Sir Henry Cooper obituary | Sport | The Guardian Sir Henry Cooper obituary British heavyweight boxing champion known for his warmth, indomitable spirit and a left hook dubbed 'Enry's 'Ammer Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper before their world heavyweight title fight in London. Photograph: Aubrey Hart/Getty Images Sunday 1 May 2011 17.31 EDT First published on Sunday 1 May 2011 17.31 EDT Share on Messenger Close Sir Henry Cooper , beloved of British postwar generations as no heavyweight boxer before him, has died aged 76. His warmth and indomitable personality, together with his rise from humble roots, gave him a popularity far beyond his sport's normal boundaries. He was never world champion, but his good spirits seemed to hold a gift for everyone, even for his most notable conqueror, Muhammad Ali. At Wembley stadium, on 18 June 1963, Cooper landed Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, on his pants with a punch that made boxing history – a left hook travelling five and a half inches at 30mph with 60 times the force of gravity, striking the side of the American's jaw.

The world came to know it as 'Enry's 'Ammer, and it felled Ali as never before. However, in front of 55,000 people, Ali was "saved by the bell" amid unique controversy. Ali, then 21, had fought only one major figure, the ageing Archie Moore, before his arrival in London to meet Cooper, the experienced 29-year-old British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion, over 10 rounds. With a multimillion-dollar syndicate behind Ali's world championship ambition, and Cooper in his prime, it was a fight attracting worldwide interest. Already, the Kentucky fighter's braggadocio ("I am the prettiest ... I am the greatest") had brought him the title of the Louisville Lip. But, after Cooper's hammer blow, Ali's corner were up to various tricks before the Englishman fell victim to a cut eye in the fifth round. In later years, Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee, admitted tweaking the loose stitching of his fighter's right glove so that the formal minute interval was stretched by six seconds before a replacement was found. His use of smelling salts also defied the rules. "For a fit man," Cooper said later, "seconds are a lifetime.

When you are really trained up, you need only 20 seconds and you are back to your old self." Ali's long reach and quickness posed Cooper, himself the lightest of heavyweights, 13st 13lb at his heaviest, some early problems. "For my money, he was the fastest heavyweight of all time, and a stone and a half heavier than me," Cooper acknowledged. "There was never a still target in front of you. He wasn't a counter-puncher, nothing to compare with Floyd Patterson . Nor a puncher like Rocky Marciano. It was a flicker with the left, or a long-arm right that could drag and tear your skin." Ali caught Cooper with a typical blow in the third round. Jim Wicks, Cooper's manager, known as "The Bishop" and always protective of his man, was all for ending the fight as the blood flowed down his fighter's cheek. Cooper, in the corner interval, pleaded for one more round as his "cuts" man, Danny Holland, applied an adrenalin-Vaseline compound. In Cooper's view, he could still take his man – and he very nearly did.

The 'Ammer smacked into Ali's chin as he backed into the ropes, the American's speed for once not saving him. Ali slid down the ropes, the slowness helping him. The referee, Tommy Little, reached a count of five, then Ali rose, in Cooper's view like an amateur, his arms dangling, an open target. But the bell rang, and boxing history took another turn. "Oh boy!" was Cooper's autobiographical note. "If it had only happened in the second minute." As it was, Ali took the world title in his next fight, against Sonny Liston. Cooper was to meet Ali – by then, his name had been formally changed after his conversion to Islam – for a world title fight at Arsenal's Highbury stadium, London, on 21 May 1966. Again the fight had to be stopped for a cut eye, this time in the sixth round. The gash was deeper and longer than any of Cooper's career. The Englishman reckoned himself narrowly ahead on points, but the blow was typically Ali, a long punch grazing with the heel of the glove. "It was a physical thing that let me down," Cooper said.

"Prominent bones and weak tissue around the eyes. But I was never as bad as my brother, George. After all, I went on until I was 37." For years afterwards, Ali would pay tribute to Cooper. British boxing writers visiting him in the US would be told: "Give my regards to Henry." Overall, Cooper's record was unmatched by any British fighter of his or any other time – winner of 40 of his 55 contests, 27 by knockout, one drawn, in a 17-year career from 1954 to 1971; winner of three Lonsdale belts for three successive British heavyweight title victories; holder of European and Commonwealth/Empire titles for sustained periods, the British for about 11 years. Many thought him unlucky to lose his last fight, and all three titles, to Joe Bugner, with a controversial points decision by the referee Harry Gibbs at Wembley stadium, on 16 March 1971. Cooper had a strong regard for the boxers of his time, men such as Brian London, Joe Erskine, Joe Bygraves, Dick Richardson, Jack Bodell and, at the last, Bugner.

In his later years, he came to despise what he saw as tawdry dealings in overweight punch slingers with little of the skill that he had prized. Even for his times, he was nearer the cruiserweight mark than a true heavyweight, but the weight of his left hook was that of a champion, and the postwar sporting world provided him with a multitude of fans, to whom he was ever attached. "Old mums and good-looking young girls, it didn't matter," he said. "Running along the street for your Ali training, they'd shout at you, 'Button his lip.' Not that I minded. His lip earned me good money." Cooper, too, could be swift and able with the spoken word. In a 1970 TV debate, Lady (Edith) Summerskill, a notable opponent of boxing, inquired: "Mr Cooper, have you looked in the mirror and seen the state of your nose?" Quickly, he replied: "Well, have you? Boxing is my excuse – what's yours?" It was ungallant, he acknowledged afterwards, but after a pleasant-enough discussion she had rather ambushed him.

Cooper's career coincided with the dawn of the black-and-white TV era, and he was soon to stand with Stanley Matthews , Lester Piggott, Bobby Charlton, Roger Bannister, Leonard Hutton and Denis Compton as a national sporting hero. In his case, too, it extended to a long semi-retirement in which charity and public entertainment played a significant part. He was knighted in 2000 as much for public services as for his boxing skill and courage. They were qualities much leavened by a natural humour and modesty. He was an unabashed royalist, and made no secret of his pleasure in attending lunch at Buckingham Palace with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. Cooper loved to tell of his beginnings, and the tales were later repeated in pubs and civic halls all over the country. "We were born, George and me, on 3 May 1934 ... the biggest surprise of my mother's life. Not wanting to see the x-rays beforehand, she was going to call us Walter. Then one of the nurses took a peep at us and said, 'They're a proper little Henry and George.

They're going to be six-footers.' And that's how it stuck." George was to fight professionally as Jim because of another George Cooper boxing at the time. He retired long before Henry because of his more prominent brow and more vulnerable skin. Born in Southwark, south-east London, Cooper always saw himself as an "Elephant" boy, meaning the Elephant and Castle area, famous in the early part of the century for horse-trading. There, his half-Irish grandfather bought and sold horses. The Thomas a Becket gym, where Cooper trained for the Ali world title fight, was part of that heritage. Cooper's father, also called Henry, had been a Royal Artillery regular from 1919. A useful amateur boxer, he had inherited a gift with horses and was a driver in gun teams inspected by King George V. He served in Burma from 1942, leaving Lily, his wife, to fend for the twins and their elder brother, Bern. The family had moved to a council estate in Bellingham, south-east London, in 1940, but the twins were soon evacuated to Lancing, West Sussex.

The boys returned to Athelney Road school, queueing for rations, chopping wood, doing paper rounds and generally living off their wits. "Golf balls were scarce so we'd nick them off the fairway, run round the clubhouse and sell 'em back to grateful members for a tanner," said Cooper, who later became a chairman of the Variety Club golf section. A natural left-hander, Cooper started to box as a normal right-hander, not a "southpaw", when a neighbour, Bob Hill, a local fireman, took the brothers along to Bellingham Boxing Club. As an amateur with Eltham Boxing Club, Cooper won 73 of 84 contests, including the ABA light-heavyweight championship in 1952. That year, at the Olympic Games in Helsinki, he suffered a second-stage points defeat to a Soviet boxer, Anatoli Petrov. The French judge awarded Cooper the verdict, but the other two, from communist countries, came down the other way. The twins turned professional after completing their national service with the "boxers' battalion" of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.

Under the astute, paternal Wicks, Cooper won his first nine fights, the ninth against an old foe, the 15-stone Bygraves, which was especially rewarding. The next ended with a cut-eye retirement after a clash of heads with the Italian Uber Bacilieri. Early title challenges to Bygraves, Erskine and Ingemar Johansson ended in defeat, but his career took off with a points victory over the highly rated American Zora Folley, followed in December 1959 by the capture of the British and Empire belts from Brian London. Next came successful defences against Dick Richardson, Erskine, Johnny Prescott and London again. In a 1969 European title defence at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, against another Italian, Piero Tomasoni, Cooper suffered the lowest blow of his career – a dent seven inches below his navel in the aluminium cup covering his genitals. He fell to the canvas, only for the referee to carry on counting. He recovered to win on a fifth-round knockout, but kept the cup as a souvenir. There were three dents in it.

The world heavyweight fight in which Ali wounded Cooper's eye was the only one watched by his Italian-born wife, Albina. They had met while Albina, born in an Apennine village, was a 16-year-old serving in an Italian restaurant in Soho, central London. They married in 1960 and had two sons, Henry Marco and John Pietro. Appointed OBE in 1969, Cooper was voted BBC sports personality of the year in 1967 and 1970. He made no great fortune out of boxing. His decision to retire was already established before his last fight, against Bugner in July 1971. Modestly comfortable, he still needed to auction off his Lonsdale belts after the collapse of a Lloyd's of London syndicate lost him a huge lump of his savings. The Canterbury auction made only £40,000 where £100,000 was expected. He collaborated on books, including one with me in 1972, a taped and edited life story that succeeded David Niven's The Moon's a Balloon as a paperback bestseller, at 40p a copy.

For three years, Cooper chaired a team in the BBC's Question of Sport quizshow, his knowledge of sport proving encyclopedic. Advertisers homed in. For Brut, he would become associated with aftershave, for the NHS, he was a face to encourage flu jabs for the elderly. His charity work included raising funds for more than 100 Sunshine coaches for children who were ill or had disabilities. One of the coaches was named after Albina. In 1998, he famously suffered a snake bite in the golfing rough, which led to a spell in hospital over the Christmas holiday. More seriously, an obscure heart condition developed which latterly restricted both his golf and his charity work. His fighting spirit kept him going throughout. It was never in Cooper's nature to turn people away. Just before the referee Harry Gibbs died, in 1999, they shook hands. "For charity," Cooper said with a laugh. Hard as it might have been, that was the measure of the man. Albina's death from a sudden heart attack in 2008 was a profound blow to the family. George died in 2010. Cooper is survived by his sons.

John Rawling writes: Our 'Enry was undoubtedly something of a national treasure, but the story regarding the supposed splitting of the glove by Angelo Dundee – happily corroborated by Henry in his second career as an after-dinner speaker – was a mischievous manipulation of the truth which allowed Dundee to paint himself as the master trainer who pulled a stroke to help young Cassius Clay survive the knockdown. For his part, Henry was only too happy to acquiesce to a tale which added to the legend of 'Enry's 'Ammer, which so nearly defeated the heavyweight who would ultimately be recognised as the greatest of all time. In reality, analysis of the television recording and the radio broadcast, which survives in its entirety, reveals a somewhat more prosaic truth. Dundee did indeed call the referee to his corner to inspect Clay's glove, but the referee made no instruction for the glove to be changed and instead ruled that the contest could continue. The minute's interval was not stretched by 66 seconds, as some tales had it, but actually lasted a little longer than 66 seconds in total.

The matter was pointed out to me by the respected commentator and journalist Reg Gutteridge , who died in 2009, and was at ringside reporting the fight. It was supported by the first-hand accounts of those who were there and by Simon Smith's famous BBC radio commentary. The fact is that the glove incident was an embellishment of the truth that has entered sporting mythology as fact. For several years, I commentated with Henry at major fights for BBC radio. His iconic status meant that he was mobbed by autograph hunters wherever we were, to the extent that I would frequently feel more like a minder than a colleague. "Come on, Henry, we've got to get out of here to record that interview," was the advice that I would give to let him eventually walk away and make his exit from the arena. Unquestionably, Henry became increasingly irritated by the hype surrounding fighters such as Chris Eubank and especially Frank Bruno, whom he saw as a strong but limited fighter who was lucky to have ever had a chance to challenge once for a world title, let alone be given four opportunities.

It was after Bruno's 1995 victory against the similarly limited Oliver McCall, which brought the Englishman the WBC version of the heavyweight title, that Henry walked away from commentary. He had not gone along with the jingoistic adulation of Bruno in his moment of triumph, and was criticised in some quarters for giving what was seen as only grudging praise. Thereafter, Henry filled his time making numerous public appearances and playing a very decent, if less than aesthetically pleasing, game of golf. He was a charming companion, and always prepared to give his time to young and old. When asked to explain Henry's enduring popularity, I would explain that if he were to be offered £10,000 to make an after-dinner speech, and it clashed with an unpaid appearance at a boys' club when he had given his word that he would attend, Henry would unhesitatingly refuse the fat cheque and be there for the youngsters. He was a good boxer, but an outstanding man.

• Henry Cooper, boxer, born 3 May 1934; died 1 May 2011 Henry Cooper, Dramatic Loser to Ali, Dies at 76 - The New York Times The New York Times Sports |Henry Cooper, Dramatic Loser to Ali, Dies at 76 Search Continue reading the main story Henry Cooper, a popular British heavyweight with a murderous left hook that, in his most famous fight, knocked a brash, future world champion then known as Cassius Clay on his backside, died Sunday in Oxted, Surrey, south of London. He was 76. The British Boxing Board of Control confirmed the death to The Associated Press, saying Cooper died after an unspecified extended illness. Cooper, among the best known and most successful British fighters since World War II, held the British heavyweight title for a dozen years — except for a self-imposed exile of 10 months — and was also, for a time, the European champion. He did not win either of his fights against Clay, who, by the time of their second encounter, in London in 1966, was the heavyweight champion known as Muhammad Ali .

He whipped Cooper in a six-round technical knockout, opening a cut over Cooper’s left eye and taking advantage of his penchant for copious bleeding. A flatfooted puncher and, at about 190 pounds, small for a heavyweight, he was outweighed and outmaneuvered by Ali, and the outcome surprised no one. Photo Henry Cooper fought Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, in a 1963 bout, which Cooper lost despite landing a blow that Ali said three years later was “the hardest punch I have ever taken.” Credit Associated Press But their first bout , at Wembley Stadium in London in June 1963, was fraught with drama. At the time, Cooper was the champion not just of England but also of the entire Commonwealth. At 29 he was an elder statesman who had been fighting professionally for nearly a decade, a sporting figure known as “our ’Enry,” beloved for his working-class cockney roots and modest manner. Clay, just 21, had yet to seize the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, and he had arrived in England with his trademark braggadocio in full efflorescence.

“Henry Cooper will think he’s Gordon Cooper when I put him in orbit,” Clay declared. “I’m going to hit that bum so fast and so regular, he’ll think he’s surrounded.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Clay predicted he would win in five rounds. As the fight proceeded he seemed to be toying with Cooper as he waited for Round 5 to arrive. In the meantime he used his superior speed and size — 207 pounds to Cooper’s 183 — to torment Cooper with savage jabs and to dodge his potent left hook, a punch nicknamed “ ’Enry’s ’Ammer.” It nearly ended in disaster for Clay when, just before the bell to end Round 4, Cooper connected with a swift, thudding blow that sent Clay backward through the ropes. “It was the hardest punch I have ever taken,” Ali would say, three years later, as he prepared for their second bout. An extended pause between rounds because of a split in one of Clay’s gloves — some say made purposely by Clay’s trainer, Angelo Dundee — helped Clay recover, and in Round 5 he fulfilled his prediction, quickly reducing Cooper’s face to a bloody mask.

“In 2 minutes 15 seconds, he nearly tore Cooper’s head off his shoulders,” The New York Times reported. “Few men have absorbed such a beating in so short a time.” Photo Henry Cooper, right, and Muhammad Ali became friends and met again in 1992. Credit Russell Boyce/Reuters Henry Cooper and his twin brother, George — who also boxed for a time — were born in London on May 3, 1934. Their father was a soldier and a boxing enthusiast, but he was gone during the World War II years; it was a neighbor who first took the brothers to a boxing gym. A successful amateur, Henry Cooper fought for England in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki before turning professional in 1954. He won the British crown in 1959 and did not lose it until 1971, when he was beaten in a close bout by Joe Bugner and then retired. Cooper had a string of victories against title contenders, including Zora Folley, Karl Mildenberger and Brian London, though his second fight with Ali was his only world championship fight.

Cooper fought — and lost to — two other men who had been or would become champions. In 1957 he was knocked out by Ingemar Johansson, who would defeat Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight title in 1959. (Patterson regained the crown in a rematch.) In 1966 he lost to Patterson. His overall professional record was 40-14-1. After his retirement, Cooper stayed in the public eye as a spokesman for Brut aftershave and other products, and he appeared on a television quiz show, “A Question of Sport.” He published an autobiography in 1972, and he became a familiar presence in English public service announcements and at charity events. He was knighted in 2000. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Cooper’s survivors include two sons and two grandchildren. His wife, Albina, whom he married in 1960, was a waitress in his favorite Italian restaurant when they met. She died in 2008. George Cooper died last year.

Ali, who maintained a warm friendship with Cooper over the years and visited with him in London in 2009, issued a statement calling Cooper “a great fighter and a gentleman,” but otherwise confessing that the news rendered him uncharacteristically speechless. “I am at a loss for words over the death of my friend, Henry Cooper,” Ali said. A version of this article appears in print on May 3, 2011, on Page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Henry Cooper, 76, Dramatic Loser to Ali. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe Henry Cooper - IMDb IMDb Actor Before the ascent of Lennox Lewis in the 1990s, Henry Cooper was considered the greatest heavyweight boxer in modern British history. Friendly, polite, well-mannered, and always a "good sport", he and his twin brother George Cooper (he fought as Jim Cooper) embarked on colorful professional boxing careers together. Jim Cooper, however, never ...

See full bio » Born: British boxing legend Sir Henry Cooper dies aged 76 - BBC Sport BBC Sport British boxing legend Sir Henry Cooper dies aged 76 2 May 2011 Media playback is not supported on this device Sir Henry Cooper Heavyweight boxing legend Sir Henry Cooper has died at the age of 76 at his son's house in Oxted, Surrey. The former British, Commonwealth and European champion fought 55 times and is revered for his 1963 knockdown of Muhammad Ali - then Cassius Clay. In a statement, Ali said he would miss his "old friend", calling him "a great fighter and a gentleman". London-born Cooper, who won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award twice, was knighted in 2000. Alongside Frank Bruno, Tommy Farr and Lennox Lewis, Cooper is considered one of the great British heavyweights. After an amateur career that included an appearance as an 18-year-old in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Henry and his twin brother George, who died last year, both turned professional at 20 in 1954.

He went on to enjoy a hugely successful professional career, but never won a world title and retired, aged 36, in 1971 after losing to Joe Bugner, a year after becoming the first person to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year on two occasions (1967 and 1970). Cooper, who is the only British boxer to have won three Lonsdale belts outright, is best remembered for his two famous clashes with Ali in the 1960s. What a sad day. May your memory live on Your tributes to Sir Henry Cooper He floored the American in the fourth round with 'Enery's 'Ammer - his trademark left hook - but Ali eventually won the 1963 non-title fight at Wembley. Ali later said on British television that Cooper "hit me so hard that my ancestors in Africa felt it". Responding to the news of Cooper's death, Muhammad Ali said he was "at a loss for words" over the death of his friend. "Henry always had a smile for me; a warm and embracing smile", he said. "It was always a pleasure being in Henry's company. I will miss my old friend.

He was a great fighter and a gentleman." Ali triumphed again when they boxed three years later but Cooper remained a favourite with the British public. Cooper famously floored Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, in 1963 Following his retirement he pursued a successful career in television as a pundit and was also a published author. He was a popular captain on the BBC quiz show A Question of Sport. Britain's world heavyweight champion David Haye used his Twitter feed to pay tribute to Cooper, who would have celebrated his 77th birthday on Tuesday. "One of Britain's greatest sports man Sir Henry Cooper passed away today. A true warrior and great human being. Rest in Peace," Haye wrote. Ireland's former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan told the BBC: "He was a lovely fella, and I was a personal friend of him and his wife. "It really is tragic news for the world of boxing.

What a great man he was." Share this page Brit boxer Henry Cooper dead at 76 - CBC Sports - Sporting news, opinion, scores, standings, schedules Brit boxer Henry Cooper dead at 76 The Associated Press Posted: May 01, 2011 5:54 PM ET Last Updated: May 01, 2011 8:01 PM ET Sir Henry Cooper, seen in 2009, floored Cassius Clay in one of boxing's most famous bouts at Wembley Stadium in 1963. ((Johnny Green/Associated Press)) Former heavyweight boxer Henry Cooper, one of Britain's most popular sportsmen who was best known for knocking down Muhammad Ali while he was still known as Cassius Clay, died Sunday. He was 76. The first boxer to be knighted and receive the title "Sir" from a British monarch, Cooper died just two days before his 77th birthday, the British Boxing Board of Control said. He died at his son's house in Oxted, Surrey, in southern England, after an extended illness. "I am at a loss for words over the death of my friend, Henry Cooper," Ali said in a statement.

Cooper floored Ali, then an up-and-coming contender named Clay, in a 1963 non-title fight at Wembley Stadium. Cooper threw a trademark left hook — known by fans and British boxing writers as "'Enry's 'Ammer" in acknowledgment of his south London accent — toward the end of the fourth round, catching the much larger Ali flush on the jaw and sending him through the ropes and onto the canvas. Ali, who later said the knockdown punch "not only shook me, it shook my relations in Africa," won the bout by technical knockout in the next round while trailing on the scorecard. The two fought again in 1966 at London's Highbury Stadium. This time, Ali came in as the world champion and he retained his belt by stopping a bloodied Cooper in the sixth round. Ali said he visited with Cooper two summers ago during a visit to Windsor. "Henry always had a smile for me; a warm and embracing smile," Ali said. "It was always a pleasure being in Henry's company. I will miss my ole friend. He was a great fighter and a gentleman.

My family and I extend our heartfelt sympathies to his family and loved ones." Cooper, who won the British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight titles but never the world crown, remained revered in Britain as much for his warm personality and gentlemanly manner as a 40-14-1 record in a professional career spanning more than 16 years. "He's not the only one who wasn't good enough to beat Ali," said Robert Smith, the general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control. "For such a small man, he put up some great performances in a world-class context. "It's not just the boxing and your ability, it's the personality as well. He won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year on two occasions, which is a tremendous feat for a boxer. Everyone called him 'Our Enry,' and he was much loved. He served boxing wonderfully." Many fans in the partisan Wembley crowd believed Cooper was only denied victory over Ali in the 1963 fight by debatable tactics from his corner. Trainer Angelo Dundee brought a rip in Ali's gloves to the attention of the referee and Ali had time to recover while new gloves were located and brought to the ring. He then stopped Cooper in the next round.

Cooper retired in 1971 shortly after losing his British, European and Commonwealth belts to Joe Bugner by a quarter of a point. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000. "He transcended boxing," promoter Frank Warren said. "He was a true gentleman of sport and had a huge place in the public's affection. He never won the world title but he had true British grit, he tried. "His weakness was that he cut very easily." Recent British champions paid their respects to Cooper, who also fought Floyd Patterson. "One of Britain's greatest sportsmen Sir Henry Cooper passed away today," WBA heavyweight champion David Haye tweeted. "A true warrior and great human being. Rest in Peace." Former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis tweeted: "R.I.P. Sir Henry Cooper. Former British, Commonwealth and European Champion. My deepest condolences to the Cooper family." WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan said that his compatriot had encouraged him in the early stages of his professional career. "I met Henry in London a few times. He was very humble, we had a good conversation about my own career and what steps I should be taking," Khan told BBC radio.

"He told me not to rush it as a pro, pick the right fights at the right time. I'm young and there are bigger fights ahead. "It was great advice." Cooper's twin brother George, who turned professional with him in 1965, died last year. Cooper's wife of 47 years, Albina, died in 2008 of a heart attack. The couple had two sons, Henry Marco and John Pietro. Boxing pays tribute to gentleman Henry Cooper | Sport | The Guardian Sir Henry Cooper Boxing pays tribute to gentleman Henry Cooper Heavyweight champion, who has died aged 76, endeared himself to the public with an affable style and became the first boxer to be knighted Henry Cooper takes on Cassius Clay at Wembley in 1963.

Photograph: Pa Wire/PA Wire/Press Association Images Sunday 1 May 2011 19.27 EDT First published on Sunday 1 May 2011 19.27 EDT Close This article is 5 years old Sir Henry Cooper , the British boxer who once knocked Muhammad Ali to the floor with a left hook nicknamed 'Enry's 'Ammer', has died aged 76. Cooper, who was knighted in 2000, died yesterday at his son's house in Oxted, Surrey, two days before his 77th birthday. Friends said he had been ill for some time and his health deteriorated after the death of his Italian-born wife Albina, in 2008. They had been together 47 years. Fighters including David Haye, Lennox Lewis, Amir Khan and Barry McGuigan led tributes to the former heavyweight boxer, describing him as "one of Britain's great sportsmen".

Khan, World Boxing Association light-welterweight champion, said: "Boxing is a very respectful sport and even though you go into the ring and have two guys beating each other up, afterwards we are friends, and I think Henry Cooper made a great example of that, especially how close he was with Muhammad Ali in the years after that fight." McGuigan said Cooper had never recovered from the death of Albina, who died from a heart attack, aged 71. He said Cooper encouraged him when he got into boxing, adding: "All you ever got was 'Son, you've got great potential'. He was full of encouragement, he was a really lovely man." "It's tragic news for the world of boxing. What a great man he was. He was the first boxer to be knighted and to my mind that's the greatest compliment of all." Cooper is best remembered for two famous clashes with Muhammad Ali in the 1960s. In the first on 18 June 1963, he knocked Ali down in the fourth round. The Wembley crowd thought the jarring left hook had finished the American off.

But Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, was saved by the bell and struggled up off the canvas. Many believe Cooper would have won the fight had Ali's trainer not slashed his glove to give him a few extra seconds to recover while another pair was fetched from the dressing room. Ali later said Cooper "had hit him so hard that his ancestors in Africa felt it". They fought again three years later but Ali triumphed again. The boxing promoter Frank Warren said: "He transcended boxing. He was a true gentleman of sport and had a huge place in the public's affection. He never won the world title but he had true British grit, he tried. "He fought Cassius Clay, who was this brash young kid coming over, and he put him on his backside and went into British sporting folklore. His weakness was that he cut very easily, and he got cut in both those fights." Sir Michael Parkinson, the retired chat show host, said: "I never met anybody who didn't like Henry Cooper. He was a very fine fighter, a good boxer, although a bit too light and he cut too easily – ultimately remembered for decking Ali in that spectacular fight.

"He was the best kind of athlete, the best kind of boxer, he wasn't boastful, he was genuinely modest and a gentleman. "I think of him in the same way as I do Bobby Charlton – the two of them represent something which I think has gone out of sport rather, that kind of hero." Wayne Rooney posted a message on Twitter remembering the boxing legend: "R.I.P Sir Henry Cooper just heard now, didn't know. One of Britain's all time greats. Gutted, deepest sympathy to his family. Such a sad day." The London-born Cooper became British, Commonwealth and European heavyweight champion and twice won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, in 1967 and 1970. But despite enjoying a hugely successful career, he never won a world title and retired in 1971 after losing to Joe Bugner. His career record was won 40, lost 14, drawn one. After his boxing career Sir Henry appeared in television adverts for Brut and Shredded Wheat. In the aftershave advert, he used the phrase "Splash it all over," which became a popular catchphrase.

Former middleweight champion Chris Eubank told BBC News: "He was a beacon for the public at large, especially in the 60s and 70s, but for fighters alike. "For me you look at a man's reputation, and when a man is respected by the public at large, that's always appealing to me." Eubank said he endeared himself to the public and showed boxers were normal human beings. He added: "We're just people. We're just guys. The term 'Our 'Enry', that encapsulates the fact that he is just one of the boys. "If he could be just one of the boys then so could we, and not be seen as rough and gruff and aggressive. ." Cooper is survived by his two sons Henry Marco and John Pietro. BBC Sport - Sir Henry Cooper remembered: Farewell to Our 'Enery Sir Henry Cooper remembered: Farewell to Our 'Enery BBC Sport remembers Sir Henry Cooper By Sanjeev Shetty BBC Sport For the majority, he will be remembered for one punch - a thunderous left hook they called Enery's 'Ammer that put The Greatest on his backside.

But boxing fans know that there was much more to Sir Henry Cooper, who has died aged 76, than one good punch. An identical twin, Sir Henry and his brother George both went on to ply their trades in boxing. As an amateur, Henry won 73 of his 84 bouts, winning the ABA light-heavyweight championship at 17 and representing Great Britain at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. After a two-year stint in the army, Cooper decided to turn professional. Guided by Jim Wicks, a man who managed Cooper's career on the basis of a handshake, Cooper retained his job in the plastering trade, using his spare time to train for upcoming fights. His first big moment came in 1959, when he won the British heavyweight title after a bruising 15-round contest with Brian London. Archive - Henry Cooper v Joe Erskine During those early days, Cooper's three-fight series with the canny Welshman Joe Erskine made the headlines - Cooper losing the first by decision but then avenging the loss with two brutal stoppages.

By that stage, his left hook was a feared weapon - it was estimated to travel 15 times faster than a Saturn V rocket. While it made him a threat against any class of opposition, Cooper's tendency to lacerate with ease made him vulnerable. "If you gave Henry a rough towel, you needed a basin to catch the blood," said renowned boxing writer Hugh McIlvanney. Cooper was also light for a heavyweight, never weighing above 14 stone, which today would have made him a natural cruiserweight. The full range of his strengths and weaknesses was exposed on 18 June 1963 - a night which has earned a very special place in British sporting folklore. Cooper celebrates his knighthood in 2000 On that evening, a 21-year-old Cassius Clay came to London, determined to "jive in five", a prediction that looked frighteningly accurate until the fourth round, when Clay was floored by a Cooper left. Up at four, Clay was escorted back to his corner as the bell rang, on what were very shaky legs.

Fate and a little gamesmanship deprived Cooper of his moment of glory - Clay's trainer Angelo Dundee noticed a split in his fighter's glove and made sure that it became so wide it had to be replaced. Had Cooper landed 10 seconds earlier, the course of boxing history might have been very different. The extra seconds that Clay got to recover allowed him to come out refreshed for the fifth round and finish the fight, opening up a hideous cut on Cooper's face which forced the stoppage. Three years later, the two men met again, with the same ending - by now, Clay was Muhammad Ali and heavyweight champion of the world, and he no longer made mistakes. Of his 14 defeats, including those by future world champion Ingemar Johansson in 1957 and former world champion Floyd Patterson in 1966, there was only one Cooper could not quite come to terms with. It came on 16 March 1971, when the 36-year-old Cooper took on the 21-year-old Joe Bugner at Wembley's Empire Pool in what would be Cooper's last fight.

For 15 rounds, the pair battled on relatively even terms and it was assumed that British and European champion Cooper would get the decision. But referee Harry Gibb stunned the sizeable crowd when he walked towards Bugner at the end and lifted his arm into the air. For a proud man like Cooper, it was too much to take and he refused to speak to Gibb for 30 years. In his post-fight days, Cooper devoted much of his time to charity and after-dinner speaking, and for a while he performed broadcasting duties for the BBC on their boxing coverage. Cooper (second left) became a familiar figure on British television But for a man of honour and integrity, he found the circus nature of modern boxing abhorrent. He was also saddened by the state of the heavyweight division. "I look at things today and think, 'Gawd blimey, what's happened?'" Cooper said a few years before his death. "I know I sound a right old misery, but all those ring walks drove me nuts.

I've even seen them bring in fighters on Harley Davidsons and magic carpets, and some of them take 40 minutes to get into the ring." Despite this, he never dared dispute what he saw as boxing's fundamental asset to society. "If there is a danger in anything some people want to ban it - you mustn't box, you mustn't climb mountains, you mustn't race fast cars," he wrote in his autobiography. "Nothing would have been achieved in the world if there wasn't a determination to beat an element of danger or challenge." Cooper was the first person to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award twice (in 1967 and 1970) and became Britain's first and only boxing knight in 2000. He may not have been the greatest fighter Britain has ever produced, but there has never been a more popular one than Cooper. Bookmark with: Henry Cooper | talkSPORT Henry Cooper Saturday, March 3, 2012 Saturday, March 3, 2012 "It's up for grabs, now!

Thomassssssss!" Saturday, May 7, 2011 In honour of the legendary Spaniard, we've found some pictures from his quite brilliant career. Tuesday, May 3, 2011 Former Wigan superstar relives his greatest moment on the hallowed turf Monday, May 2, 2011 The Sun's boxing correspondent takes a look back at the life and times of Our 'Enry Thursday, April 28, 2011 A selection of the funniest football adverts ever to hit our screens Friday, December 10, 2010 What began as handbags in Peru's domestic championship final turned into a full scale brawl with everyone from players to riot police joining the melee, so we had a think of other shocking on-pitch battles. © 2017 Wireless Group Limited. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy are applicable to you. All rights reserved.

Question: Henry Cooper is associated with which sport?
Answer: Boxing