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Former WBF World Heavyweight
Champion “Smokin´” Bert
Cooper entered this
world on January 10, 1966 in
Sharon Hill, a borough in
Delaware County, Pennsylvania,
USA.
Initially a Cruiserweight
fighting out of Philadelphia, he
was trained in the early part of
his career by legendary ex-champ
Joe Frazier, from whom he
adopted the famous ring-moniker,
and quickly got a reputation as
a murderous puncher, winning
nine of his first ten outings by
knockout.
Seven of his first ten victims,
between September 1984 and
December 1985, were dispatched
already in the first round,
including capable foes such as
Lorenzo Boyd (8-2), Jim Jones
(5-2) and Cedric Parsons (11-2).
And Cooper had not yet turned
twenty years old!
So it was something of a
surprise when his climb was
temporarily halted on January
31, 1986 on a show promoted by
Top Rank at the Trump Casino
Hotel in Atlantic City.
Baltimore´s Reginald Cross
(17-3) got a stoppage victory in
eight rounds, sending Bert
Cooper back to the drawing
board.
Just over two months later he
returned to “the scene of the
crime”, eager to show the loss
to Cross had not deterred him.
It took him ten rounds to get
rid of tough Oscar Holman
(10-6-1), but he was back in the
win-column and again ready for
bigger challenges.
And a big challenge he got, as
he was matched against 1984
Olympic Heavyweight
gold-medalist Henry Tillman
(10-0) on June 15, 1986. Tillman
had won the NABF Cruiserweight
title two months earlier,
stopping Bash Ali in one round,
and was a clear favorite to
retain his belt against Cooper.
But Bert would have none of it,
and grinded out a close but
deserved unanimous decision
victory by scores of 115-112,
115-113 and 114-113. Two
knock-downs in the second round
secured him the upset triumph,
and firmly shot him towards the
top of the Cruiserweight
division.
Cooper successfully defended the
NABF title against future WBO
World Champion Tyrone Booze
(11-4-2) and Spencer Chavis
(19-1), but unable to secure a
shot at a Cruiserweight world
title he eventually decided to
try his luck at Heavyweight.
He started his Heavyweight run
by impressively beating
Cuban-born Carlos Hernandez
(18-3-1) in eight rounds, and
demolishing Olympic
silver-medalist Willie de Wit
(15-0-1), in the challengers
native Canada, in non-title
fights.
On June 21, 1987, with the USBA
title on the line, Cooper fought
world class contender Carl “The
Truth” Williams (17-2), who held
high rankings by several
sanctioning bodies. It was
understood that a win would
catapult Cooper close to a world
Heavyweight title shot.
But it was not yet to be.
Televised to millions of viewers
by CBS, Williams, who had only
lost to Mike Weaver and Larry
Holmes, floored Cooper in the
first round, and while Cooper
beat the count of referee Randy
Neumann he couldn't establish
any momentum thereafter.
After seven rounds of one-way
traffic, more or less, trainer
Joe Frazier refused to allow
cooper to come out for round
eight. It appeared, at least for
the time-being, that “The Big
Boys” were not for Bert, and he
returned to Cruiserweight.
Still the NABF champion, Cooper
made title-defenses against
Andre McCall (13-0-1) and Tony
Fulilangi (36-1-2), making it
clear that he was still one of
the best in that weight-class.
However, and upset-loss to
Everett “Bigfoot” Martin
(16-5-1) in a non-title fight,
probably was a sign of things to
come.
As it would turn out, Bert
Cooper blew hot and cold for the
better part of the next
twenty-five years. He retained
the NABF title once more,
stopping Tony Morrison (16-7-1),
before losing the championship
to Nate Miller (13-1) in
February of 1989.
While it was not shame losing to
Miller, who went on to win the
WBA World title and make five
defenses, the disappointment
made Cooper return to
Heavyweight in search of bigger
pay-days. Some might say that
not having to make weight, was
another good reason.
In his Heavyweight Comeback
fight Cooper retired after two
rounds against George Foreman
(62-2), with no sign of serious
injuries. He also tested
positive for cocaine after the
bout, and it was becoming clear
that, while always a dangerous
opponent, Bert Cooper often beat
himself before his opponent.
He rebounded with two
low-profile victories, before
proving that he, on his good
days, should still be considered
a world class fighter when he
won the NABF Heavyweight title
by stopping reigning champion
Orlin Norris (22-1) in round
eight on February 17,1990.
Six months later he lost the
title to Ray Mercer (15-0), an
Olympic gold medal-winner who
would later win the WBO World
title, and Cooper finished 1990
on a low as Riddick Bowe (19-0)
stopped him in two rounds in Las
Vegas.
Four knockout victories over
Loren Ross (17-1), Conroy Nelson
(19-14-2), Anthony Wade (14-1)
and Joe Hipp (21-1) kept Cooper
relevant in the sports glamour
division, despite his erratic
behavior and occasional poor
performances.
So when unified WBC, WBA and IBF
World Champion Evander Holyfield
(26-0) needed a short-notice
challenger for November 21, 1991
in Atlanta, Cooper happily
stepped in.
Holyfield had first been
scheduled to fight Mike Tyson,
who pulled out with a rip
injury. Then substitute
Francesco Damiani pulled out due
to an ankle injury, and in came
Cooper when a career-high purse
of 750.000 USD was offered to
him.
And, in a marvelous
back-and-forth fight televised
by HBO, Cooper almost pulled off
what would have been one of the
biggest upsets in Heavyweight
history. Holyfield floored the
challenger with a body shot in
the first round, but Cooper came
back strong and almost knocked
Holyfield out in round three.
A massive right hand hurt “Real
Deal” badly, and when a
follow-up barrage send him
reeling into the ropes referee
Miles Lane called it a
knock-down, the first of
Holyfield´s career, as the ropes
prevented him from going down.
Unfortunately for Cooper,
Holyfield convinced Lane that he
could continue and managed to
weather the storm. In round five
Cooper was hurt again, from a
series of punches, but he kept
on battling. Unlike previous
incidents where some felt he
quit too easily, this time
Cooper was going out on his
shield.
Cut and bleeding from his mouth,
Cooper made it through the fifth
and sixth round, but with two
seconds left in the seventh
Mills Lane had seen enough as
Holyfield battered Cooper with
twenty-four unanswered punches.
A prime example of gaining in
defeat, Cooper was held in
higher esteem than ever after
his valiant, and almost
miraculous, performance against
fellow WBF World Champion
Holyfield. As a consequence, he
would not have to wait long for
his second shot at world honors.
In February of 1992 he returned
to the ring with a second round
stoppage of Cecil Coffee
(20-3-2), which set up a fight
against Michael Moorer (28-0)
for the vacant WBO World
Heavyweight title. And again it
would be a case of “almost” for
Cooper.
In Atlantic City on May 15,
1992, both fighters were down in
the opening stanza, before
Cooper knocked Moorer down again
in round three. Cooper was
floored a second time in round
five, and the fight was stopped
after an all-out brawl which was
called the Fight of the Year by
many.
Over the next five years Cooper
beat the likes of David Jaaco
(24-21-1), Rocky Pepeli
(16-4-1), Mike Robinson
(6-16-1), George Harris (2-17),
and former European Champion
Dereck Williams (19-5), while he
lost to contenders such as Larry
Donald (13-0), Alexander Zolkin
(21-2) and Chris Byrd (20-0).
And, proving that you can never
write Bert Cooper off, he
finally won a world title on
July 29, 1997 at Madison Square
Garden in New York when he
flattened previously unbeaten
Richie Melito (18-0) in the very
first round to win the vacant
WBF crown.
But, this would be the last time
that Cooper “blew hot”. From
that point on there would be a
lot of cold wind coming from
him, and he lost his very next
fight on points over eight
rounds to up-start Anthony Green
(7-2), and was stripped of the
WBF world title.
Five years after the Melito
fight, going 2-5 in seven bouts
since that night at “The Mecca
of Boxing”, he temporarily
retired in 2002. Almost eight
years later he returned, 44
years old, and won two
six-rounders, but finished his
career in September 2012 after
three straight losses.
Bert Cooper was a real
danger-man both at Cruiserweight
and at Heavyweight. When the
stars aligned, he was capable of
beating most opponents, but when
things were not right for him he
could also lose to opponents who
were not supposed to be in his
class.
His professional career spanned
just a few days short of
twenty-eight years. Winning NABF
championships at Cruiserweight
and Heavyweight, and the WBF
World Heavyweight title, scoring
some very notable victories and
fighting several future
Hall-of-Famers, his final record
stands at 38-25 (31).
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