Sir Henry Cooper

Sir Henry Cooper was a British heavyweight who held British/Commonwealth/European titles for over a decade and famously floored Ali before losing on cuts.

Henry Cooper was born on 3 May 1934 in Lambeth, London, England, alongside his identical twin brother George, and grew up in a council house on the Bellingham Estate in southeast London. The family was evacuated to Sussex during the Second World War while their father served in Burma, and Henry took various odd jobs, including delivering newspapers, before his twin brother's interest in boxing led him to the Bellingham Boxing Club. Cooper compiled an outstanding amateur record before turning professional, winning 73 of 84 amateur bouts, and developed into the most beloved British heavyweight of his generation, renowned for a devastating left hook nicknamed "Enry's 'Ammer." Cooper's most famous moment came on 18 June 1963 against a young, undefeated Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali): Cooper dramatically floored Clay at the end of the fourth round, only for Clay's trainer Angelo Dundee to gain extra recovery time by highlighting a split glove, and Clay went on to stop the badly cut Cooper in the fifth round. The two met again in a 1966 world title fight, which Cooper also lost on cuts. Cooper was twice voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and remains the only British boxer ever to be awarded a knighthood. He retired in 1971 following a controversial loss to Joe Bugner, and remained one of Britain's most cherished sporting figures until his death on 1 May 2011, at age 76.

Orthodox stance with devastating left hook, strong chin, crowd favorite

British boxing legend who became the only fighter to win Lonsdale Belt outright three times

• OBE 1969
• Knight Bachelor 2000
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1967, 1970