TBG Book Review: The Big If: Johnny Owen

The Boxing Glove Sunday Night Book Review By Peter Silkov 

"The Big If: The Life And Death Of Johnny Owen"

Written By Rick Broadbent

“The Big If: The Life And Death Of Johnny Owen” is the story of Johnny Owen, Merthyr’s “Matchstick Man,” who rose from his humble beginnings in a council house in Merthyr, to win the Welsh, Commonwealth, British, and European Bantamweight titles. Owen was an unlikely boxer, both in looks, and personality. He was softly spoken, painfully shy, and self-effacing, and his 5’ foot 6" inch frame was almost emaciated. Yet, when he was inside a boxing ring with his gloves on, Owen became someone else, he was a confident and aggressive fighter, a marvel of perpetual motion, who refused to take a backward step in his fights, and never seemed to tire. Physically, Owen looked like a gust of wind could blow him over, rather than someone who would stand toe-to-toe with the best fighters in the world at his weight; yet, his skeletal frame housed an almost frightening strength, determination, and fitness. Although he lacked a big knockout punch, he would overwhelm and wear his opponents down with the intensity, and tirelessness of his attacks.

Owen’s idol was the legendary Jimmy Wilde, also a Welshman, who ruled the Flyweight division in the 1910s and early 1920s, and who had a similarly skeletal frame like Johnny.

“The Big If” is the story of Johnny’s unlikely rise to boxing stardom that culminated in him challenging Lupe Pintor for the WBC world bantamweight championship on September 19, 1980.  It was a fight that would cost Johnny Owen his life. After shocking the largely Mexican crowd in Los Angeles by going toe-to-toe with their idol Pintor, Owen fell into a coma after being knocked out in the 12th round. Owen would linger in a coma for almost two months, before dying on November 4, 1980, at 24 years old.

The title of this book is taken from the final entry Johnny made in his dairy on the night before his fight with Pintor ‘Hope everything comes right on the night. If Only. It’s a big if.’

Rick Broadbent paints a vivid picture of Owen’s early life, and his closeness to his family, especially his father Dick who had first taught Johnny to box, along with his brothers, in the front room of their Merthyr council house. There is also a second thread in this book, focusing on the life of Johnny’s opponent on that fateful night of September 19, 1980. Lupe Pintor had a horrific upbringing in his native Mexico, where he endured extreme poverty and regular beatings from his abusive father, and found himself living on the streets by the age of 8 years old.

This is a very powerful bittersweet story in which we see two young men who are striving for better lives, totally dedicated to the harshest, yet, most viscerally rewarding sport in the world. Their fate and bodies collided together one September night, changing their lives, and the lives of the people around them forever.

Some have viewed Owen’s life as a tragedy, but that is to ignore the tremendous achievements of his comparatively brief but impressive boxing career.  Up until his fight with Pintor, Owen had never been floored once in all of his 124 amateur contests and 27 previous professional fights. He was, right up until his final fatal fight, a true little iron man.

Ultimately, despite the sadness of Johnny‘s death, The Big If is an uplifting experience. It says a lot about the power of the human spirit and the strength of love and forgiveness.  On November 2, 2002, a statue of Johnny Owen was erected in Merthyr and the person who unveiled it was Lupe Pintor. Months before, Johnny’s Father, Dick, had flown to Mexico to meet Pintor for the first time since Johnny’s death. It was a journey of closure and forgiveness.

Perhaps one of the most poignant things to come through in this book is how deeply, and enduringly, Johnny Owen touched so many people, not just those who he knew on a day-to-day basis in Wales, but many who had never met him, but simply heard of his exploits in the ring.

Ironically, it became known that Johnny had been born with an unusually strong jawbone, but a weak skull. His fatal injury could have occurred at any time during his amateur or professional boxing career, or even in an accident or incident totally removed from boxing.

Indeed, with the advances in medicine and the introduction of regular cat scans for skull thickness tests for boxers and budding boxers in recent years, the harsh truth is that, if Johnny was starting out on his boxing career today he would not be allowed to take up the sport because of his abnormally thin skull.

It is a haunting and realization.

The thought of Johnny Owen without boxing is completely foreign, as Owen was as much a born fighter as a man can be, and boxing not only defined Johnny, it also gave him a way to express himself.
Rick Broadbent has written a powerfully moving book about Johnny Owen, it is a story of courage, triumph, and tragedy.

Ultimately, Johnny’s life is not a tragedy; he achieved too much and touched so many people in such a positive way that is story his truly inspirational.  The underlying message of Johnny’s life and “The Big If” is the good that can come out of tragedy and how Johnny made such an indelible mark during his short life, that he is unlikely ever to be forgotten.

 
Copyright © 2015 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com

 

Henry Cooper: The Tale of Enry’s Ammer

 

Remembering…Henry Cooper   May 3, 1934 - May 1, 2011

The Tale of Enry’s Ammer
By Peter Silkov

Few British sportsmen have enjoyed the popularity that Henry Cooper gained during his career.  “Our Enry” as Cooper was affectionately known by boxing fans, managed to transcend boxing and achieve the kind of lasting recognition and popularity that few other British fighters have come close to emulating, either before or since.  Cooper was one of only three people to win the BBC Sports personality of the year award twice (in 1967 and 1970.) He was also awarded an OBE in 1970, and in 2000, became the only boxer ever to receive a Knighthood. In terms of the popularity and recognition, which Cooper brought to the sport, and especially the domestic heavyweight division, few fighters have done more for the sport in this country during their careers. On pure ability, Cooper may not have been our greatest heavyweight ever, but he was actually a lot better than some people give him credit for being.

Style-wise, Cooper was a boxer-puncher, aggressive, with a crowd-pleasing mix of good boxing skill, and dynamite punching. Cooper was left-handed, which usually would have made him a southpaw boxer (meaning that he would fight with his right foot forward and leading with the right hand), but Southpaws were generally frowned upon in Copper’s era, especially heavyweight southpaws, so Copper was ’converted’ to an orthodox fighter. This resulted in Cooper developing a very formidable left jab and hook. His trademark punch was his left-hook, which he would fire in vicious uppercut-like swings. Cooper’s left-hook became known amongst his supporters as “Enry’s Ammer.” 

At around 185 to 190 pounds at his best, Cooper was never a very big heavyweight, but he compensated for this with good mobility and fast hands. He often had to give away weight during his career.

Henry Cooper was born on May 3, 1934, (along with his twin brother George) in Lambeth, London. Cooper excelled at sport and was soon learning to box along with his twin brother George. During an amateur career at Eltham Amateur Boxing Club, Cooper compiled a record of 73-11 and won the ABA light-heavyweight championship in 1952 and 1953, before turning professional in 1954, along with George (who fought under the name of Jim, as there was already a George Cooper boxing at heavyweight.)

Managed by the wily Jim Wicks, the Cooper's gained publicity early in their professional careers due to them being fighting twins. It soon became clear that of the two, Henry was the one with the most talent. George would suffer from cuts to an even greater degree than Henry, and he would never come close to achieving the success of his brother inside the ring. Success would not come easy to Henry either.  Following a promising start, where he went 14-2 in his first 2 years as a professional, Cooper went 1-5-1 in seven fights between late 1956 and early 1958. Included in this run of mostly defeats was three title fights in a row; all of which Cooper lost. 

On September 7, 1956, Peter Bates stopped Henry in the 5th round, due to a badly cut eyebrow. Cuts for Henry would prove to be his Achilles heel for the duration of his career.

Five months after his loss to Bates, Cooper challenged Joe Bygraves for the Commonwealth heavyweight championship, and was knocked in the 9th round. 3 months later, Cooper took on Ingemar Johansson for the European heavyweight title and was knocked out in the 5th round.  Four months after the loss to Johansson, on September 17, 1957, Cooper faced Joe Eskine and was out-pointed over 15 rounds.

Cooper was then 1-1-1 in his next three fights, including a disqualification defeat to Erich Schoppener. Such a run of defeats, especially at championship level would have been enough to finish many fighters, or at least reduce their championship ambitions.  Henry, however, bounced back with some of the best wins of his career, beating Dick Richardson and Zora Folley in late 1958. Cooper’s point’s victory over Folley on October 14, 1958, was one of the best results of his career, with Folley being one of the top heavyweights in the world, who at the time was being avoided by many of the other top heavyweights, including the world champion Floyd Patterson.

The victories over Richardson and Folley catapulted Henry right back into title contention, and on January 12, 1959, Cooper won the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles, when he beat Brian London on points after a bloody and brutal classic brawl. It was the beginning of Henry Cooper’s record breaking reign as British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion. He would defend the British title a record 10 times in the next 12 years, winning 3 Lonsdale belts in the process. In this time Cooper would also make 11 defences of the Commonwealth title, and win the European championship 3 times. Coopers exciting defences during the 60s brought a level of popularity and recognition to Britain’s domestic heavyweight scene, seldom seen before, or since. Cooper defended his titles against Joe Erskine, Dick Richardson, Brian London, Johnny Prescott, Jack Bodell, Karl Mildenberger, Jose Manuel Urtain, and Billy Walker. 

During this time, Cooper also took part in a number of non-title fights, suffering a set back in late 1961when he was knocked out in the 2nd round in a rematch with Zora Folley. Cooper, however, gained wins over Wayne Bethea, Roy Harris, and Alex Miteff.

On June 18, 1963, Cooper took on the rising star and future World heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (then still Cassius Clay), at Wembly Stadium, London. In what has become an iconic contest in British boxing folklore, Cooper floored Ali at the end of round 4, only to see the American saved by the bell. The fight was then ended in the next round when Ali launched a furious attack upon Cooper, forcing the referee to stop the contest due to Cooper badly cut left eye. Ever since it has been wondered what would have happened had Enry’s Ammer floored Ali earlier in the 4th round, rather than near the end of it? Certainly Cooper had Ali more hurt than just about anytime during his career, aside from his first fight with Joe Frazier when he was floored in the 15th and final round.

Cooper faced Ali for a second time, on June 21, 1966, at the Arsenal Football stadium, watched by a crowd of over 46,000. This time round, Ali boxed cautiously until he opened a cut over Cooper’s left eye in the 6th round, which led to the almost immediate stoppage of the fight, as Cooper’s eye gushed blood at an alarming rate. 

Henry’s fights with Ali cemented his popularity with the public and gained for him widespread respect within the boxing world.

On March 16, 1971, Cooper was controversially out-pointed by a young Joe Bugner, in a fight that still raises controversy today. Cooper had said before the fight that he would retire after it, win, lose, or draw. After a very close contest, the referee Harry Gibbs gave the fight to Bugner, and Cooper had lost his British, European, and Commonwealth heavyweight title. Cooper never did fight again, retiring with a final record of 40(27koes)-14-1.In his retirement, Cooper remained as popular as ever, often appearing as a pundit on boxing shows, as well as being involved in many other sporting and celebrity events, such as cricket and golf. 

Henry Cooper died on May 1, 2011.

Copyright © 2015 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com.