I’ve not got the whole recording from that summer of 2004, which is a shame as the internet doesn’t require the same spatial boundaries as magazines, but below is the edited version.
Just so you know, Henry Cooper was the first person to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award TWICE (in 1967 and 1970); he was the only British boxer to win three Lonsdale Belts outright; he received an OBE in 1969, a Papal Knighthood in 1978, and was knighted in 2000.
It is said his health dramatically dwindled when his wife of 47 years, Albina, tragically and suddenly died from a heart attack in 2008, and that he eventually succumbed to a broken heart.
Henry Cooper, RIP.
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[Transcript from Ice magazine, 2004]
We give British boxing’s finest ambassador the floor just like he did to Muhammad Ali back in 1963…
How did you get into boxing?
I was born in the early ‘30s. My dad done a bit of boxing and my granddad was a bare-knuckle fighter, so we [Henry has a twin brother, George] grew up listening to their stories. We joined an amateur boxing club when we were nine years old and drove mum nuts fighting at home, too.
Were you an aggressive kid then?
When something bad happened at school and someone was asked who they saw they’d always go: ‘The Cooper twins!’ probably ’cos we stood out so much. We got the cane more times than we had hot dinners.
When did you first discover ’Enry’s ’Ammer?
We were never prolific young boxers , but come 16 years old we started making the grade. I was the Army champion and ABA champion, went to the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 and turned pro in 1954. That’s when the ’Ammer started to really hit home.
You were a small heavy weight though…
In them days over 12 stone (76.2kg) was heavyweight. Today I’d be a cruiserweight. So, yeah, you could say I punched above my weight.
When you won the British and Empire titles against Brian London you still lived with your mum. Bet she had to feed you up good and proper…
We always ate well, yeah. We came from a poor background but Mum was a great cook so she could make a great meal out of nothing. [Laughs] My mum would go down and buy a sheep’s head for ten pence and four of us could live off that for two days.
Who’s giving you the biggest beating of your career?
When you’re in the ring with the world’s best fighters you expect to get hit with some good punches. Yeah, I got knocked out a couple of times but I knocked a fair few of them out, too. That’s just the way it goes. Old ’Enry didn’t take too many beatings though.
In your first fight against Muhammad Ali [then known as Cassius Clay] he described you as a “bum”. I should imagine you weren’t best pleased with that…
To be honest, it didn’t bother me. Basicaly, what he was doing was selling tickets and I was on a tidy percentage of the gate. The press used to ask me whether it upset me and I said: ‘It don’t bleedin’ upset me, and don’t bleedin’ stop him either, he’s earning me money!’
It didn’t bother you at all?
After the fight he said: ‘Cooper’s no bum. Cooper hit me so hard he didn’t only shake me, he shook my relations in Africa. Which was a cracking line. He’d never been hit like he’d been hit by me.
He said you used ‘aggressive tactics’ in the fight.
I found out that he was a good boxer at distance and a good mover. Where he was still a novice was his inside fighting. I was getting inside and throwing big uppercuts. I had his nose bleeding in the first round. He wasn’t used to that.
You knocked him down in the fourth. Did it surprise you?
Not at all. I was cut badly in the third round and before the fourth I was sitting in the corner and my trainer was like: ‘It’s too bad, I’ve got to stop the fight.’ I said: ‘No, I can knock him down – I’ll catch him, I’ll catch him!’ And I went out there and stuck one on him. Boom! He went down.
How did that feel?
Oh, it felt good. Unfortunately for me it was too late in the round and the bell saved him.
It was a bit more than just the bell though wasn’t it?
I’ve had dinner with Ali’s trainer a couple of times since the fight and he’s openly admitted to deliberately buying Ali more time during the break. On Ali’s right hand glove the stitching had stretched a bit. If you know Angelo Dundee you’d know he has a long fingernail on the thumb of one of his hands. He slipped that nail into the stitching, picked at it and called the referee over. They had to send someone back to the dressing room, which was 150 yards away. By the time he got back with a new glove Ali had had two-and-a-half minutes to recover.
Crucial recovery time.
That’s exactly how long a fighter wants. That’s why they only give you ten seconds, because it’s difficult to get your head together. After two minutes he was sorted. He came out fighting andf began to work his punches on my weeping eye.
Clever boy.
Ali was a “flicker”. He stayed long and flicked punches on your cut and would come down from high angles and spread it wide open. He was a clever puncher and in the end the referee had to stop the fight.
Tell us about the rematch.
The one thing you can say about Ali was that he was a very quick learner. Whereas I was getting inside in the first fight, this time he grabbed hold of me when I came in. It was like being in a bleedin’ vice. Then he’d push me away and take a step back to keep me long. In the sixth he came down with the heel of his glove and cut me open in the same place as the first fight. Good night ’Enry.
Was he the greatest boxer you ever fought.
Boxer, yes. Fighter, no. He was 6-foot-3, just under 15 stone and could move with the speed of a middleweight. That’s unusual for a big man. I used to like fighting big men . They were that bit slower; I could move in and clock ’em one and get out before they’d even wound one up. Ali wasn’t like that.
Are you the most famous British boxer ever?
That’s not for me to say. I had a 17-year fighting career and through 10-11 of those years I was British and Commonwealth Champion. It was marvellous. The British public take to certain sportsmen and I was privileged that they took to me. Thirty-three years after my last fight I still get recognised. If someone had said I’d be getting free meals 33 years down the line I would have said they were taking the piss!
[Ends]
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