Description
On June 18th 1963 at Wembley Stadium, London, England. Muhammad Ali who was named Cassius Clay at the time fought Henry Cooper for the illuminator to fight Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship. Clay predicted a win in the 5th round, ‘It ain’t no jive, Henry Cooper will go in five.’
Round 1 – Cooper was very aggressive, rushing in piling on the pressure trying to land his big left hook known as “Enry’s Ammer”. Clay had a bloody nose and the crowd were frantic. In the following round Cooper tried to rough up Clay again, but this time Clay was more composed gliding out of the way pumping fast left jabs into Coopers face with accuracy. Cooper received a small cut to his right eye. In the next round, Clay moved gracefully as Cooper kept moving forward trying to rough him up. Clay threw a chopping right hand which opened a cut above Coopers left eye. For the rest of the round Clay toyed with Cooper as if he wanted to wait for the 5th round so he could get his prediction.
Round 2 – Cooper tried to rough up Clay but this time Clay was more composed gliding out of the way pumping his left jab into Coopers face with accuracy which gave Cooper a nic to his right eye. This was Clays round.
Round 3 – Clay was moving gracefully as Cooper kept moving forward trying to rough him up. Clay threw a chopping right hand which opened a cut above Coopers left eye. For the rest of the round Clay toyed with Cooper as if he wanted to wait for the 5th round so he could get his prediction.
Round 4 – Before the beginning of the round, Clay was told by one of his managers William Faversham, to stop messing about and get the job done. Clay added a little more pressure on Cooper but still held back for the following round. With seconds to go before the end of the fourth round, Cooper unleashed his savage left hook, “Enry’s Ammer” landing flush on Clays jaw, he fell backwards onto the ropes before hitting the canvas. Clay was up on the count of four. The bell rang to end the round.
Clay was stunned, he was in a bad way. His trainer, Angelo Dundee helped him back to his corner stool, slapped his legs then gave him smelling salts. Dundee called the referee Tommy Little over to the corner and told him Clay has a torn glove. Some people accused Dundee of tearing the glove to give Clay more time to clear his head but films of the fight proved the glove had been split during the fourth round. Later Dundee admitted he stuck his finger in the split causing a slightly bigger tear to the glove.
Without a doubt, Clay was shocked and in a bad way. His trainer, Angelo Dundee helped him back to his corner stool, slapped his legs then gave him smelling salts. Dundee called the referee Tommy Little over to the corner and told him Clay has a torn glove. Some people accused Dundee of tearing the glove to give Clay more time to clear his head but films of the fight proved the glove had been split during the fourth round. Later Dundee admitted he stuck his finger in the split causing a slightly bigger tear to the glove.
Tommy Little was in Clays corner, he shouted to the officials at ringside for a new glove. The General Secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), Teddy Waltham had a spare pair nearby. Harry Vines, who later became the Chief Inspector for the BBBofC said, ‘there was a suitable pair of replacement gloves at ringside, certainly no one had to go all the way back to the dressing room to get a pair.’ As many people has assumed over the years. It has also been reported that it was over five minutes passed before the start of the fifth round but ringside timekeeper Stan Courtney said that is false, ‘at no point was I instructed to stop my watch to allow for the refitting of the gloves. Therefore, I waited until I got the signal from referee Little to ring the bell. When I did so, my watch showed that the interval between the rounds had in fact been 1:40.’
Round 5 – Clay came out and stood flat footed throwing flurries of punches that were fast and deadly accurate tearing into Coopers face and not allowing him to punch back. Coopers left eye poured with blood, Tommy Little had no choice but to stop the fight and Clay got his 5th round prediction
After the fight, Cassius Clay said, ‘Cooper’s not a bum anymore, I underestimated him. He’s the toughest fighter I ever met and the first to really drop me. He’s a real fighter.’
Henry Cooper’s left hook “Enry’s Ammer” made him a big celebrity. They both fought again o May 21st 1966 where Ali stopped Cooper in the 6th round, again on cuts.
