Henry Cooper vs Joe Erskine III 17/11/1959 - BBBoC British & Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles

The controversial 3rd encounter between British boxing legends, Henry Cooper and Joes Erskine from Earls Court Arena, London. Henry Cooper certainly got lucky that he wasn't disqualified in this bruising battle. More info below...

Henry Cooper had met Joe Erskine twice before this match, once in 1955 and again in 1957, losing both by unanimous decision. At this point in his career, Henry had been boxing professionally for 5 years and was known for his devastating left hook but he had only really made a name for himself in the past year with big wins over Dick Richardson, world ranked and future World Title challenger Zora Folley and then Brian London earlier in 1959 to win the BBBoC and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles. In Cooper's most recent fight, he forced a stoppage against South African Heavyweight Champion, Gawie de Klerk in the 5th Round. Although Cooper was going in as the defending Champion, he didn't have the best record at 19-7-1.

Joe Erskine had been boxing since 1954 as well but had a few more fights and the better record at 36-3-1. He had won the vacant BBBoC British Heavyweight title and racked up a 29-0-1 record before suffering his first loss, a shock 1st Rd KO to Nino Valdes in 1957. He would bounce back though by beating Henry Cooper and Joe Bygraves before the end of the year. 1958 was a rough year for Erskine, he challenged Ingemar Johansson for the European Heavyweight title but was stopped in 13 and then he lost his BBBoC and Commonwealth titles to Brian London in a bloody encounter. Erskine bounced back strongly again with wins over future World Light Heavyweight Champion Willie Pastrano, Dick Richardson and Italian Heavyweight Champion, Bruno Scarabellin.

Although Cooper was coming in as the Champion and also had a slightly better recent fight record, Erskine was the favorite as he had already beaten Cooper twice, had the better overall record and arguably better experience against top competition. Erskine was fast on his feet, had good technical skills and was a smart fighter but he didn't have a strong punch and possessed a questionable chin. He was also the slightly smaller man. Cooper had a dangerous left hook, an aggressive all action style and a respectable chin but he was also extremely prone to cuts and easy to hit - not a good combination. Cooper played this fight aggressively and pushed the rules to the limit, in fact the referee could of disqualified him twice at different times! In the first round after the ref had called for a break, Cooper would hit Erskine as he was rising from a knee on the canvas and sent Erskine down. The fight hadn't technically been called to resume by the ref and yet the ref did not admonish Cooper for the borderline illegal punch and instead counted it as a knockdown. Erskine would go down 2 or 3 more times in the first round and basically foreshadowed what was to come. Erskine did try hard to fight his way back into it over the next 11 rounds, managing to cut Cooper in the second and give as good as he got in the middle rounds. At the end of Rd 5, Cooper unleashed a snapping left hook just after the bell which landed flush on Erskine's jaw. It didn't drop Erskine, but it would of hurt and Erskine's corner was calling for a DQ but the ref would have none of it, feeling the punch was fair. In Rd 12, Cooper seemed unfazed by Erskine's attack and walked him back into a corner before stunning him with a straight right then dropping him with a straight left. Erskine beat the count but he was tired and hurt, Cooper rushed in with a left uppercut to the stomach to drop Erskine's hands and then followed it with a left hook to jaw and Erskine stumbled to the canvas. Somehow, nose bleeding, tired and hurt, Erskine got to his feet again beating the count but was completely defenseless. Cooper unleashed repeated clean blows to Erskine's head to drop him for the final time, leaving him draped over the bottom rope in a sickening sight almost like his back was broken. It was a dominant, brutal display from Cooper but also highlighted to the division that he wasn't afraid to push the boundaries to get a win.

Erskine would meet Cooper again in 1961 and 1962 but Cooper had his number now, winning both fights by TKO. Although Erskine would remain a fixture in the British heavyweight scene for another 5 years and even picked up a DQ win over George Chuvalo in 1961 in CANADA of all places, he would never win another local title or achieve the level of success he once had. Erskine retired in 1964 following a loss to Billy Walker with a final record of 45-8-1. Cooper of course would go on after this fight to have even bigger battles against Muhammad Ali, Brian London, Floyd Patterson and Karl Mildenberger among others. Cooper eventually retired in 1971 following a controversial loss to a young Joe Bugner, for a final record of 40-14-1.