Henry Cooper

Presenter0:00

This download is the only extract the BBC has of this edition of Desert Island Discs. The presenter was Roy Plumley.

Presenter0:08

Henry what

Henry Cooper0:09

What part of London do you come from?

Presenter0:10

Uh

Henry Cooper0:10

Uh, South London.

Henry Cooper0:12

Roy, you know, we we've always lived that part of London. Now I live in North London, but we was born and brought up in South London. You're a twin, aren't you? I am, yes, I've got a brother George, yes. What was your first job when you left school?

Henry Cooper0:23

We worked in a sheet metal factory. Uh hard work, but it uh filled us out and brought us out I suppose. Yes, your brother took up the same loan. He did, yes, for a while. Yes.

Presenter0:31

Yes.

Henry Cooper0:31

Bye.

Presenter0:31

Get it long?

Henry Cooper0:32

No, no, not too long, because they see what we was a bit big for our aid, so we was given all the nice heavy jobs of uh stack that metal there and do this and that. So uh we left that job. I went into the building game, like just labouring, and uh my brother went into the upholstery training.

Presenter0:38

Metal there and

Henry Cooper0:47

How did you first get interested in b

Presenter0:48

Was this at school?

Henry Cooper0:51

No, well I think it started a bit earlier than that, Roy. We had an uncle who bought us a set of gloves, me and my brother, so and actually when we had the relatives here, me and George was showing off like punching hell out of each other.

Presenter1:01

Yeah.

Henry Cooper1:01

And it lature from there. My dad sort of done the usual thing, got down on his knees and uh sparred with us, showed us how to shape up and it we just took it up from there. Was it was your dad a boxer? Dad done um amateur boxing in the army, but his father, my grandfather, was a good fighter. He he

Presenter1:11

Play tongue.

Henry Cooper1:17

Travelled round England with the old uh middleweight champion Ted Pritchard. He was a professional. He was a professional, he fought bare knuckle.

Presenter1:23

That's what I'm saying.

Henry Cooper1:24

So it's really

Presenter1:24

Purely in the blood.

Henry Cooper1:25

Yeah.

Presenter1:25

Oh, yes.

Henry Cooper1:26

Yeah.

Presenter1:27

You won your first championship at at fourteen, I believe.

Presenter1:30

Oh yes, that was, um, youth boxing, I suppose.

Henry Cooper1:33

South East Divisional Championship.

Presenter1:34

And then, well at seventeen you were the youngest ever amateur senior uh light heavyweight champion.

Henry Cooper1:40

Yes, I won that in 52. I was like before I was 18. Yes, and when then went on to the Olympic Games in 52 in Helsinki. Yes, how did you

Presenter1:44

So

Henry Cooper1:48

Right.

Henry Cooper1:49

Well, uh I got a bye in the first series and then uh met a Russian in the second series and lost on points. I thought I'd won, but uh that's how it goes. You have to accept these things.

Presenter1:56

You know, cooks.

Henry Cooper1:58

And then you did a lot of Boxing in the army Mandy Army and Imperial services titles. That's right, and then we went on

Henry Cooper2:04

In the same year, to win the ABA Championship again in 1953 through the Army.

Presenter2:09

When did you do that?

Henry Cooper2:09

When did you describe

Presenter2:09

The

Henry Cooper2:10

the term professional when

Presenter2:10

Yeah.

Henry Cooper2:11

Who left the other?

Presenter2:11

Probably.

Henry Cooper2:11

Well when we left the army, though I'd already been introduced to Jim Wicks, our manager now, because my trainer, Georgie Page, uh took us to meet him, but uh he advised us to stay amateur while we were in the army and then we would turn pro when we came out, which we did. Mhm. You and George? Me and George, yeah.

Presenter2:27

And was it hard slugging at first?

Henry Cooper2:30

Well, it is hard work because you have to keep an a normal job on. You have to go to work during the day. Then we was um back in the evening in the gym, like working out in the gym.

Presenter2:38

You are back.

Henry Cooper2:38

You are back.

Presenter2:39

The

Henry Cooper2:39

The building dread. Oh yes, back at plastering, yeah, yeah.

Presenter2:42

What was your first important professional fight? What put you on the map first?

Henry Cooper2:47

Well, I suppose I had the normal uh six and eight round type of fights and then we started fighting like continental champions and started winning. But I think the uh at that time when I got on a bit, I went through a rough period in my career. I had three or four fights, lost three or four on the trot, and so we went to Germany. We had three fights there, which I'd done well, and then I um

Henry Cooper3:06

I think got my confidence back a bit. We came back to England and then uh fought Dick Richards at Polfkall. We stopped him in five rounds and I think that was a turning point in my career.

Presenter3:15

Uh

Henry Cooper3:16

Uh

Presenter3:16

And in nineteen fifty nine you took the British and Empire Heavyweight Champion title from uh Brian London, and this is a title you've defended and held now for for seven years. For seven years, now come

Henry Cooper3:27

Yes. If we uh hold the title till uh November this year, I think we beat uh old Mama dear Billy Wells' whole record. He he's the longest reigning so far. How many fights did it take you to reach that peak?

Henry Cooper3:39

Well, I suppose thirty, you know, thirty odd fights to get up to the first title fight, you know. Yeah.

Presenter3:45

So, Henry, at Highbury you fight Cassius Clay for the World Heavyweight Championship. You're only the fourth British fighter in the last thirty years to have a girl.

Henry Cooper3:53

Yes, quite correct, yes.

Presenter3:54

And this will be the first World Championship to be decided in this country since

Henry Cooper3:58

For sixty odd years.

Presenter4:00

Yeah.

Presenter4:00

But this is because the money involved is so big and ordinarily it can only be raised in America.

Henry Cooper4:05

Yes, well previous to this in America you had this closed circuit television thing which uh outdone us every time. Well now we've got it over here, we can compete with them and uh as you can see we've offered them

Henry Cooper4:17

Good money.

Presenter4:18

Yes. Uh Cassius Gray is going to get what hundred thousand pounds.

Henry Cooper4:20

Hundred thousand.

Presenter4:21

And you're going to get a good share too.

Henry Cooper4:24

Well, I'm getting well paid. Not as much as that, to tell the truth, but I mean, uh, I'm quite happy with what I'm getting, so everyone's happy. How much of Yeah.

Presenter4:31

Yeah.

Henry Cooper4:31

Yeah.

Presenter4:32

Uh

Henry Cooper4:32

it is to be fighting on home territory. Oh, a big advantage. I mean you can't uh you can't be fighting in front of your own people. I mean usually a world champion makes the challenger come to him. Well this time we've made him come to us.

Presenter4:42

Uh

Henry Cooper4:42

Uh Uh

Presenter4:43

You're in intensive training now. Have you any particular views about training, any special diet, for example?

Henry Cooper4:48

Uh

Henry Cooper4:49

Uh no, not really. I've trained for fifteen round championship fights before, like in my own title, my British title of defences, so uh I know in my mind what I've got to do for fifteen rounds. The only thing is uh a week or so before the uh fight I uh cut all uh starchy foods out and uh just concentrate mainly on uh steaks and salads.

Presenter5:08

Now the first World Heavyweight Championship fight on British soil for sixty years is obviously going to be the occasion for a big offensive by that very vocal group that wants boxing banned altogether.

Presenter5:20

These are extremist views, but do you think, Henry, that boxing in some way or another ought to be made less dangerous?

Henry Cooper5:27

Well, I think all steps have been taken uh to make boxing list owner. I mean, the only thing I believe I'm a great believer in it is uh like medical supervision. I mean boxers should have uh medicals once, twice a year. They can never be examined.

Henry Cooper5:40

Uh too much for my liking.

Henry Cooper5:42

And I mean, and boxing nowadays is is governed. We've got a strong boxing ball to control. I mean, it's supervised, right? I mean, I'm only talking about it in Britain. I can't talk for these other countries.

Presenter5:50

Accounts

Henry Cooper5:52

But I mean uh if you're banned in England, you're banned uh everywhere. It's different to in America. If you're banned in one state, they hop over the state line and box somewhere else.

Presenter6:02

Uh

Henry Cooper6:02

Are you on

Presenter6:02

Commander Jim Wicks has proclaimed that he wants a strict watch on the exact length of bandage used by Cassius Clay on his hands and that you will have exactly the same. Is this a very important factor in a fight?

Henry Cooper6:13

Oh yes, it is. All um taping and bandaging rounds is a big in factor because I think what he's been complaining about or he's trying to bring a point up is because an American came over here a few years ago and had or

Henry Cooper6:25

an unknown amount of plaster and badge on his hands which like made his hands rock hard. And he was threatening to pull out the fight on the night and there was the right rumpus over it. So I suppose he wants all these things ironed out before we get to the stadium. He also wants a limitation on the number of men working in Clay's Corner

Henry Cooper6:42

Well yes, we've got four. Boxing border control rules state that we you can have four seconds in your corner. I think last time Mr Clay fought me over here when he was in trouble I think half the stadium was in his corner. There was thirteen millionaires who represent him. There was corner men. Hey there was so many there you couldn't see what was going on in the corner so I suppose Jim wants to get this ironed out all before we're in there with him.