All at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas will honour former British heavyweight champion Sir Henry Cooper with the bell tolling and a minute silence being observed in appreciation of the man who almost knocked out the great Muhammad Ali in 1963. Cooper, who also held European and Commonwealth titles, died on Sunday at the age of 76, two days before his 77th birthday.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes seven-weight world champion Manny Pacquaio, revealed the tribute would take place prior to the main event on Saturday night as Pacquaio defends his WBO welterweight title against three-weight belt holder ?Sugar? Shane Mosley.
?Henry Cooper was one of the great gentlemen of boxing, and it is right that we remember him publically on a grand stage on Saturday night,? explained Arum.
?We will be tolling the bell and paying our respects to Henry. The Ali-Cooper fights are part of a memorable era in boxing. Cooper was one of boxing?s nice guys, and the epitome of an athlete and a gentleman.?
A host of boxing royalty have paid their own tributes in the past week, remembering one of boxing?s true gentle giants. Cooper put the great Ali down in the fight immediately before ?The Greatest? took the world title from Sonny Liston in 1963, knocking him down and almost out in the process. His death has since lead to boxing enthusiasts wondering what might have been, if the bell had not saved Ali at the end of the fourth round.
