ALL FOR THE GLOVE OF ALI
The (not quite undisputed) story of what happened to 1963 memento
A TORN glove said to be part of boxing history is expected to fetch €580,000 after bidders slug it out at auction.
Muhammad Ali – then known as Cassius Clay – wore the glove in his famous clash with Britain’s Henry Cooper at Wembley Stadium in 1963.
Ali was a heavy favourite but Cooper landed a huge left hook – known as ’Enry’s ’Ammer – at the end of the fourth round sending the unbeaten Ali tumbling to the canvas.
Still badly dazed between rounds, Ali is said to have been saved from a knockout by trainer Angelo Dundee who spotted a tear in his left glove that he widened in an attempt to give his fighter more recovery time. But Dundee’s calls for a replacement were overruled by the referee and Ali was sent out for the fifth round.
He tore into Cooper, opening a horrific cut over the brave Brit’s left eye which ended the fight.
Londoner Cooper, who died in 2011 aged 76, was one of only three men to ever knock down Ali. He recalled: “I jabbed once, twice, three times. Every time, he went back. But now he was on the ropes – he couldn’t go any further.
“The fourth punch hit him, a genuine left hook, with all my power behind it.” Ali, who died aged 74 in 2016, said: “The punch he put me down with was the hardest I have ever taken.”
Stuart Bull, 53, of Chard Auctions in Somerset, says the glove was returned to makers Baily’s, based in
Glastonbury, after the fight. It remained there until Richard Mayers, a since-deceased managing director, gave the glove to his partner.
Her son, Simon Hawkins, 54, of Seaton, Devon, is now selling the glove. Mr Bull said: “As it was split in the match, it was sent back to Baily’s for inspection and that’s where it stayed.”
It goes on sale on June 18, the 61th anniversary of the fight, and is expected to fetch €580,000.
But the glove’s title is
not undisputed. Auction house Christie’s sold a pair including what was said to be the same glove for €43,950 in 2001. And gloves from the fight were put on display at London’s O2 Arena in 2016 in an exhibition about Ali called I Am The Greatest.
Mr Bull insists the latest glove is “genuine” and that the owner would submit it for DNA testing to prove it.
He claimed: “The gloves sold by Christie’s are not the real deal.
“There was no provenance – it was just hearsay. They had no proof of connection to the match.
“There’s going to be blood all over the glove that belongs to Cooper.
“My client is prepared for DNA testing. They are that confident.”
Christie’s, based in central London, declined to comment.
The punch Henry put me down with was the hardest I have ever taken MUHAMMAD ALI LOOKING BACK ON THE WEMBLEY BOUT