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.
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