooper and Ali were good friends in real life. Henry relates a story about when they were both in Las Vegas together and Ali kept borrowing money off of him to lose at the Tables. Cooper finally told him, 'You're tapped out Muhammad, I haven't got any more money!'. As for these allegations: I don't believe Henry Cooper ever contested this fight and his opinion is the final word for me. He recognized that Ali was one of the greatest and perhaps THE greatest Heavyweight fighter of all time-up to then. Cooper has nothing to be ashamed of, he gave it his all and not many boxers can claim they put Ali on the seat of his pants!
@@timcastle1844 Henry was a very good British European and commonwealth champion but not world class. I don't care where he was ranked pal Henry cut too easy and that separated him from the elite boys.
@@barryf3395 Well if you "don't care" about rankings that must make it right then! Yes he cut easily but against Clay there will always remain a doubt as to the loss. Had Clay proceeded without such a long pause the chances are high Henry would have knocked him out but in your, highly rated, opinion I suppose that would still not have made him world class. Bye now.
@@timcastle1844 i take it the long pause you refer to are between rounds four and five and was in truth exactly five seconds longer which would of made no difference to any recovery time that you less informed people like to believe. Sports commentator Harry Carpenter did an hour long documentary special on the subject a few years later to uncover the myth of the so called extra minutes allowing Clay extra time to recover and was proven to be false. Also the saga of the torn glove was never changed. Film shows the same torn glove in round five. Henry got lucky and Clay got careless which he made up for in the predicted round Clay said he would stop him. As for Henry knocking him out we'll never know but Ali had a granite chin which wasn't known back then and considering what he absorbed from the likes of Frazier Foreman Shavers Kenny Norton and Liston i don't put too much on Henry succeeding with a ko either.
That was all Dundee. And you gotta hand it to him, he saw an opprtunity and took it. Henry was a true gent. My dad knew him well and always praised him.
I am an Ali fan. His corner cheated. Ali did not seem in on it. Clearly winced when that smelling salt was applied, certainly woke him up. Terrific knock down by Cooper. What a fighter he was.
Yeah! The disclaimer was necessary for a "so called" iconoclast. Naturally, you couldn't take on the highest figure in World Sport, so the "Ali corner" is easy meat. The problem isn't Henry Cooper with a sissy face against formidable opponents, getting the benefit of a cut; it's his "White Skin", reason why you losers (read: British Boxing Fans or better, White Boxing Fans) to be complaining about 20 seconds or an invisible "salt" which was later, much later banned as something that took away the chances of A White British Boxer not becoming the Great Muhammad Ali! Right? You couldn't be proud of Lennox Lewis and so on. Bottom-line is: you're a bunch of RACISTS! Inside a Coop, lives a Hen or at best a Rooster 🐓, Chicken Keepers don't/can't box. Admit it. Include the 2nd Fight of Cooper, I mean Cooper owner: Henry with Muhammad Ali. One last word: You don't have an option: Ali is the GOAT! So you better be his fan.
@@Jahno71 Cooper was more of a classical Heavyweight who looked for the knock out blow to the chin. Ali used his jabs like a machine gun to cause cuts that would stop the fight as a TKO.
My dad was a professional fighter and showed me a boxing glove and it was impossible to open up.or split because back then the stitching was done with fish gut and very strong . So therefore the glove was opened with a sharp instrument. ( FACT)
Oh! Yes they did. Deliberately tearing Ali's glove to buy him more time to come around as Ali was in lala land after that punch. Only that cut stopped 'Our Enry'..RIP Gent!
What I newly noticed in this footage was before our Henry put him down he had caught Ali with a fierce left hook that made his head roll thus softening him up for the old Henry's hammer. Has anyone else noticed this?
Yes. Ali was dazed by a few good shots before the one that put him down. Probably what allowed Henry to get in so close for the big hook in the first place. Before that he was having trouble closing.
H Cooper was a great fighter, a true sportsman , a lion hearted pugilist but Ali was the king of the ring and greatest of all time and he proved it many a times.
Ali's corner manipulated the fight to give him time to recover, but given his well known ability to take a punch and recover quickly (First Frazier -Ali fight, for example) there is a pretty fair probability that he would have won the fight.
The short answer is, "Yes, he did". If Clay, as he was known then, hadn't had an extended break at the end of the 4th, when he didn't know what planet he was on, he'd have gone early in the 5th.
@@1FaithHopeandLove What happened in the 5th round Cooper was taking a proper beating. No Fighter in history recovers a knock down better than Ali so its pathetic to think a skinny journeyman could beat the great ALI. How did Cooper do in the 2nd fight Ali didn't even get out of first gear to beat him. Frustrated English fans KEEEP DREAMING
Smokin’ Joe Frazier knocked down Ali with a left hook in the 15th round of their fight in 1971, but Ali rose and won the rest of the round. And Smokin’ Joe hit much harder than Cooper. Therefore, if Cooper had knocked down Ali with a left hook in the beginning of a round, Ali would have risen and won the rest of the round. By the way, Smokin’Joe knocked down Ali with a straight right in the 9th round of their fight in 1971, and Arthur Mercante, the referee, called it a slip. Terrible call!
Ali also beat him savagely punished him Joe left Hook caught Ali but Ali twas the greatest .also look at the foreman Joe fight gear the shit out of Joe .look at Ali foreman fight aki whooped that a .
His corner cheated. After the 4th round knockdown, in the corner Ali's team used smelling salts cause he was still groggy from the knockdown. Smelling Salts were illegal to use in a British ring from the late 50s and this fight took place in 1963.
@@RRR-is3rfBe cause clay kept clear of his KO left hook in 2nd fight Mr Dundee said to Cooper at a dinner occasion my guy was in big trouble I had to do something so smelling salts was used and a cut glove if you cannot abide y the rules don't be in the fight game and that was the hardest Ali was hit he fell back on his stool thinking what happened were am I Henry's hammer hit home 🏡 he threw 6 in his career and anyone in the receiving end had an early bedtime sleep.😅😅😅👍🇬🇧
@@RRR-is3rfBTW Henry Cooper was British European and commonwealth champion 🏆 who wants to be world champ you have to wade through corruption cheating trainers and Don King. 😅😅🇬🇧👍🏆🏆🏆
Cooper was already badly cut and bleeding before he knocked Clay down and before the alleged cutting of the glove. Clay, then later Ali, used his jab that was rapid and faster than most Heavyweights to cut up the face of his opponents. Later when he came back from a four year " retirement" he did more power punching but still used his jab to fend off opponents. Most of his KOs were TKOs because the opponent could not continue due to cuts and bleeding. Many boxing fans did not appreciate the athletic skill of Ali and his ability to avoid hooks and blows to the chin. He would dance around and throw a series of jabs to the same location in order to cause enough friction to separate the skin. Then he would open that wound with follow up jabs. The relentless jabs kept Ali far enough away from his opponent's knock out punches so he could avoid them. This was all calculated and the reason most opponents could not go 15 rounds with him.
Henry Cooper & Joe Frazier Had The Most Wicked Left Hooks! The Differences Were: Frazier Had A Looping Left Hook! But Cooper Had A Snapping Left Hook! 🥊
I think the glove cut gave ali an extra 15 seconds which coopers corner were more than happy to have to close up the cuts on his face. Either way its wrong but i dont think it really changed anything.
There is no question as to how much Ali was playing until he got very serious or just what a lovely, lovely man and fantastic champion Henry was. He was truly deserving to stand in the ring with all of the greats of the era and we're all the better for having known Mr. Cooper. Substantively, we're looking back decades into a situation that unfolded in microseconds and trying to make macroanalyses on the basis of incomplete information. It cannot be done. What we can do is say Henry revealed how vulnerable Ali was to a left hook, a matter that would haunt him for the rest of his career; and also, Henry was vulnerable to serious cutting.
I met Angelo in 2005 and asked him specifically about the glove incident . He was well into his 80s at this point and didn’t give a hoot about anything. . There was already a split in the glove and he basically just stuck his finger in . As far as I recall they didn’t have any new gloves but they carried on with the same ones .
So true. If just a few of the refs enforced the RULES then Ali would have lost many fights on points or been Ko'd because he'd have been even or possibly behind on scorecards and would have been forced to engage with some heavy hitters. Of course I recognize Ali's great chin but that chin was both blessing and curse because it allowed him to absorb so much punishment. Ali also could have been diaqualified after multiple holding warnings and point deductions. We boxing fans understand and embrace the need to hold an opponent who has hurt you in order to clear cobwebs and survive a clean shot but Ali made a career off the illegal maneuver. When I rewatch many of his fights I am disgusted by the behavior and the cowardly refs who allowed it. I walways saw it as cowardly when Ali would get some shots in and then wrap both arms around the other fighter to prevent getting hit.
Ali was young man and learned a lot in this fight. Don't mess around with an older soldier. Ali lost by disqualification, no doubt. The powers that be could not have that. Leads me to think the Liston fight was fixed also.
@@IceManLikeGervin And that's your evidence, is it? Ali always vigorously stated that the so called ''phantom punch'' in the second fight was thrown from just a few inches and he felt the impact in his fist when the punch landed. He always said that that was one of the sweetest punches he ever threw and had no doubt that Liston would never beat the count, such was the stunning effect it had on Liston. Now you are able to dispute what Ali stated are you? People like you make me sick! You make claims that you cannot possibly substantiate because you were not on the receiving end.
I met Angelo Dundee and asked him about the glove. He told me that he noticed a small tear in the glove and that he deliberately made it bigger to earn more time for Ali to recover
Important to note that unfair play started from R1 with Henry clinching the arms so he started it. Torn glove has to be replaced which is as per rules but pointing that at the end of the break is unfair but who started the unfair business. Smelling (allegedly) salts was legal in USA at that time and American boxers used to smell salts legally.
It was a great left hook. Our Henry was made of steel. But he came up against the greatest of all time. No cheating going on as the title suggests. Henry, with that cut was never going past 6-7 rounds.
In all fairness too much happened in clays corner after the knockdown.What a pity cooper cut too easily .He gave Ali big problems ,Both were great fighters👏👏🙏🇮🇪
I have many conflicting stories about the incident with the gloves. Some accounts say a few minutes elapsed while some one went to fetch new gloves. Others that the interval between rounds was extended by only five or six seconds; in fact some footage seems to confirm this but it is not clear if that footage is abridged.
There's no supposed about it . Angelo Dundee is on film admitting he ' tore ' the glove further from an existing split . It took him 20+ years to man up, though, and he seemed almost proud of his actions. He didn't admit using smelling salts , but it can clearly be seen during the panic in Ali's corner.
Yes he cheated when he got up after only 3 seconds. Then he cheated by peppering Cooper's brittle skin with razor sharp lighting punches. It's all there. An honest British champion cheated by a foreigner. Nobody ever beats us Brits unless they cheat.
Ali did not cheat. Angelo Dundee cheated. If that knockdown happens in the middle of the round it's over and the fighht of the century with Frazier is no longer between two undefeated champions.
@@adrianboyddodd8007 If the knockdown happened with 90 seconds left in the round and if he landed in the middle of the ring history might well have been different.
Well if you think Angelo Dundee cheated then you've got to accept that Ali colluded in cheating because he accepted and took advantage of Dundee's "help". That made Ali a cheat too.
@@michaelb2388 No way because Ali was too out of it to know what was going on in real time. He wouldn't even have been aware that he was being given smelling salts.
Ali didn't cheat but Angelo Dundee did. He used that same tactic .again when another of his fighters got knocked down by Tyson near the end of a round , only on that occasion, it didn't work.
Boxing's bent ! now there's a shocking revelation... Cooper caught him with a lucky punch, Ali had a habit of not taking people seriously, came out in the next round and cut him to ribbons.... The ripped glove was never changed, the time of the interval, 65 seconds. Cooper never got over the two fights with Ali, or the Bugner fight. He would always refer to Ali as Clay.... My dad knew Henry, and his twin brother George, they used to come to our house when I was a lad...
Man don't say ali cheated Don't disrespect him like that. Ali would beat cooper 100 out of a hundred times. Cooper was good but he could never beat Ali. Cooper did good in front of his country, let that be what it was, nothing more. Stop disrespecting Ali's greatness
Angelo Dundee admitted that he split the glove to buy Ali more time to recover. He knew our Henry would have finished Ali. But being the true champions they were they became good friends. And that’s the most important thing. In the ring it’s business outside the ring it’s different. I watched the fight as a kid on the telly. 👍
Looks like Dundee's team probably cut the glove to buy time, but for sure they used smelling salts (ammonia), we all saw that in the video. That's cheating and that's a forfeit, congratulations Henry Cooper.
@@rdavideagan2311 A post 60s Ali beat Frazier twice out of three. Norton the same. The first Spinks fight Ali underestimated him, didn't train as he should of and was overweight coming into the fight. He was also about three years past retirement age in all probability. If you know anything of the background and dodgy goings on that went into making the Ali/ Holmes fight, a fight that should never have happened or Berbeck for that matter you wouldn't even consider them as losses. In this condition my grandmother could of beaten him. As i said the best Ali was levels above.
C'est un combat très technique par les deux combattants. Les gestes de Henry explique la raison que les anglais toujours très bien de son domaine. La suite de ça, Lennox Lewis et Tyson Fury sont des champions du monde. Cette fois ci Henry a rencontré un boxeur plein de technique, très étonnant de la boxe
Tout d'abord, bienvenue sur la chaîne. Nous aimons entendre des perspectives du monde entier. Les combats britanniques ont connu du succès dans la division des poids lourds à partir des années 90. Les années 1960 étaient largement dominées par les Américains in english.
Ali probably didn’t know what was going on but his trainer and the seconds knew they were cheating . Who ever was in his corner cut his glove to play for time . Henry cooper would have beaten Ali . This match was rigged .
As an Ali fan of his abilities in the ring his and showmanship there’s zero doubt that Dundee bought him time to recover. All that said, I wasn’t a fan of Ali’s treatment of Frazier. It bothered me that he could be so hurtful and disrespectful of Joe. But he was The Greatest in my time on this planet🥊
I agree, I thought Ali went too far with his insults of Joe, and Joe wrote to Nixon asking him to get Ali's license back, In the 1988 Video "Champions forever" Ali said it was hype talk to promote the fight, I think they remained friends Ali said many times after he retired he loved Joe. As for the Cooper fight I believe Dundee cut the glove I also read he used reviving salts. I remember a friend saying If Dundee did cut the glove it was smart and it saved Ali. Ali was a little before my time I wasn't born when he beat Liston and I was 12 when he fought Spinks I don't think he was the greatest of all time, he was the best of his era but he was definitely the fastest HW ever for a guy who weighed 220.Lb he had the speed of a lightweight
Ali surely had amazing skills, resilience, and panache, quite possibly making him the GOAT. But styles make fights and Joe Louis's style, including his great left hook (like Cooper) along with Louis's great boxing skills and hard punch may have been sufficient to have beaten Ali if they were in the same era. There are others who may have presented a challenge to Ali, in particular some of the post-Ali era larger fighters and also possibly Tyson at his height. And in addition to their first fight, Frazier came close to beating Ali in the third fight based on Ali's statements. Also Ali only fought Foreman once and certainly demonstrated great speed and boxing skills in that encounter, although Foreman may have learned enough from that fight to have given him a real chance in a rematch, although Ali's speed may have brought about the same outcome. Having said all that, Ali was probably the most entertaining heavyweight of all time and certainly had an amazing life story. But for me the Cinderella man's underdog story and ascendance to the championship against all odds was the most heartfelt boxing story. If true, I especially love that he paid welfare back the money he was given. Emblematic of a selfless, ethical, and wonderful generation.
Definately cheated, I watched the fight and it was obvious, one of his team years later admitted they had slit his glove to give him time to recover, never watched another Ali fight.
Yes alis corner cheated and even ali admitted he was going to sleep if dundee didnt do what he did, but lets not forget these 2 where great friends ever since and ali was loved here in the uk. He held cooper in the highest regard and enry certainly earned alis respect
You should do some more research, there is a video of Dundee actually admitting to Burt Sugar and a few other boxing pundits that he actually cut Ali's glove.
I have seen those videos and while he admitted to pulling at the stitching to make it appear serious enough to replace the gloves he never admitted to actually cutting it.
@@jameshogan6142 Read between the lines, Ali's glove was perfect as he went to the corner. What about the illegal use of smelling salts? They cheated and its that simple.
I always have thought much of Ali, his fights and outlook on life, but I think a smug Cassius got a lesson from an old pugilist right here he wouldn't soon forget. Rip both of you.
Ali didn't cheat, but Angelo Dundee did. Because of that, in fairness to Cooper, upon review of the footage, the TKO loss should have been changed to a WIN via disqualification for Cooper. I am a huge Ali fan, but I am a bigger fan of fairness in boxing. There is no question that Ali learned from this fight, and in my opinion, from this near loss experience, Ali went on to become great. By the time his head cleared, he was handing Cooper a serious beating, and it continued with the rematch.
@Demonizer5134 To be honest, there is no way of knowing for sure. There is a moment in the footage that shows Dundee putting something near Ali's nose. It could have been smelling Salt, it could have been nothing. Dundee claimed that Ali had a slightly damage glove during the fight and that he tugged on it a little to damage it more so that getting a new glove would buy Ali more time to recuperate. None of this is evident in the footage. I don't think this happened. But , if Dundee said that he did this during a match, then it's not hard to believe that he helped Ali with a bit of smelling salt. Of course, that is all speculation
@@slybear525 That would have technically been against the rules and be grounds for DQ. That is the more important issue than the glove thing. With a broken glove, the corner has not only the right, but in fact the duty to inform the ref and get it replaced. That's not cheating unless he was the one who damaged the glove. Was it damaged already and then he damaged it a bit more? I mean, that's kind of cheating, but not as much as the smelling salts thing. As for the amount of time delay about the ripped glove, it was only about 5 seconds, which is not enough IMO to say that Ali could not have fought on without these extra 5 seconds. Lastly, if Dundee admitted to tearing Ali's glove, why would he deny the smelling salts?
@Demonizer5134 I had to review the interval between rounds again. It appeared that smelling salt was applied by the assistant to Dundee - I can't remember his name. I am not absolutely certain, but clearly, something is placed at Al's nose. Since his nose was not bleeding or damaged, and whatever it was that was applied was done quickly, it is not unreasonable to assume that it was smelling salt. Yes, against the rules, but, covertly used a lot in the 50s and 60s. Since Dundee did not personally apply anything to Ali's nose, he would be unlikely to admit to doing so. In regard to the torn glove to my memory, Dundee claimed he helped to further damage an already torn glove in order to buy Ali Precious extra time. As far as I can remember, Dundee claimed this action several years past the time where such admission would have been punishable by any boxing authority and long after Ali had become an all-time great. I can only guess that Dundee said that he did this to show how he cleverly saved the day for Ali. While it is a corner persons duty to point out a damaged glove , it is against the rules to tamper with the gloves even if damaged. I am not sure how many seconds were bought due to the glove.
@@slybear525 Well, all that having been said, the thing that we cannot know is if Ali would have been unable to continue the match if not for the cheating. Like you say, Ali himself didn't cheat, his cornermen did. Ali got right back up after the knockdown and while he was clearly dazed and confused, I still think he would have been able to keep going. He went right back into the match in the next round and destroyed Cooper, in the very round he predicted he would win. Ali was incredibly tough and determined.
Yes, Cooper's manager Jim Weekes was a shrewd man. He knew just what fighters Cooper could beat and he knew the ones that Cooper should avoid. The Liston story is a case in point.
I love Ali but Cooper. Was very tough Those extra thirty seconds or twenty seconds counted I didn't realize. Ali Should I have lost But cooper was very unlucky Due to the cuts Very tough
Henry was in he’s prime a Great British boxer no doubt about that .yes they cheated to buy time .Ali later on said Henry hit me so hard it split my glove
....no...Ali DID NOT CHEAT...just the skills of a very wiley trainer,Angelo Dundee...NOTHING to do with Ali(Clay)...Cooper wasn't going to win that fight...Ali would have weathered the storm at the resumption of the next round...and still eventually stop Cooper on cuts,...the way he did.Thats not saying there weren't any shenanigans going in in Ali's corner.
Yes if he had to beat the count Cooper would have most likely won but the minute between rounds to recover should have been enough for Clay to survive the next round even without the horse hair play. Remember Joe Frazier was knocked down by three even harder punches in the first Foreman fight and still started the second round strongly.
Mohammed Ali was a great heavyweight but not the greatest of all time, that was a self proclaimed statement. The greatest heavyweight of all time is still open for debate!.
You're right about one thing. No one can prove conclusively who was the greatest heavyweight simply because all the top contender could never fight each other as they were from different eras. However, Clay/Ali gave everyone a chance and fought some great boxers, Liston, Foreman, Frazier, Holmes and many others. Most of the knowledgeable boxing pundits have Clay/Ali at the top though.
Cooper and Ali were good friends in real life. Henry relates a story about when they were both in Las Vegas together and Ali kept borrowing money off of him to lose at the Tables. Cooper finally told him, 'You're tapped out Muhammad, I haven't got any more money!'. As for these allegations: I don't believe Henry Cooper ever contested this fight and his opinion is the final word for me. He recognized that Ali was one of the greatest and perhaps THE greatest Heavyweight fighter of all time-up to then. Cooper has nothing to be ashamed of, he gave it his all and not many boxers can claim they put Ali on the seat of his pants!
Cooper always put a 100 percent into every fight, brave fighter.
Henry Cooper was as tuff as they come
Tough but not world class.
@@barryf3395 6th ranked heavyweight in the World but "not world. class"? OK drongo!
@@timcastle1844 Henry was a very good British European and commonwealth champion but not world class. I don't care where he was ranked pal Henry cut too easy and that separated him from the elite boys.
@@barryf3395 Well if you "don't care" about rankings that must make it right then! Yes he cut easily but against Clay there will always remain a doubt as to the loss. Had Clay proceeded without such a long pause the chances are high Henry would have knocked him out but in your, highly rated, opinion I suppose that would still not have made him world class. Bye now.
@@timcastle1844 i take it the long pause you refer to are between rounds four and five and was in truth exactly five seconds longer which would of made no difference to any recovery time that you less informed people like to believe. Sports commentator Harry Carpenter did an hour long documentary special on the subject a few years later to uncover the myth of the so called extra minutes allowing Clay extra time to recover and was proven to be false. Also the saga of the torn glove was never changed. Film shows the same torn glove in round five. Henry got lucky and Clay got careless which he made up for in the predicted round Clay said he would stop him. As for Henry knocking him out we'll never know but Ali had a granite chin which wasn't known back then and considering what he absorbed from the likes of Frazier Foreman Shavers Kenny Norton and Liston i don't put too much on Henry succeeding with a ko either.
That was all Dundee. And you gotta hand it to him, he saw an opprtunity and took it. Henry was a true gent. My dad knew him well and always praised him.
Ali corner was cheaters Cooper won that fight
If not for the cut how would you see it going?
@@vinylrulesok8470 Opportunity??….What a load of Bullshine, they cheated nothing more nothing less. Call what it was!!…..
@@jimmyhebert828the doctor stopped the fight not clay
Cooper was much tougher and skilled than Ali expected him to be
I am an Ali fan. His corner cheated. Ali did not seem in on it. Clearly winced when that smelling salt was applied, certainly woke him up. Terrific knock down by Cooper. What a fighter he was.
Yeah! The disclaimer was necessary for a "so called" iconoclast. Naturally, you couldn't take on the highest figure in World Sport, so the "Ali corner" is easy meat. The problem isn't Henry Cooper with a sissy face against formidable opponents, getting the benefit of a cut; it's his "White Skin", reason why you losers (read: British Boxing Fans or better, White Boxing Fans) to be complaining about 20 seconds or an invisible "salt" which was later, much later banned as something that took away the chances of A White British Boxer not becoming the Great Muhammad Ali! Right? You couldn't be proud of Lennox Lewis and so on. Bottom-line is: you're a bunch of RACISTS! Inside a Coop, lives a Hen or at best a Rooster 🐓, Chicken Keepers don't/can't box. Admit it. Include the 2nd Fight of Cooper, I mean Cooper owner: Henry with Muhammad Ali. One last word: You don't have an option: Ali is the GOAT! So you better be his fan.
Cooper was a average great white hope who only got famous for knocking Ali down for 2 seconds
@@Jahno71 Cooper was more of a classical Heavyweight who looked for the knock out blow to the chin. Ali used his jabs like a machine gun to cause cuts that would stop the fight as a TKO.
Typical!!
@@Jahno71so you are a pissed off racist huh?
My dad was a professional fighter and showed me a boxing glove and it was impossible to open up.or split because back then the stitching was done with fish gut and very strong . So therefore the glove was opened with a sharp instrument. ( FACT)
Now all you have to do to substantiate your ( FACT) is to produce the EVIDENCE, which you can never do.
@ellcott4749 ask angelo Dundee he was a cunning corner man. He knows the truth. It was so obvious they was playing fir time Ali was semi conscious
@@flynnterry9848 The glove was *not* changed FACT
I think Ali would have ethier way
Gloves were inspected before the fight. Yes cooper was good but Ali was better
Ali spent years watching replays of that punch and even in slow motion long after he retired he never saw it! 😂
Ali didn't know what was going on..Henry's hammer saw to that! Ali's corner cheated😮
I don't know a lot about boxing, i do think Henry Cooper won this fight !
@@dorothycharles3498 Well, you are wrong, my dear!
Oh! Yes they did. Deliberately tearing Ali's glove to buy him more time to come around as Ali was in lala land after that punch.
Only that cut stopped 'Our Enry'..RIP Gent!
@@enderby4121 ALÍ GANÓ POR KO. LE PARTIÓ LA CEJA IZQUIERDA AL GRINGO
Ali the best
What I newly noticed in this footage was before our Henry put him down he had caught Ali with a fierce left hook that made his head roll thus softening him up for the old Henry's hammer. Has anyone else noticed this?
Yes. Ali was dazed by a few good shots before the one that put him down. Probably what allowed Henry to get in so close for the big hook in the first place. Before that he was having trouble closing.
I reviewed this footage...I didnt see it?...Cooper's left hook was disguised as he was bending to the right and when he came up Ali didnt see it.
Yes.
What a punch from Cooper, always cut too easy, things could have been so different as he was fast and threatening and no question on his work rate!
Still wouldn't have won
Ali used to rough up his opponents’ eyebrows with the inside of his gloves.
Ali’s butt landed on the bottom rope. This helped him and so did the bell.
Ali rematched him and stopped him again
Ali held all of his opponents by the back of their neck later in his career and was rarely penalized for it.
NO ENSUCIEN A UNA LEYENDA DEL BOXEO CON ESTAS DESASTROSAS OPINIONES
This is one fight that Ali lost without doubt..he was knocked out 😮😮
He wasnt Muhammed Ali. He was Cassius Clay at the time.
H Cooper was a great fighter, a true sportsman , a lion hearted pugilist but Ali was the king of the ring and greatest of all time and he proved it many a times.
Ali glove was i think cut by the corner to give Ali more time after that big left hook....
Henry cooper = hard as nails
Ali's corner manipulated the fight to give him time to recover, but given his well known ability to take a punch and recover quickly (First Frazier -Ali fight, for example) there is a pretty fair probability that he would have won the fight.
The short answer is, "Yes, he did". If Clay, as he was known then, hadn't had an extended break at the end of the 4th, when he didn't know what planet he was on, he'd have gone early in the 5th.
Bullshit. You’re talking out your @$$.
EXACTLY.
Perhaps! But, what about the 2nd fight?
@@1FaithHopeandLove What happened in the 5th round Cooper was taking a proper beating. No Fighter in history recovers a knock down better than Ali so its pathetic to think a skinny journeyman could beat the great ALI. How did Cooper do in the 2nd fight Ali didn't even get out of first gear to beat him. Frustrated English fans KEEEP DREAMING
If Clay's corner didn't cheat, he'd have been beat@@Jahno71. Speaking of pathetic, good luck to you trying to work out that TDS.😨
Today that fight would have been stopped Ali couldn’t even stand up angelo Dundee sat him down 3 times Henry cooper whst a legend no disrespect to Ali
Smokin’ Joe Frazier knocked down Ali with a left hook in the 15th round of their fight in 1971, but Ali rose and won the rest of the round.
And Smokin’ Joe hit much harder than Cooper.
Therefore, if Cooper had knocked down Ali with a left hook in the beginning of a round, Ali would have risen and won the rest of the round.
By the way, Smokin’Joe knocked down Ali with a straight right in the 9th round of their fight in 1971, and Arthur Mercante, the referee, called it a slip.
Terrible call!
Ali also beat him savagely punished him Joe left Hook caught Ali but Ali twas the greatest .also look at the foreman Joe fight gear the shit out of Joe .look at Ali foreman fight aki whooped that a .
His corner cheated. After the 4th round knockdown, in the corner Ali's team used smelling salts cause he was still groggy from the knockdown. Smelling Salts were illegal to use in a British ring from the late 50s and this fight took place in 1963.
Ali rematched him and stopped him again.
@@RRR-is3rfBe cause clay kept clear of his KO left hook in 2nd fight Mr Dundee said to Cooper at a dinner occasion my guy was in big trouble I had to do something so smelling salts was used and a cut glove if you cannot abide y the rules don't be in the fight game and that was the hardest Ali was hit he fell back on his stool thinking what happened were am I Henry's hammer hit home 🏡 he threw 6 in his career and anyone in the receiving end had an early bedtime sleep.😅😅😅👍🇬🇧
@@RRR-is3rfBTW Henry Cooper was British European and commonwealth champion 🏆 who wants to be world champ you have to wade through corruption cheating trainers and Don King. 😅😅🇬🇧👍🏆🏆🏆
@@thecurlew7403if he didn’t cut, he would’ve been so great. His style was so hard to figure out.
@psychrubus4503 Cooper was to fight Jimmy Ellis for the WBA title but it never came off I believe Cooper would have won.👊🌎
Ali cheated , he was knocked off his feet from a brilliant punch from Henry Cooper , they cut Alis gloves .
Cooper won Clay lost
Cooper was already badly cut and bleeding before he knocked Clay down and before the alleged cutting of the glove. Clay, then later Ali, used his jab that was rapid and faster than most Heavyweights to cut up the face of his opponents. Later when he came back from a four year " retirement" he did more power punching but still used his jab to fend off opponents.
Most of his KOs were TKOs because the opponent could not continue due to cuts and bleeding. Many boxing fans did not appreciate the athletic skill of Ali and his ability to avoid hooks and blows to the chin. He would dance around and throw a series of jabs to the same location in order to cause enough friction to separate the skin. Then he would open that wound with follow up jabs. The relentless jabs kept Ali far enough away from his opponent's knock out punches so he could avoid them. This was all calculated and the reason most opponents could not go 15 rounds with him.
SO MUHAMMAD ALI CUT HIS OWN GLOVES, his corner did it,SMDH
Ali's corner also used smelling salts to bring him round, which were illegal in the UK.
Ali won.
Just as infamous as Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Argüello
Henry Cooper & Joe Frazier Had The Most Wicked Left Hooks! The Differences Were: Frazier Had A Looping Left Hook! But Cooper Had A Snapping Left Hook! 🥊
I think the glove cut gave ali an extra 15 seconds which coopers corner were more than happy to have to close up the cuts on his face. Either way its wrong but i dont think it really changed anything.
There is no question as to how much Ali was playing until he got very serious or just what a lovely, lovely man and fantastic champion Henry was. He was truly deserving to stand in the ring with all of the greats of the era and we're all the better for having known Mr. Cooper.
Substantively, we're looking back decades into a situation that unfolded in microseconds and trying to make macroanalyses on the basis of incomplete information. It cannot be done. What we can do is say Henry revealed how vulnerable Ali was to a left hook, a matter that would haunt him for the rest of his career; and also, Henry was vulnerable to serious cutting.
I met Angelo in 2005 and asked him specifically about the glove incident . He was well into his 80s at this point and didn’t give a hoot about anything. . There was already a split in the glove and he basically just stuck his finger in . As far as I recall they didn’t have any new gloves but they carried on with the same ones .
Ali cheated in ALL HIS BOUTS by CONSTANTLY holding his opponents behind the head.F Ali
So true. If just a few of the refs enforced the RULES then Ali would have lost many fights on points or been Ko'd because he'd have been even or possibly behind on scorecards and would have been forced to engage with some heavy hitters. Of course I recognize Ali's great chin but that chin was both blessing and curse because it allowed him to absorb so much punishment.
Ali also could have been diaqualified after multiple holding warnings and point deductions. We boxing fans understand and embrace the need to hold an opponent who has hurt you in order to clear cobwebs and survive a clean shot but Ali made a career off the illegal maneuver. When I rewatch many of his fights I am disgusted by the behavior and the cowardly refs who allowed it. I walways saw it as cowardly when Ali would get some shots in and then wrap both arms around the other fighter to prevent getting hit.
ali frazier fight ali hugged and held joe 100 times
How many times did Henry Cooper win the world title ?
@@Jahno71 you are lonely. go outside and find someone who will talk with you. Please don't reply to me. There is help out there.
He beat your boy like a drum 😂🤣😂
Ali was young man and learned a lot in this fight. Don't mess around with an older soldier. Ali lost by disqualification, no doubt. The powers that be could not have that. Leads me to think the Liston fight was fixed also.
Its pretty much a well known fact the Liston fights were fixed.
@@RSR423 First one by the mob? Second one by NOI?
It's easy to make unsubstantiated claims .The difficulty is to provide the EVIDENCE for those claims.
@@enderby4121 The evidence is in the fights themselves...
@@IceManLikeGervin And that's your evidence, is it? Ali always vigorously stated that the so called ''phantom punch'' in the second fight was thrown from just a few inches and he felt the impact in his fist when the punch landed. He always said that that was one of the sweetest punches he ever threw and had no doubt that Liston would never beat the count, such was the stunning effect it had on Liston. Now you are able to dispute what Ali stated are you? People like you make me sick! You make claims that you cannot possibly substantiate because you were not on the receiving end.
I met Angelo Dundee and asked him about the glove. He told me that he noticed a small tear in the glove and that he deliberately made it bigger to earn more time for Ali to recover
Important to note that unfair play started from R1 with Henry clinching the arms so he started it. Torn glove has to be replaced which is as per rules but pointing that at the end of the break is unfair but who started the unfair business. Smelling (allegedly) salts was legal in USA at that time and American boxers used to smell salts legally.
Yes Ali and his corner had some tricks alright 👍 😮😮😅
Henry's hammer well and truly caught Ali and it may well have been game over for Ali if he hadn't have had extra time and smelling salts!!!
It was a great left hook. Our Henry was made of steel. But he came up against the greatest of all time. No cheating going on as the title suggests. Henry, with that cut was never going past 6-7 rounds.
In all fairness too much happened in clays corner after the knockdown.What a pity cooper cut too easily .He gave Ali big problems ,Both were great fighters👏👏🙏🇮🇪
I have many conflicting stories about the incident with the gloves. Some accounts say a few minutes elapsed while some one went to fetch new gloves. Others that the interval between rounds was extended by only five or six seconds; in fact some footage seems to confirm this but it is not clear if that footage is abridged.
Cheat pure and simple
of course he is a cheat
Cooper got whooped 😂😂😂😂
I suppose you are Brittish
Cooper was tough but Ali stung like a Bee!
Dundee cut Ali's gloves to give Ali time to recover from the knock down. Supposedly
There's no supposed about it . Angelo Dundee is on film admitting he ' tore ' the glove further from an existing split . It took him 20+ years to man up, though, and he seemed almost proud of his actions. He didn't admit using smelling salts , but it can clearly be seen during the panic in Ali's corner.
Ali won again on their rematch. Cooper was never heard again. Ali went on defeat frezier foreman lyle norton and jam young. He was ad true champion.
You break the rules, you cheat..
It was Dundee that cheated cutting the glove and using salts Foremans water was doctored also.
Yes he cheated when he got up after only 3 seconds. Then he cheated by peppering Cooper's brittle skin with razor sharp lighting punches. It's all there. An honest British champion cheated by a foreigner. Nobody ever beats us Brits unless they cheat.
Ali did not cheat. Angelo Dundee cheated. If that knockdown happens in the middle of the round it's over and the fighht of the century with Frazier is no longer between two undefeated champions.
@@adrianboyddodd8007 If the knockdown happened with 90 seconds left in the round and if he landed in the middle of the ring history might well have been different.
@@adrianboyddodd8007 that’s why Dundee cheated!
@@adrianboyddodd8007 that’s why they cheated, no more 2 undefeated fighters for the fight of the century!
Well if you think Angelo Dundee cheated then you've got to accept that Ali colluded in cheating because he accepted and took advantage of Dundee's "help". That made Ali a cheat too.
@@michaelb2388
No way because Ali was too out of it to know what was going on in real time. He wouldn't even have been aware that he was being given smelling salts.
We all know who really won but it's all down to money in the end
British world is about two things: 1966 world cup and Ali vs Cooper!!.😂😂
Ali didn't cheat but Angelo Dundee did. He used that same tactic .again when another of his fighters got knocked down by Tyson near the end of a round , only on that occasion, it didn't work.
That should have been a win for Cooper.
Boxing's bent ! now there's a shocking revelation... Cooper caught him with a lucky punch, Ali had a habit of not taking people seriously, came out in the next round and cut him to ribbons.... The ripped glove was never changed, the time of the interval, 65 seconds.
Cooper never got over the two fights with Ali, or the Bugner fight. He would always refer to Ali as Clay.... My dad knew Henry, and his twin brother George, they used to come to our house when I was a lad...
@@mrbillhicks Coopers punch was not lucky. He threw the best left hooks in the business!
Ali didn’t cheat but Angie did 2 times
Henry was a good boxer and gentleman but Ali was also and his punches came so fast to his opponents face and head before they can blink.
If you ain't cheating you ain't trying
After the first Frazier fight he started holding joe. Cheat. He was allowed to hold constantly. Points should have been taken
My dad always said cooper should have won that fight.. and you know what my dad was right.... 9 times out 10.
“60% of the time it works every time”
The biggest cheat of all time.
It conjures up the thought of "what if" Henry Cooper didn't cut so easily and cut glove wasn't.
Man don't say ali cheated Don't disrespect him like that. Ali would beat cooper 100 out of a hundred times. Cooper was good but he could never beat Ali. Cooper did good in front of his country, let that be what it was, nothing more. Stop disrespecting Ali's greatness
They both gain the 20sec. extension
I had the chance to meet ali, I didn't bother....
Angelo Dundee admitted that he split the glove to buy Ali more time to recover. He knew our Henry would have finished Ali. But being the true champions they were they became good friends. And that’s the most important thing. In the ring it’s business outside the ring it’s different. I watched the fight as a kid on the telly. 👍
Looks like Dundee's team probably cut the glove to buy time, but for sure they used smelling salts (ammonia), we all saw that in the video. That's cheating and that's a forfeit, congratulations Henry Cooper.
Ali didn't have to cheat, he was levels above all of them.
Including the five men who beat him?
@@rdavideagan2311 A post 60s Ali beat Frazier twice out of three. Norton the same. The first Spinks fight Ali underestimated him, didn't train as he should of and was overweight coming into the fight. He was also about three years past retirement age in all probability. If you know anything of the background and dodgy goings on that went into making the Ali/ Holmes fight, a fight that should never have happened or Berbeck for that matter you wouldn't even consider them as losses. In this condition my grandmother could of beaten him. As i said the best Ali was levels above.
Henry was a gentleman. Ali was struggling. Such a pity that his skin let him down, not to mention some cheating.
Henry won that fight know more to say
IMPOSIBLE
C'est un combat très technique par les deux combattants. Les gestes de Henry explique la raison que les anglais toujours très bien de son domaine. La suite de ça, Lennox Lewis et Tyson Fury sont des champions du monde. Cette fois ci Henry a rencontré un boxeur plein de technique, très étonnant de la boxe
Tout d'abord, bienvenue sur la chaîne. Nous aimons entendre des perspectives du monde entier. Les combats britanniques ont connu du succès dans la division des poids lourds à partir des années 90. Les années 1960 étaient largement dominées par les Américains in english.
Ali probably didn’t know what was going on but his trainer and the seconds knew they were cheating . Who ever was in his corner cut his glove to play for time . Henry cooper would have beaten Ali . This match was rigged .
They shouldn't of stopped it.He might of knocked Ali down a few more times and won the fight
Cooper was tough as it gets!
Any fair person has to say ali,s team cheated cut his gloves to give him time to recover no one can deny this fact
Don't forget about Henry Cooper, he was the real deal 😮
As an Ali fan of his abilities in the ring his and showmanship there’s zero doubt that Dundee bought him time to recover. All that said, I wasn’t a fan of Ali’s treatment of Frazier. It bothered me that he could be so hurtful and disrespectful of Joe. But he was The Greatest in my time on this planet🥊
Totally agree that Clay/Ali was the greatest heavyweight.
I agree, I thought Ali went too far with his insults of Joe, and Joe wrote to Nixon asking him to get Ali's license back, In the 1988 Video "Champions forever" Ali said it was hype talk to promote the fight, I think they remained friends Ali said many times after he retired he loved Joe. As for the Cooper fight I believe Dundee cut the glove I also read he used reviving salts. I remember a friend saying If Dundee did cut the glove it was smart and it saved Ali. Ali was a little before my time I wasn't born when he beat Liston and I was 12 when he fought Spinks I don't think he was the greatest of all time, he was the best of his era but he was definitely the fastest HW ever for a guy who weighed 220.Lb he had the speed of a lightweight
@@i.marr.6688 Just as a matter of interest, who do you think was the best heavyweight?
Ali surely had amazing skills, resilience, and panache, quite possibly making him the GOAT. But styles make fights and Joe Louis's style, including his great left hook (like Cooper) along with Louis's great boxing skills and hard punch may have been sufficient to have beaten Ali if they were in the same era. There are others who may have presented a challenge to Ali, in particular some of the post-Ali era larger fighters and also possibly Tyson at his height. And in addition to their first fight, Frazier came close to beating Ali in the third fight based on Ali's statements. Also Ali only fought Foreman once and certainly demonstrated great speed and boxing skills in that encounter, although Foreman may have learned enough from that fight to have given him a real chance in a rematch, although Ali's speed may have brought about the same outcome. Having said all that, Ali was probably the most entertaining heavyweight of all time and certainly had an amazing life story. But for me the Cinderella man's underdog story and ascendance to the championship against all odds was the most heartfelt boxing story. If true, I especially love that he paid welfare back the money he was given. Emblematic of a selfless, ethical, and wonderful generation.
@@wandex5300Ali would have Joe Louis out before round 10 BEST CASE
"That crown looks heavy" - Deontay Wilder
yeah
Clay was such a horrible and ungratious fighter. Then his alter ego 'Ali' ended up punch drunk.
Yeaah, right ….
Cooper was a great boxer. Ali was a great boxer. but his shenanigans got old.
Cooper flattened him but Ali’s corner kept him in the game by splitting his glove.
Definately cheated, I watched the fight and it was obvious, one of his team years later admitted they had slit his glove to give him time to recover, never watched another Ali fight.
Cooper was robbed
NO SEÑOR
Ali did not cheat he was a classic boxer
Ali grabbed the back of his opponents head and pulled down his whole career. That's cheating. He was rarely penalized for it but he did it too much.
He did
Love Ali but in all honesty this night belonged to Cooper.
Yes alis corner cheated and even ali admitted he was going to sleep if dundee didnt do what he did, but lets not forget these 2 where great friends ever since and ali was loved here in the uk. He held cooper in the highest regard and enry certainly earned alis respect
If they don’t catch it, then it ain’t cheating.
so cooper kicked the greatest's ass. Right on
You should do some more research, there is a video of Dundee actually admitting to Burt Sugar and a few other boxing pundits that he actually cut Ali's glove.
what. happened when Henry fought Patterson
I have seen those videos and while he admitted to pulling at the stitching to make it appear serious enough to replace the gloves he never admitted to actually cutting it.
@@jameshogan6142 Read between the lines, Ali's glove was perfect as he went to the corner. What about the illegal use of smelling salts? They cheated and its that simple.
I always have thought much of Ali, his fights and outlook on life, but I think a smug Cassius got a lesson from an old pugilist right here he wouldn't soon forget. Rip both of you.
Henry was introduced as from louisville kentucky.. Was that where he was living at time of this bout? Cos he's a Londoner
The style of the announcer was to call the towns of the fighters of the fighters (at the same time) before calling their names...
This fight was bullshit! Ali lost.
Angelo Dundee admitted he cut Ali's glove years ago, this is nothing new
Ali, The Greatest Of All Time 🥊
❤Absolutely CORRECT and TRUE. And HISTORY has PROVEN that . The rest is FAIRYTALES.
Ali didn't cheat, but Angelo Dundee did. Because of that, in fairness to Cooper, upon review of the footage, the TKO loss should have been changed to a WIN via disqualification for Cooper. I am a huge Ali fan, but I am a bigger fan of fairness in boxing. There is no question that Ali learned from this fight, and in my opinion, from this near loss experience, Ali went on to become great. By the time his head cleared, he was handing Cooper a serious beating, and it continued with the rematch.
Do we know for certain that Dundee gave Ali smelling salts?
@Demonizer5134 To be honest, there is no way of knowing for sure. There is a moment in the footage that shows Dundee putting something near Ali's nose. It could have been smelling Salt, it could have been nothing. Dundee claimed that Ali had a slightly damage glove during the fight and that he tugged on it a little to damage it more so that getting a new glove would buy Ali more time to recuperate. None of this is evident in the footage. I don't think this happened. But , if Dundee said that he did this during a match, then it's not hard to believe that he helped Ali with a bit of smelling salt. Of course, that is all speculation
@@slybear525 That would have technically been against the rules and be grounds for DQ. That is the more important issue than the glove thing. With a broken glove, the corner has not only the right, but in fact the duty to inform the ref and get it replaced. That's not cheating unless he was the one who damaged the glove. Was it damaged already and then he damaged it a bit more? I mean, that's kind of cheating, but not as much as the smelling salts thing. As for the amount of time delay about the ripped glove, it was only about 5 seconds, which is not enough IMO to say that Ali could not have fought on without these extra 5 seconds. Lastly, if Dundee admitted to tearing Ali's glove, why would he deny the smelling salts?
@Demonizer5134 I had to review the interval between rounds again. It appeared that smelling salt was applied by the assistant to Dundee - I can't remember his name. I am not absolutely certain, but clearly, something is placed at Al's nose. Since his nose was not bleeding or damaged, and whatever it was that was applied was done quickly, it is not unreasonable to assume that it was smelling salt. Yes, against the rules, but, covertly used a lot in the 50s and 60s. Since Dundee did not personally apply anything to Ali's nose, he would be unlikely to admit to doing so. In regard to the torn glove to my memory, Dundee claimed he helped to further damage an already torn glove in order to buy Ali Precious extra time. As far as I can remember, Dundee claimed this action several years past the time where such admission would have been punishable by any boxing authority and long after Ali had become an all-time great. I can only guess that Dundee said that he did this to show how he cleverly saved the day for Ali. While it is a corner persons duty to point out a damaged glove , it is against the rules to tamper with the gloves even if damaged. I am not sure how many seconds were bought due to the glove.
@@slybear525 Well, all that having been said, the thing that we cannot know is if Ali would have been unable to continue the match if not for the cheating. Like you say, Ali himself didn't cheat, his cornermen did. Ali got right back up after the knockdown and while he was clearly dazed and confused, I still think he would have been able to keep going. He went right back into the match in the next round and destroyed Cooper, in the very round he predicted he would win. Ali was incredibly tough and determined.
Angelo Dundee was the one who cheated,
Cooper wanted no title shot against Liston. His own manager once said "If we see Liston walking down the street we will cross over to the other side"
Yes, Cooper's manager Jim Weekes was a shrewd man. He knew just what fighters Cooper could beat and he knew the ones that Cooper should avoid. The Liston story is a case in point.
Yes I agree end of the 4 wasting time in his corner gave him the upper hand but if not Henry i believe could have won the fight in the 5 round
I love Ali but Cooper. Was very tough Those extra thirty seconds or twenty seconds counted I didn't realize. Ali Should I have lost But cooper was very unlucky Due to the cuts Very tough
Cooper was well past his prime and always susceptible to bad cuts
Henry was in he’s prime a Great British boxer no doubt about that .yes they cheated to buy time .Ali later on said Henry hit me so hard it split my glove
@selby16 he did put him down
@@martinlove7073 he definitely wasn't in his prime
Well I saw the 2 Sonny LISTON's fights and watch them over and over. If anyone every saw Liston's fights over the years, IN MY OPINION
Big shot Muslim who called Joe Frazier monkee,gorilla ect.F Ali
I would love to be a boxing coach...I did some amature boxing myself... but the good lord has his plans for me..and who knows what tomorrow brings
I expect to get buried in the comments but I can not. Stand Ali. Never have and never will.
You are entitled to your opinion and many true boxing fans will respect your opinion while not nesserary agreeing with you.
I bet you cried in your mums basement about him lol
Bothered😅
I expected better. You guys can't even take the piss properly.
lol weirdo
Cooper won that fight
....no...Ali DID NOT CHEAT...just the skills of a very wiley trainer,Angelo Dundee...NOTHING to do with Ali(Clay)...Cooper wasn't going to win that fight...Ali would have weathered the storm at the resumption of the next round...and still eventually stop Cooper on cuts,...the way he did.Thats not saying there weren't any shenanigans going in in Ali's corner.
Yes if he had to beat the count Cooper would have most likely won but the minute between rounds to recover should have been enough for Clay to survive the next round even without the horse hair play. Remember Joe Frazier was knocked down by three even harder punches in the first Foreman fight and still started the second round strongly.
Big difference between Cooper and the Diving Liston ….
Liston made a bundle on that dive !!
Mohammed Ali was a great heavyweight but not the greatest of all time, that was a self proclaimed statement. The greatest heavyweight of all time is still open for debate!.
You're right about one thing. No one can prove conclusively who was the greatest heavyweight simply because all the top contender could never fight each other as they were from different eras. However, Clay/Ali gave everyone a chance and fought some great boxers, Liston, Foreman, Frazier, Holmes and many others. Most of the knowledgeable boxing pundits have Clay/Ali at the top though.
Archie Moore
Cooper 185lbs and fighting as a heavyweight..
He would surely be a cruiser weight if he would be boxing now.