Henry Cooper (27 page)
Authors: Robert Edwards
And Wicks was entirely right. Jim Wicks had, through the course of his extraordinary life, seen changes in the sport of prizefighting which would have been unimaginable when he fought his one and only professional fight all those years before. Boxing had moved from being on the margins of the law to being respectable, to being immensely popular and, in the period when Henry fought, to becom ing almost a national obsession.
Wicks’s influence on this sport, mainly subliminal, it must be said, had been huge; he had, along the way, worked at every level of it, from fighter to promoter, manager and fixer. He had over his long career observed a great many sadnesses and glories, errors, tragedies and triumphs and he
had paid Henry Cooper out with the full coin of those experiences. Henry is in no doubt that Wicks was, professionally, the best thing that ever happened to him; he still feels a profound sense of honour that by the time he retired he was the only boxer left in Wicks’ organization, such as it was by then; indeed that Wicks had gone on in the fight game longer than he had to purely to work with him.
A cynic might say that Henry was actually the best thing to happen to Wicks, and it is hard to disagree, but in reality the relationship between these two men was a quite unique symbiosis, based upon a rare blend of mutual self-interest, but fully balanced by great affection. For Wicks, his approach to life was reflected by that plain statement that might well have served as his epitaph: ‘The game, son, must be played.’ For Henry, there was a more important aspect to the role that Wicks played in his life, as Albina related his own words to me: ‘He always told me, “All my life, I wanted to be somebody.”’
Well, I am pleased to be able to report – he is.
*
With great irony, this same friend was later invited to join an insurance syndicate (when it became clear that after half a century of hard graft he was clearly worth a few bob). His response was logical, if somewhat brutal ‘Why the hell am I going to hand over my hard-earned cash to some twit with no O-levels? Bugger off.’
Key to abbreviations:
KO – Knockout
RSF – Referee Stopped Fight
W – HC Wins
L – HC Loses
DW – Draw
PTS – Henry Cooper Wins or Loses on points decision
DISQ – fight decided on disqualification
RET – Loser retired (corner or throws in towel)
Henry Cooper sparring in the ring with his twin brother George in 1955 at a gym run by their manager, Jim Wicks, in South London.
Presenting the Getaway Trophy to The Beatles. Paul McCartney accepts the trophy, whilst Ringo Starr playfully puts his fists up to Henry Cooper. July 9, 1964.
Training at the
Thomas á Becket
in 1966.
Henry poses with his three Lonsdale belts representing British and Empire heavyweight championships in 1968.
A proud moment for Henry and his family – receiving his OBE at Buckingham Palace, London, on 11 February 1969.
Henry shows off the power behind his punch at a demonstration in December 1969.
Celebrating after regaining the European heavyweight title after beating Jose Manuel Urtain of Spain in nine rounds at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London, on November 10 1970.
Henry Cooper, at home, with his trophies in February 1971.
Taking a break from the ring and playing a game with his family.
Henry Cooper at a function with his old boxing rival Muhammad Ali in 1984.
Henry Cooper at the Sports Industry Awards 2008 in London.