Final Curtain: Sir Henry Cooper's last fight. Earl's Court, 16 March 1971

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 22:59

ALTHOUGH he never held a world title Sir Henry Cooper remains one of Britain's best loved boxers. Born in 1934 in Bellingham, south-east London, "Our 'Enry" did win the British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight crowns in 1970 and was the only British boxer to win three Lonsdale Belts outright. BBC Sports Personality of the Year twice, he remains the only boxer to be knighted.

Cooper fought and lost to the great Cassius Clay twice, firstly in a non-title fight in 1963 at Wembley, when Cooper famously put Clay on the canvas in the dying seconds of the fourth round, before the by then Muhammad Ali beat him convincingly at Highbury in 1966.

Cooper also lost to former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson before going undefeated until the final bout of his career.

In that last fight, in 1971, he faced the emerging British heavyweight Joe Bugner for his British, European and Commonwealth belts. Fight referee Harry Gibbs awarded the fight to Bugner by a mere quarter of a point, prompting BBC commentator Harry Carpenter to wail: "How can they take away the man's titles like this?"

The controversial decision turned Hungarian-born Bugner into a hate-figure for British fight fans, prompting him to emigrate to Australia.

The two pugilists never spoke for 37 years until they buried the hatchet with a hug and a handshake in April 2008. "If I had known what the repercussions of that fight were going to be, I never would have stepped into the ring," said Bugner. "I never wanted to be the man who ended Henry's career. I had no idea that was to be his last fight.

"My biggest regret is I took the opportunity away from Henry to finish at the top. If he had won that night, I would still be living in Britain."

For his part, Cooper said: "If I had any grouse, it was with Harry Gibbs. I thought I'd won that fight by half a point and to box for 15 rounds and lose it like that was a bit hard to take. But that fight was always going to be my last. I was 36 years old with cartilage and arm trouble. It was the end of my career."