“Smokin´” Bert Cooper entered this world on January 10, 1966 in Sharon Hill, a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. 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 Gross (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 Gross 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 a big cruiserweight fight 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 knockdowns in the second round secured him the upset triumph, and firmly shot him towards the top of the 190-pound division.
Cooper successfully defeated future WBO 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 beating Cuban-born Carlos Hernandez (18-3-1) in eight rounds, and demolishing Olympic silver-medalist Willie De Wit (15-0-1), in De Wit's native Canada, in non-title fights.
On June 21, 1987, Cooper fought world class contender Carl “The Truth” Williams (17-2). 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 at that point, 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, where he beat Andre McCall (13-0-1) and Tony Fulilangi (36-1-2). 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, 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, 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 stopped heavyweight Orlin Norris (22-1) in round eight on February 17,1990.
Six months later he lost to Ray Mercer (15-0), an Olympic gold medal-winner who would later win the WBO world title.
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 heavyweight 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 rib 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 knockdown, 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, 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 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 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 heavyweight 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 upstart Anthony Green (7-2), and was stripped of the WBF 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.
Cooper was a real danger man both at cruiserweight and 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. His final record stands at 38-25 with 31 KOs.
