RIP you Diamond Geezer

May 2, 2011 10:59 AM

It was Enery's Ammer wot put a young Cassius Clay on the floor (3.02) in 1963. Sir Henry Cooper, British Boxing legend has died aged 76.
The splitting glove controvery was a a mischievous manipulation of the truth (scroll down previous link)
He is still the only boxer to have won three Londsdale belts. Cooper and Muhammed Ali remained friends throughout his life.
In later years he came to despise what he saw as tawdry dealings and gave up commentating on BBC radio dedicating his life to golf and charity.
posted by adamvasco (19 comments total)

Glad someone did an obit for Enery. A gent.
posted by Decani at 11:06 AM on May 2, 2011

Muhammad Ali leads tributes to Sir Henry Cooper: 'I will miss my ole friend. He was a great fighter'

Truly a different age.
posted by boo_radley at 11:23 AM on May 2, 2011

Muhammad Ali on Henry Hooper's left hook: "Henry hit me so hard that my ancestors felt it in Africa."

Words like "true gent" and "one of a kind" get overused, but Henry Cooper definitely fits the bill.
posted by MuffinMan at 11:28 AM on May 2, 2011

Henty Hooper? Henry Cooper.

*Gives self uppercut*
posted by MuffinMan at 11:29 AM on May 2, 2011

Bit before even my time, so sad to relate I remember him more for the aftershave adverts. From the fight footage I have seen, walking definition of 'game', so the warm praise seems well deserved. A friend also informed me that as a committed anti-racist he was one of the early public faces of the Anti-Nazi League.
posted by Abiezer at 11:39 AM on May 2, 2011

Splash it all over! RIP Henry.

(beaten tuit by Abezier)
posted by marienbad at 11:46 AM on May 2, 2011

The featured comment on YouTube is actually pretty funny:

"It's been a bad day for Snooker, Boxing and Al-Qaeda fans."
posted by Ian A.T. at 11:50 AM on May 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by Webbster at 12:10 PM on May 2, 2011

.

Our 'Enry was probably the most famous and best British boxer never to win a world championship, a left-hander that boxed orthadox giving him a killer jab and hook (the 'ammer)

His twin brother George, also a boxer who became one of Henry's cornermen, died almost exactly a year ago.

Nothing beats the great smell of Brut
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:18 PM on May 2, 2011

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posted by bebrogued at 12:18 PM on May 2, 2011

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posted by Smart Dalek at 12:25 PM on May 2, 2011

My grandad knew Henry. We've got a photo of the two of them grinning in the Thomas A Beckett pub, in 1988. He was a south London man - still active in the local community around Elephant, even though he'd moved out to Kent.

He was also one of the founding members of the Anti Nazi League and a serious anti-racist. A real working-class gentleman. RIP.
posted by handee at 12:27 PM on May 2, 2011 [3 favorites]

A true southpaw. Look at that sequence (and speed!!!!) of punches that decked Clay. Left roundhouse, left uppercut, and then the left cross he caught Clay with as he was up against the ropes. Power certainly, but the quick hands! You do not see many heavyweights with that kind of quickness that's for sure.

That assault from the left was the closest Ali ever got to fighting the VC.
posted by three blind mice at 1:20 PM on May 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by calico at 1:55 PM on May 2, 2011

Aw, now I'm going to spend 45 minutes watching boxing clips on Youtube, aren't I.

RIP.
posted by penduluum at 2:40 PM on May 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

A great man and a terrific boxer though his tendency to cut in the ring was as legendary as his bravery. He was relatively small for a heavyweight even in those days but he had as much punching power as anyone. The fight that he 'lost' to Joe Bugner which precipitated his retirement rankles to this day. The only person who's seen that fight and thought he lost on points was the referee on the day. Sadly he lost most of his money in the Lloyds Names fiasco but he thoroughly deserved his knighthood and will be sadly missed by all British sporting fans.
posted by joannemullen at 3:08 PM on May 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

For the peeps out there that think old people are "cute".
posted by hal_c_on at 3:31 PM on May 2, 2011

Henry Cooper & the irate driver

Cooper was training for Ali, and he and two of his huge sparring partners, Joe Bygraves and Joe Erskine, where in a lorry driving some place, and they were laughing and having such a good time, Cooper wasn't paying as close attention to traffic as he should have and he cut a driver off.

At the light, this scrawny little civil-servant type jumped out his car and raced over to Cooper’s window and screamed at him.

Cooper tried to apologize, but the guy was having none of it... and, suddenly, slapped Cooper in the face.

With that, the doors of the lorry flew open and Cooper and the two menacing sparring partners surrounded the little guy. He looked around a few times, then said to Cooper, "YOU'RE LUCKY YOU'RE WITH YOUR MATES!"

Cooper said they all exploded with laughter, got back in the Lorry and drove off.

RIP Our 'Enry.
posted by unliteral at 5:32 PM on May 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

That assault from the left was the closest Ali ever got to fighting the VC.

three blind mice, Ali didn't fight little things like the VC. He fought big things like racism and government deceipt.

/Respect to Soujourner Truth, whom I cribbed.
posted by IAmBroom at 7:39 PM on May 2, 2011