40 Years Ago: When Ultimate Fan-favourite Bert Cooper Went Pro

Who from the always lively, and dangerous, fighting arena lived a more up and down, almost always colourful life than Bertram Cooper – aka “Smokin’ Bert?’ The warrior from Philly, who was once trained by, and was given his nickname by, heavyweight legend Joe Frazier, gave us fans an almost ridiculous amount of great, fun, and extremely watchable ring encounters. In short, Cooper’s entire career was one big highlight.

Bert – who went pro on September 11th of 1984 – may not have won them all; far from it in fact, Cooper’s appetite for partying equaling, indeed sometimes overtaking, his zest for combat, with him sometimes losing a fight as a result. But win or lose, the 5’11” Mike Tyson lookalike ALWAYS made it worthwhile when a fan tuned in to see what might happen when he fought the other guy.

Cooper scored some savage KO wins – see his formidable punching skills on display when he met, amongst others: Willie DeWitt and Cecil “Instant” Coffee (this surely one of the best handles ever handed to a fighter). While Bert engaged in unforgettable slugfests, against Michael Moorer (an up-and-down affair for both to be sure), Evander Holyfield (how close Bert came to winning the big one!) and Ray Mercer (in what might have been the most exciting fight that took place during a decade that was chock full of ’em). Oh, and Bert was also stopped in perhaps surprisingly swift fashion at tines – by Riddick Bowe and by George Foreman, amongst others.

You know, the problem was, sometimes too many times, Cooper would enter the ring in no real shape to fight; strung out after a night (or a few nights) of putting the “P’ in party. Had it not been for this, well, who knows…. But when he was at his best, when he was finely tuned and at his redimost to rumble, Cooper was special. Special. Bert was, forgive the pun (if it is one) born to fight.

Even Bert’s lesser known fights, his small fights if you will, were fun to see. During his long career, Cooper slugged it out with just about everyone who was worth slugging it out with. Consider this as a resume:

Reggie Gross
Henry Tillman
Willie de Witt
Carl Williams
Everett “Bigfoot” Martin
Nate Miller
George Foreman
Orlin Norris
Ray Mercer
Riddick Bowe
Joe Hipp
Evander Holyfield
Michael Moorer
Mike Weaver
Corrie Sanders
Larry Donald
Jeremy Williams
Derrick Jefferson
Fres Oquendo
Joe Mesi
Luis Ortiz.

Now, that, fellow fight fan, fellow appreciator of Bert, is SOME long list of formidable names, fighters, terrors, punchers. And Cooper, always fearless, met them all head on. Wow, is all we can say.

But on an aside, how could we ever forget Bert’s oh so funny, yet at the same time, cruel lesson of a KO over a guy named Joe Savage? Savage, a self-proclaimed tough bareknuckle operator, was taken out by “Smoke” in a brief but almost Charlie Chaplin-esq affair in the mid 1990s. Cooper was some way past his best at this time, yet he sure put the never to be seen again Savage in his place! Indeed, this short “fight,” – you cannot call it that, as Bert ruined this dummy who had the sheer nerve to proclaim himself great the way he did – remains a YouTube fave. Check it out and you’ll see why!

Cooper, who spent money like it was illegal to keep a hold of, fought on. And on, and on. Eventually, way lesser fighters did manage to get the better of Cooper, and in the end, he suffered some 25 defeats. It could be argued, though, that only eight of these losses came over an in shape, ready to rumble, not yet old Bert Cooper.

Today, too many greats or near-greats take too much credit. But there was no-one in the ring who was ever quite like Bert Cooper. Call him a cult favourite. Call Bert the most consistently exciting, value for money fighter of his day. Call Cooper a fighter who should have done so much more than he did, and would have done had he lived the life of a boxer. But always remember that precious few fighters, if any, ever, lit the sport up and lived such a thrilling, at times reckless life as “Smoking” Bert did.

Bert Cooper really did light up the joint almost every time he fought.