Heavyweight legend Henry Cooper as an amateur

HENRY Cooper is one of the most enigmatic names in British boxing. Our ‘Enery, as he was known, captivated the public in a way that very few fighters do. Among the heavyweights, perhaps only Bombardier Billy Wells and Frank Bruno achieved a similar level of popularity with the general public.

He is chiefly remembered today for two contests. In 1963, he dumped a young Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, on the seat of his pants after catching him with a left hook at Wembley Stadium, and then, eight years later, Cooper lost controversially to Joe Bugner in what was his final contest at the Empire Pool, Wembley. During his 17-year professional career, Henry fought them all and, when he retired, he did so on a wave of public sentiment and appreciation. 

But what of Henry, the amateur boxer? Few will know, and even fewer will remember, that Henry was an Olympian, a two-time ABA champion and both the champion of the Army and the British forces.

As a youngster, he boxed for Eltham BC, as did his identical twin brother, Jim, who I wrote about in this column back in December 2021. Henry’s first title of note came in March 1952 when, as a fresh-faced 17-year-old, he won the South-East London divisional championship at light-heavyweight at Eltham Baths. During the 1950s, these championships were usually decided at this venue, although the Manor Place Baths at Walworth became the usual venue from 1969 onwards.

After winning the South-East London title, it was natural for Cooper to progress to the next stage of the ABA championships and he did so three weeks later when he won the London championships at the Royal Albert Hall. Under the headline “Cooper provides only London surprise”, BN reported that the only real upset in these championships was “the success of seventeen-year-old decorator Henry Cooper (Eltham) who outpointed the much-fancied Basil Kew (Caius)”.  This victory earned Cooper a crack at the ABA title and, on April 23, still a couple of weeks before he turned 18, he beat Joe Erskine in the semi-final and then John McLean, in a tough contest, to win this prestigious title.

In his first representative match, just three weeks later, Henry lost by disqualification when boxing for England against Wales, but this did not prevent him from earning a slot in the GB team for the 1952 Olympic Games, held in Helsinki. These games came too early for the young light-heavyweight, and he was beaten in his first bout against the Russian, Anatoly Perov. Cooper did manage to win on one of the scorecards but went down by four to one.

In late 1952, Henry and Jim were both called up to national service and they served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. This life suited them both well and, in March 1953, Henry became the Army champion by virtue of a pasting he gave to Bombardier Tony Smith of the Royal Artillery.  Brother Jim was not so fortunate, losing out to Joe Erskine at heavyweight.  The following month, Cooper picked up the Inter-Services title at his first attempt.  

His route to the ABA finals that year came with this victory, for the ISBA title was deemed to be so distinguished that it guaranteed a place in the final four at the Royal Albert Hall. Once again, Henry came out on top when he defeated the Welsh champion, Tommy George, and then the London champion, Tony Madigan of Fulham BC. Tony Madigan was an Australian, and resident in London at the time, and he will best be remembered as the man who lost to the young Muhammad Ali in the semi-final of the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Cooper’s last major tournament as an amateur came in the 1953 European Championships at Warsaw, and he was flattened in 90 seconds by the Russian, Jurij Jegorow. After winning his last representative contest, boxing for the ABA against Spain, Henry turned pro, as did his twin brother, and what great things he went on to achieve.