{"id":9743,"date":"2011-04-23T15:22:47","date_gmt":"2011-04-23T19:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=9743"},"modified":"2011-04-23T15:22:47","modified_gmt":"2011-04-23T19:22:47","slug":"smokin-bert-cooper-returns-to-the-boxing-ring-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=9743","title":{"rendered":"Smokin\u2019 Bert Cooper Returns to the Boxing Ring Tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Geno McGahee<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tonight in Miami, former heavyweight title challenger \u201cSmokin\u201d Bert Cooper, 38-22, 31 KO\u2019s, returns to the ring at the age of 45 to take on undefeated and untested Cuban heavyweight, Luis Ortiz, 7-0, 5 KO\u2019s, in a ten round bout.<\/p>\n

Cooper made his boxing debut at cruiserweight in 1984, and was an immediate hit due to his style, power, and relationship with Joe Frazier, one that would go sour permanently. He won his first 10 fights, 9 by knockout, 7 in the first round, before he lost to Reggie Gross. He rebounded with a decision win over Olympic Medalist Henry Tillman.<\/p>\n

In 1987, Cooper stepped up to heavyweight to take on Carl \u201cThe Truth\u201d Williams, but the size proved too much for him and he would succumb to \u201cThe Truth\u201d in 8 rounds. By 1989, he was a journeyman with drug problems. He was hand selected by George Foreman during his comeback and was beaten into submission in two rounds.<\/p>\n

In 1990, Olympic Gold Medalist, \u201cMerciless\u201d Ray Mercer took on Cooper in a 12 round NABF Heavyweight Title fight, and in the first round, Cooper hit the floor, giving the impression that we were in for another stoppage loss for \u201cSmokin\u201d but he rebounded and showed the heart that would later define his career. He went toe to toe with Mercer for 12 rounds and put himself back on the map of heavyweight contenders, although he would lose the decision.<\/p>\n

In his next fight, he would get a shot at the undefeated Riddick Bowe on the undercard of Evander Holyfield \u2013 Buster Douglas PPV, and the size would be far too much for him to handle again. Bowe kept him on the outside and at the end of his punches, dropping him in two rounds and finishing him before the round\u2019s end. Cooper at 5 feet 11 inches, couldn\u2019t cope with a 6 foot 5 heavyweight.<\/p>\n

Four victories, including one over top 10 contender Joe Hipp, along with a drop out of two heavyweights, Mike Tyson and Francesco Damiani, led to a title fight against Evander Holyfield in 1991. It was Cooper\u2019s shining moment, being the first man to knock down Holyfield and continually hurt him until Holyfield courageously fought back, forcing Mills Lane to stop the fight. Larry Merchant yelled \u201cthank you Bert Cooper\u201d at the conclusion of the fight, and it was followed by a comment that the crowd would not have gotten this much action from a Damiani fight, even if the two were to fight on the trip over. Cooper\u2019s loss was a victory and led to a shot at the vacant WBO Title against Michael Moorer.<\/p>\n

In the first thirty seconds of the first round, Moorer was down. Moorer rebounded and would knock Cooper down at the end of the round. The two would trade knockdowns again, but in the end, the world title would elude Cooper and leave the ring with another knockout loss.<\/p>\n

Since that loss, he has gone 11-13, 7 KO\u2019s, and will be fighting a 6 foot 4 heavyweight in Ortiz tonight. Cooper still has some personal demons that interfere with his life and at 45 and his courage may combine to make a dangerous situation. Expect Cooper to be stopped early tonight, unless he lands his big punch, which he still certainly possesses.<\/p>\n

Smokin\u2019 Bert Cooper was a great part of the heavyweight scene in the 1990s, going toe to toe with Michael Moorer, Ray Mercer, and Evander Holyfield, and may have captured the heavyweight title if he didn\u2019t have the problems outside of the ring. Now he fights on for money and as a stepping stone for a heavyweight hopeful.<\/p>\n

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By Geno McGahee Tonight in Miami, former heavyweight title challenger \u201cSmokin\u201d Bert Cooper, 38-22, 31 KO\u2019s, returns to the ring at the age of 45 to take on undefeated and untested Cuban heavyweight, Luis Ortiz, 7-0, 5 KO\u2019s, in a ten round bout. Cooper made his boxing debut at cruiserweight in 1984, and was an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2821,105,319],"class_list":["post-9743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-bert-cooper","tag-boxing","tag-heavyweight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}