Thread: Clay v Cooper. The Real story of the cut Cooper suffered at Wembley Stadium.

These are actual quotes from one of the worlds most respected ringside reporters actually present at Wembley Stadium that famous night in the early 1960's.

PETER WILSON,the world's No 1 sportswriter reports from the ringside at Wembley....

"Of the four completed rounds,i did not give one to Clay.Then after one minute and fifteen seconds of the fifth,referee Tommy Little had no choice but to halt proceedings becuase of damage to Coopers left eye."

"I have never seen an eye gashed in such a ghastly way"

"I feel some of the damage may have been done by a freak accident to Clay's left glove"

"It (Clays glove) burst in the interval between the fourth and fifth round,so that Clay to all intents and purposes was using an almost bare fist to complete the carnage to Cooper's eye."

"in fact,seconds before the referee's intevention,a great ball of horsehair flew out of the ring and landed near my typewriter,at the same time,blood from the red ruin which was the left side of Cooper's face splashed yards out of the ring and on to the paper on which i was writing"

He goes on to describe rounds 1,2 and 3 so we'll pick him up again in the 4th.

"The British champion seemed slow and Clay was certainly in no hurry to open up.And then without a seconds warninig it happened!
Cooper landed the punch which thousands of half drenched spectators had benn waitin,praying,SHRIEKING for!,It was the classic left hook.A grenade,an exploding bomb of a left hook,and it lifted Clay-all 207 pounds of him-clear off his feet,It would have put him on his broad back if the ropes had not been behind his shoulder blades."

"As it was,Clay reeled to his feet,his eyes wide with shock,and i suspect,pain.In the bedlam you could not hear the count,but i guessed it could not have been more than four.And that alone proved how dazed Clay was,for he could have done with every second of rest to which he was entitled."

"There was drama even in the interval,for then it was discovered that Clay's left glove had burst."

"Another was not immediately available and although one was sent for to be ready for the subsequent rounds,now the bell was sounding for the fatal fifth and final round"

"At last Clay really went fighting mad,Too fast to count the punches lashing home,and although Cooper was still strong and ever brave,it was clear he could scarcely see his man."

The rest is history but it does make me wonder 'What If' on so many counts




Source info-INTERNATIONAL BOXING,A HISTORY FROM 1910.
E-Mail--enquiries@historic-newspapers.co.uk

Nearly Forgot :P
The Book in question is superb and a must have for any Fight fan
Check above link for enquiries

Commentary by the legend... HARRY CARPENTER
[youtube=425,350]1KYoy1--sGo[/youtube]

i keep saying this but no one ever replies i did hear ali took smelling salts after the knockdown now i dont think smelling sorts were allowed in uk at that time so shouldnt of ali have been dq i heard this rumor just wana know if its true

True mate and you can clearly see it in this.
Imagine how different American History would have been (Let alone boxing history) if Cooper threw that punch earlier in the round.

Cheating K*nts would never get away with that sh*t today,NEVER!!
And the ref letting Clay fight on in the 5th with a split glove
[youtube=425,350]IzQZReUi3m4[/youtube]

the fight should of really been a no contest.

Originally Posted by ds91

the fight should of really been a no contest.

or maybe Clay should have been DQ

I thought Cooper should have won that, what a game fighter. Clay should have been DJ'd, this wasn't the only uncanny time in Ali's career. It would've been over for Ali if 'Enry's Hammer hit home sooner.

Angelo Dundee was FULL of such tricks.

Definately see the smelling salts? Or amyl nitrate? The glove is another story, some say Dundee cut it, but yeah nowadays you cant even have tape dangling off let alone a ripped glove.Cooper got hosed.

Amonia files
Horrible to smell as we used to p*ss about in Chemistry lessons with the stuff
Would wake a rophypnoled elephant

Dundees a cheating fuck too right! but surely our Enry couldn't silenced the Louville lip for good, might have stalled his career slightly. Didn't they fight again anyway acouple of years after?

Originally Posted by Smashup

True mate and you can clearly see it in this.
Imagine how different American History would have been (Let alone boxing history) if Cooper threw that punch earlier in the round.

Cheating K*nts would never get away with that sh*t today,NEVER!!
And the ref letting Clay fight on in the 5th with a split glove
[youtube=425,350]IzQZReUi3m4[/youtube]

Did you watch the interview smash?... Glove was torn and Dundee ripped it... they 'forgot' the spare ones so a corner man had to go back to the dressing rooms to get a new one... Ali got 2 and a half minutes instead of 1

yeah dundee openly admits about putting his thumb in the glove hole, making it even bigger and stalling to give clay more time to clear his head. henry's hammer was a hell of a left hook. he was left handed aswell which is probably the main reason it was so affective.
dunno about how the cut came about but dundee certainly had a few tricks up his sleaves. but cassius clay was still undeveloped and young when he faught cooper.

Ali didnt get any spare time to rest in the fight thats the truth.