Book description
Henry Cooper is best remembered for the night he nearly changed
boxing history - 19 July 1963. Fighting an up-and-coming boxer by the
name of Cassius Clay, later to become Muhammad Ali, his famous left
hook (known as 'Henry's Hammer') sent Clay crashing onto the canvas.
Arguable Britain's greatest ever heavyweight fighter, Cooper won 40 of
his 55 professional bouts, beating most of the true boxing greats
along the way. His story is littered with famous names - Rocky
Marciano, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray
Robinson, and, of course, Ali. But Cooper's retirement from the sport
did not spell then end of his time in the public eye, as he embarked
on a successful media career. Disaster struck in the 1990s, however,
when his innocent involvement in a scandal surrouding insuracne giants
Lloyds of London led to him having to sell his unique collection of
three Lonsdale belts topay his bills. He was knighted in the
millennium New Year's honours list for his services to boxing, and his
death in May 2011 sparkd a huge outpouring of tributes from the
sporting community. This is the biography of an intriguing character,
a great fighter and a true sporting legend.
