"Learn from the Fight" took a step back into 1959 and a look at Henry Cooper's defence of his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles against old rival Joe Erskine. This was followed by highlights of Sugar Ray Robinson's 1960 rematch with Paul Pender for the NYSAC/Ring lineal world middleweight championship.
Henry Cooper versus Joe Erskine British & Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship 17.11.1959
We skipped back a year to look at the rising career of Henry Cooper and one of his most memorable fights as he aspired towards the world title. Cooper would become perhaps the UK's most beloved boxer, rising above his contemporary, Freddie Mills, and only rivalled decades later by Frank Bruno. His nickname, "Our 'Enry", seemed to say it all.
Born on 3rd May 1934, to Henry Snr and Lily Cooper, Henry was an identical twin to George Cooper. He also had an elder brother called Bern. Cooper grew up in a council house on Farmstead Road, part of the Bellingham Estate in South East London. The family were evacuated during the Second World War to Lancing on the Sussex coast.
Cooper was earning money as soon as he was able and his earliest jobs included recycling golf balls and a paper round before school. The family were all especially sporty and all three of the boys did well in physical education. The twins were noted for their skills in football and cricket before their passion was ignited by Boxing in 1949 when he joined Bellingham Boxing Club. Before National Service in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps he won two ABA light-heavyweight titles. In 1952 he represented Great Britain in the Helsinki Olympics but lost on points to the Soviet Union's Anatoly Perov. Cooper's amateur career finished 72 victories out of 84 contests.
Henry and George turned professional together in 1954. George boxed under the pseudonym of "Jim". They were both managed by Jim Wicks, a man known for his careful matching of his boxers and general looking after their interests. Cooper's debut fight was on 14th September 1954 where he knocked out Harry Painter in round 1. His next three opponents were finished off in rounds four, one and three respectively before he started 1955 with his third first round knockout and fifth knockout in a row against South Africa's Colin Strauch. Cliff Purnell then became his first points victory, lasting all six rounds. Hugh Ferns lost to Cooper on a disqualification and Joe Crickmar was stopped in round five.
Cooper's first real test came in April of '55 against his ninth professional opponent, Joe Bygraves. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 25th May 1931, and one of 11 siblings, Bygraves immigrated to Britain when he was 15. He began his professional career one year before Cooper and had a record of 24-5 by the time the two met. Their eight round contest went to Cooper on points but this would not be the last Our 'Enry heard from his ambitious contemporary on their quest to the British and Commonwealth titles.
Cooper's next fight was his first defeat. Italy's Uber Bacilieri exposed Henry's biggest weakness: his defence. A strong, left-handed fighter, Cooper chose to fight orthodox like Carmen Basilio and Sandy Saddler. Like them, he also possessed a powerful left hook which he nicknamed "Henry's Hammer". The punch was similar to Saddler's, Jersey Joe Walcott's and later heavyweight orthodox-style left-hander, Razor Ruddock, in that it was thrown on an upward trajectory to the head or as a shovel hook. Cooper liked to throw his jab or hook independently or together. He was an aggressive slugger who forced the fight but he was also notoriously cut-prone and lacked good defensive skills. Henry was stopped on a technical knockout in round 5 at the Haringey Arena.
Just over a month later Cooper stopped Ron Harman before avenging his loss to Bacilieri in September that year by knocking him out for the count in round seven. This sweet victory was short-lived, however, as Cooper's last bout of '55 saw him matched against his toughest challenge singe Bygraves. Wales's Joe Erskine would prove to be another nemesis he would be jostling for the British top spots.
Joseph Erskine was born on 26th January 1934 in the Butetown district of Cardiff and fought out of Tiger Bay. He was trained by Freddie Elvin but fought out of Benny Jacobs gym. Before he professional debut on 9th March 1954, Erskine knocked out Alf Price in round two. He then won his next fight also by a second round KO followed by a victory via DQ, his first draw, three points wins, the which was part of a novice tournament, another two second-round KOs, also part of the same tournament, four more points victories, a first round KO and another points victory. All of this just in 10 months of his first year as a pro. He was 14-0-1.
He won his next nine fights in 1955, five by knockout, before meeting Henry Cooper for the first time on 15th November. The undefeated Erskine gave Our 'Enry his second defeat in what was billed as an eliminator contest for the British heavyweight championship. On paper it would appear that Erskine had piled on too much experience since the two had begun their careers over a year ago. Erskine had fought in 10 more professional fights than Cooper. This was Henry's first 10-rounder but it was Erskine's fourth.
One of these 10-round victories included Bacilieri. Like Cooper he had been a light-heavyweight when fighting as an amateur. However, he remained small when entering the professional heavyweight ranks and adopted the skills of the out-boxer, aiming to outmanoeuvre his opponents more than overpower them. Nevertheless, his knockout ability was still impressive.
Erskine's path to glory continued upwards as he outpointed two German boxers and fellow Welshman Dick Richardson. Richardson held a record of 17-2-0 at the time and would go on to win the European British Union heavyweight championship in 1960 when he would stop the German Hans Kalbfell. After Richardson, Erskine fought former Commonwealth and British title holder Johnny Williams for the British heavyweight title. Williams had first won both these titles together in 1952 when he outpointed Jack Gardner. After one successful defence he had lost them both to Don Cockell in 1953. After Cockell was defeated by Rocky Marciano in 1955, he was never the same fighter. His next two fights were stoppage losses and despite neither being title matches, Cockell was stripped of his commonwealth title. He then later surrendered his British title and retired in 1956 leaving both titles vacant.
Williams had failed to regain these two titles in an eliminator bout against former British, Commonwealth and European champion Jack Gardner. Gardner knocked him out in round 5. The two had previously clashed twice. The first time in 1950 earning Fight of the Year status where Gardener had won on points and the second time in 1952 where he lost his British heavyweight title. This was a year after Germany's Hein Ten Hoff had lifted his European title. He had retired but then made a strong comeback a year after his defeat by Williams. After several victories, including the rubber match with Williams an injury prevented Gardner from facing Cockell for the Commonwealth and British titles. He was knocked down once in his career in a fight he won against Tonga's Kitione Lave by decision but Joe Bygraves retired him for good with a technical knockout in round 2 in 1956.
Williams was now nearing the end of his own career when he faced Erskine for the vacant British title. After losing to Gardner he had knocked out Kitione Lave in the first round, out-pointed Will Hoepner of Germany and stopped Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson in round four. However, Erskine was in top form and hungrier for the title. He won a decision victory over 15 rounds. That year Williams would fight one more time, this time losing to a technical knockout at the hands of another very hungry younger fighter, Joe Bygraves. Bygraves, it would appear, was developing a reputation for retiring old champions.
However, Erskine was about to receive his first shock. After becoming British heavyweight champion, Erskine took on Cuba's Nino Valdes. Valdes, considered Cuba's eighth greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time, had fought world class opposition by this time and that included a victory over the legendary Ezzard Charles. He also handed Erskine his first professional defeat and knocked him out in round 1. Erskine returned to the UK and took a 12-round points victory over Peter Bates before putting title on the line for the first time, giving Henry Cooper his rematch.
In the interim Cooper had stopped France's Maurice Mols, Britain's Brian London and Italy's Giannino Orlando Luise in rounds four, one and seven respectively. He had then also faced Peter Bates but his cut-prone problems led to his third defeat and the second time it had occurred by TKO, this time in round five. Next he was rematched with Joe Bygraves for the Commonwealth title. Bygraves had taken the title that had been stripped of Dave Cockell following his defeat by Kitione Lave. He'd accomplished this by outpointing Lave. This wasn't the same Bygraves Cooper had previously fought and perhaps Henry hadn't got over his loss to Bates. Bygraves won by ninth round knockout, handing Henry his fourth professional loss, third time by stoppage and first time as a straight KO. It was quite clear his weakness was not just the skin around his face but a genuine problem with his defence.
Not to be put off and, by now earning a following due to his tremendous courage, Henry set his eyes even higher and challenged the then European champion and future world champion Ingemar Johansson. Ingo handed Cooper and even worse result, knocking him down for the count in round five.
Clearly there was something about Henry's potential and charisma that convinced fight promoters to give him yet another shot at a title. It would be the third time in a row. He met Joe Erskine for the second time in their career and this time to get the British title. Henry proved to be good validation for Joe, handing him his second victory in a row after losing to Valdes and maintaining his hold on the British title. For Cooper it looked like a disaster. It was his fourth loss in a row and sixth overall. All his attempts at titles had failed.
The decision was made for him to take fights in Germany where he won a points victory over Hans Kalbfell, drew with Heinz Neuhaus then lost for the seventh time in his career against Erich Schoppner this time in his first disqualification.
Just when it looked like he wasn't going to get much further, he stopped Dick Richardson in his next bout in round five. Richardson was still a hot prospect and had a rosey future ahead of him. However, on that day on Coney Beach, Wales, Henry Cooper began his long journey back. His next match was his first against a boxer from the USA, none other than top 10 world title contender, Zora Folley. Cooper impressed critics by winning on points over 10 rounds.
It seemed this was enough to get him a second shot at the British title. However, the man holding it was not Joe Erskine but Brian London.
After Erskine had beaten Cooper for the second time had taken on the current Commonwealth title holder, Joe Bygraves, and won a points victory. He had then decided to have a go at the European Union title. However, Johansson proved to be too much and stopped him in round 13. Returning to the UK, Erskine did what others had done before him and put both his titles on the line against Brian London. London handed Erskine his third loss and third knockout, sending him down for the count in round eight.
London had met Cooper before in the former's thirteenth career fight. Henry had knocked him out in round 1 and given him his first loss. By the time the two met for their rematch, London was 22-3, having lost on points to the aforementioned Heinz Neuhaus and Angelo Dundee's protege, Willie Pastrano. However, after winning the titles off Erskine, London stopped Pastrano in round five of their rematch. His match with Cooper would go the distance but it would be Henry would finally get his moment by winning on points and in his twenty-sixth fight become British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion.
The commonwealth title was put on the line against South Africa's Gawie de Klerk. Cooper kept it with a fifth round technical knockout. Now he faced the man who had twice defeated him.
Erskine was certainly on form. Despite losing the belt to London, he out-pointed Max Brianto from France and then out-pointed Willie Pastrano. That particular victory had won praise from Angelo Dundee who said he was surprised by his skill and stated it was only his size that was holding Erskine back from world dominance.
Dick Richardson was then out-pointed by Joe and so was Italy's Bruno Scarabellin. Now it seemed the moment was perfect to take the belt back from his old rival.
The fight took place at Earls Court Arena, Kensington, London and sold out the venue's 18,000 seats.
Henry Cooper stood at 6'1 1/2" with a reach of 75". He weighed in at 189 lbs. Joe Erskine was 5'11". I have no record of his reach but it is noted that this was in proportion to his height and was one of his disadvantages. However, it is important to note that whilst short in comparison to other boxers he outweighed Cooper in this match at 192 lbs.
Round 1 - Cooper held the middle of the round with Erskine using outboxing tactics. Joe's hands seemed very fast. A stumble to the ground saw Erskine rise and then take a naughty left hook to the head that knocked him down. This looked like a foul but the referee just allowed the bout to continue. Erskine was back up without a count. The two closed and Erskine was down again. He made it back up and seemed to hanging on. Cooper tried to finish the fight off, catching him with the left hook but this time to no effect. More clinching led to Cooper being cut due to a clash of heads. Cooper hit Erskine just after the bell but, again, nothing was said by the referee.
Round 2 - Cooper came out with a well-greased eye. Erskine, appeared to be more settled and collected. He went after the eye. Cooper made use of his jab. Erskine caught him with a hard overhand right. A slip by Cooper in the corner led to Erskine moving in but getting caught by the left hook. Later a shovel hook to the body by Cooper found its mark but Erskine continued to pressure.
Round 3 - Joe came out hard again, going against his usual style but trying to work the eye. There was more grinding of heads in the clinch. Cooper moved out and began working his jab. It did its job and now Joe was showing signs of wear around his eye.
We didn't have the fifth round but according to the commentary it was very similar to the previous round.
Round 5 - The round began with a trade of jabs, contrasting their styles. Cooper's left eye seemed to have stopped bleeding. Erskine went to out-boxing again, using his footwork. He now seemed to have abandoned the advantage he felt he could press from previously and was now using the tactics that had won him the previous two fights. Cooper stuck to his slugger approach, looking to land the bigger shots. Just prior to the end of the round a straight right stunned Erskine. It was followed up with a staggering left hook on the bell. Immediately Benny Jacobs came out to complain the referee that Cooper had fouled. Jacobs was furious but directed back to Erskine's corner where work was underway to revive the clearly dazed Joe.
Round 6 - The round opened with the referee drawing both fighters into the middle of the ring and issued a warning a Cooper. However, there was no instruction to deduct a point. Joe took to the outside again and Cooper stalked him. Henry's jab and hook, repeatedly found their mark as Erskine moved in. A clinch followed with more visible head-butting. Although Cooper dominated the round and Joe's face was looking puffier, the Welshman caught his English opponent with a good shot to the jaw in the closing seconds.
Round 7 - Erskine was in early with a left hook to the body. Henry continued to pick off jabs from the centre of the ring. He generally stuck to this punch for the time being, maintaining the distance. Erskine's jabs didn't appear to be very effective at this point and instead took a visible cut over his left eye. Some inside boxing saw Joe landing more shots before the end of the round.
We skipped to round 10.
Round 10 - Erskine continued to circle and regularly get caught by Cooper's superior reach. Cooper missed with a rare right hand and then with his patented left hook. Seeing that Erskine's footwork was his main strength, Cooper forced a clinch and landed a good body shot that visibly hurt Joe. Nevertheless, the challenger shifted to the outside and pumped away with his jab. This was Cooper's round with Joe looking quite tired.
Round 11 - Cooper began bringing his right hand into play as his left hook was missing. A clinch saw Erskine receive a warning for rabbit punching. Despite having a loveable reputation outside of the ring, Cooper was no gentleman inside it and this was shown by no interest in touching gloves after the intervention. In fact, he lunged in with his left hook. As Erskine tried to negotiate his way in with his jabs, the hammer started landing with good effect. Cooper punched his opponent away into the ropes, knocking his head back with visible force. Joe was clearly hurt and began staggering. He held on in time for the bell.
Round 12 - The pattern resumed. Erskine jabbed from the outside but he couldn't make any headway, instead getting hit by Henry's hammer. A right from Joe found its target but had no effect on Cooper. In response, Henry landed body shots that slowed Joe down to a walk. A clinch saw the champion land a series of left hooks going in unanswered. Joe used his jab defensively and again tried to land with the right but Cooper just absorbed them. He replied with a left hook-straight right-left uppercut combination that sent the challenger reeling backwards. Leaving his hands low, Erskine was then caught with jab-right straight-left hook combination that threw him backwards into the corner post and to the canvas.
The challenger took a seven count as he scrambled to his feet. Cooper was back in with vigour and knocked his opponent down with a left hook. Erskine rose again and straight back into another Cooper onslaught. A downward right to the jaw was combined with his patented upward angled hook, followed immediately by another, a right and then a third left hook all hitting their mark. Erskine fell like a tree his back arched over the bottom rope and there he remained as his corner crew rushed over to him. He had been stopped at 2 minutes and 55 seconds.
Henry Cooper remained British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion. He would fight only twice in 1960, out-pointing the USA's Roy Harris and Argentina's Alex Miteff. The British and Commonwealth titles would put on the line in 1961 when he would face Joe Erskine for a fourth time. Erskine had also only fought twice in 1960, stopping Jose Gonzalez Sales from Spain in round five and out-pointing Ulli Ritter of Germany.
Next lesson we will round off 1960 with Sugar Ray Robinson's attempts to regain the middleweight championship of the world first by facing the NYSAC/Ring lineal holder, Paul Pender, in their rematch and then from the NBA champion, Gene Fullmer, in their rubber match.
Sugar Ray Robinson versus Paul Pender NYSAC and Ring World Middleweight Championship 10.06.1960
After losing to Pender at the beginning of 1960 on a split decision Robinson knocked out Tony Baldoni in one round. Pender took no more fights before his rematch with the former champion.
Robinson had credited Pender for being the first fighter to have better legs than him but he said the trouble was he used them to run away. Robinson came in at 159 lbs and Pender was 160 lbs.
The fight took place at the Boston Garden in Boston.
From the highlight reel it appeared that Robinson dominated the early rounds and the majority of the fight. Despite being almost 40 and being a veteran of some 154 fights, he looked extremely fit and agile. Their previous fight had seen a split decision going to Pender and, although I believe Robinson was the real winner, it had been a tight fight. This time it really looked like he was stepping up his game. All his greatest hits were unleashed from body jabs, to left hooks to bolo punches. However, any plans to knock out the champion were not going to bear fruit. The closest he got was a knockdown.
For Pender's part, I am surprised he did not get caught for at least rabbit punching. One viewer of the entire fight said he counted 150 illegal shots thrown by the champion. However, we also have to remember that Robinson's brilliance was also often punctuated with a deadly kidney shot and he was all too keen to trade kidney and rabbit punches in the clinch.
Pender definitely came back in the later rounds and it was here that we saw Old Father Time catching up with Sugar Ray. He looked tired and weary. Pender's highpoint was a short right hook to the jaw he smuggled into a clinch that, together, with a shove left Robinson hanging over the middle rope. However, I do not believe this was enough. Robinson was still very much in the game and, along with his performance for over half the fight, combined with his ability to still land impactful punches should have been plenty to sway the judges.
This was not to be. The fight was another split decision. It was a repeat verdict with the same referee voting for Robinson and the judges giving it to Pender. Rather shockingly, one judge only gave Robinson one round. Unless this highlight reel was extremely selective towards Robinson, I cannot see how this could happen. There are theories that a message was being sent to Robinson during the fight and previous one, after his 18 month dispute over the title.
Again, Robinson's side called foul but the decision stayed. Pender was the first man to beat Sugar Ray Robinson twice in a row. Times remained turbulent for Robinson. Not only had he lost his beloved his sister but divorce proceedings began with his wife. Furthermore, his tax problems hadn't gone away.
Next time, we will finish out 1960 with Sugar Ray Robinson's attempt to take the NBA version of
the middleweight
title away from Gene Fullmer.
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