Henry Cooper vs Dick Richardson also featuring Billy Walker vs Joe DeGrazio original vintage on-site flyer, 26th March 1963, Empire Pool, Wembley, London. Measuring 10 1/2" x 7 1/2".

Condition very good (vertical centre crease and 1" tear on top edge)

Cooper W KO 5

* BBBofC British heavyweight title
* Commonwealth (British Empire) heavyweight title

Henry Cooper retained his British and Empire heavyweight titles at the Empire Pool tonight when he knocked out Dick Richardson of Wales with a left hook to the chin after 2:58 of the 5th round. Cooper, with cuts over both eyes, buckled Richardson's knees with a left hook earlier in the round. With the seconds ticking away, he landed another left hook which put the former European champion flat on his back for the full count.

Walker W KO 3 (Dave Rent as listed on the flyer was replaced by Joe DeGrazio)

Price: £65

Sir Henry Cooper OBE KSG, former European and British and Commonwealth heavyweight boxing champion, was born in London on 3 May 1934, the elder (by 20 minutes) of twins. He and his twin brother George grew up in Bellingham, South London, and were keen all-round sportsmen at school before turning exclusively to amateur boxing.

In 84 amateur bouts, Sir Henry won 73 and lost 11. He won his first title in 1952 when he was 17 - the Amateur Boxing Association light-heavyweight championship - and also represented Great Britain at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.

Sir Henry continued to develop his boxing prowess during his national service when, as a private in 4 Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps (nicknamed The Boxers' Battalion), he had the distinction of knocking out his company sergeant-major!

Before turning professional together in 1954 under Jim Wicks, the twins worked at Sydenham Gas Works in South London and then went into the plastering trade, where they continued working between fights and training.

In a career spanning 17 years, Sir Henry fought 55 times, winning 40 of his matches, many of them inside the distance.

Winning the British and Empire heavyweight titles in 1959, Sir Henry defended them successfully many times in the following years and stayed British champion for over 12 years, becoming the only heavyweight to win the coveted Lonsdale belt outright. Additionally, he took the British Empire heavyweight title in 1959, the European title in 1964 and 1968, and the British and Commonwealth titles in 1970.

Sir Henry's main weapon was his left hook. It was this punch which gained him the distinction of being the first man to put Cassius Clay on the floor just before he became world champion. He subsequently fought Clay again unsuccessfully for the world title. Sir Henry's left hook, nicknamed 'Henry's Hammer', travelled 15 times faster than a Saturn V rocket, and its force on landing was nearly 3 tons.

Sir Henry has always believed that some element of physical danger is necessary in most lives. "The human being just wasn't built as a vegetable," he says in his autobiography. "There is a tendency now to an over-protective society. If there is a danger in anything some people want to ban it - you mustn't box, you mustn't climb mountains, you mustn't race fast cars. Nothing would have been achieved in the world if there wasn't a determination to beat an element of danger or challenge." He emphasises that risk-taking should be a calculated business - no boxer, he says, will be seriously injured if he goes into the ring properly matched, fit and trained up.

In 1960 Sir Henry married Albina Genepri, and they have two sons in their 20's, Henry Marco and John Pietro. He remains very much in the public eye, making numerous personal appearances, not only in the UK but throughout the world, in the course of his charitable and promotional work for commercial organisations using his huge popularity to endorse their products. One long-standing and particularly successful association has been with Cooper Tools who, to mention just one example, have been able to make good use of the 'Henry's Hammer' label for their Plumb brand of striking tools.

Sir Henry has commentated upon many major boxing events for the British Broadcasting Corporation (including the Bruno v Tyson match in February 1989); he presented the Channel 4 TV series Be Your Own Boss, and appeared in the 1975 film Royal Flash. He is also the author of Henry Cooper: An Autobiography (1972), The Great Heavyweights (1978), and Henry Cooper's Book of Boxing (1982).

In his free time Sir Henry now keeps himself in trim by playing golf regularly, and combines this with a great interest in charity fund-raising through his chairmanship of the Variety Club of Great Britain's golf society, helping the club to raise £250,000 each year.












Dick Richardson (June 1, 1934 – July 15, 1999) former heavyweight, from the Maesglas area of Newport, Monmouthshire. He held the European heavyweight title from March 1960 to June 1962. In all, he won 31 of his 47 professional bouts, losing 14, with two drawn. He was 6ft 3ins tall and weighed about 200lbs. He was one of a quartet of outstanding British heavyweights in the fifties and early sixties, along with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine and Brian London, who held out the possibility of a British heavyweight world champion.

Career
He was born Richard Alexander Richardson but was known as Dick. He had a few amateur bouts before being called up for his national service in 1953. He served in the Royal Army Service Corps where he became boxing champion. However he was beaten in the inter-services boxing championships by Brian London, later to become British heavyweight boxing champion, and fighting under his real name of Harper. He turned professional in 1954, being managed by Wally Lesley and trained by Johnny Lewis at a gym in Blackfriars, London. In September 1954, he lost his first professional bout on points against Henry Cooper’s twin brother, George, fighting under the ring name of Jim Cooper. He avenged this defeat in March 1955 with a technical knockout in the second round.

Richardson began to build up an impressive list of victories, many of them inside the distance. In May 1956 he fought fellow Welsh heavyweight, Joe Erskine, in the Maindy Stadium, Cardiff, in front of 35,000 fans. Despite knocking Erskine down in round five, Richardson lost on points. Richard continued to look for higher-class opponents and in October 1956, he fought the ex-world champion Ezzard Charles in a fight that became a farce when the American was disqualified in round two for persistent holding. He next fought the world-class Cuban, Nino Valdes in December 1956, but was forced to retire in the eighth round.

Richardson’s first title fight was for the Commonwealth (British Empire) Heavyweight Title against the holder, the Jamaican, Joe Bygraves, in Cardiff in May 1957. The fight, over fifteen rounds was a draw and Bygraves retained his title.

In October 1957, Richardson, was easily out-pointed in a bout against the future world light-heavyweight champion, Willie Pastrano. His career appeared to be faltering when he was beaten by Henry Cooper in September 1958, on a technical knockout in the fifth round, and also lost to Joe Erskine on points in June 1959.

European Title
However, in March 1960, he was matched against the German boxer Hans Kalbfell, for the vacant European heavyweight title. He had previously beaten Kalbfell in four rounds, in Porthcawl, and he won this bout, held in Dortmund, Germany, by a technical knockout in the thirteenth round. The defeat of Kalbfell provoked a riot amongst the German fans, and Richardson needed a police escort to reach his dressing room.

Richardson defended his European title in August 1960, against Brian London, in Porthcawl, winning by a technical knockout in the eighth round. This result provoked a brawl, when London’s father and brother invaded the ring to protest that Richardson had used his head to open a cut on his opponent.

Richardson also won a return bout against Hans Kalbfell in Dortmund in February 1961, gaining a points decision.

Richardson won the next defence of his title, in February 1962, against the German, Karl Mildenberger, by an astonishing first-round knockout. The bout was held in Dortmund. Mildenberger would fight Muhammad Ali for the world title several years later.

Richardson’s fourth defence of his title was in June 1962, against the hard-punching Swede, Ingemar Johansson. Johansson had been world heavyweight champion after beating Floyd Patterson, but had subsequently lost the title to Patterson in June 1960. The bout was held in Gothenburg, Sweden in front of 50,000 spectators, and Richardson was knocked out in the eighth round.

Richardson’s last fight was in March 1963, when Henry Cooper defended his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles against him at Wembley. Richardson was knocked out in the fifth round.

Retirement And Death
Richardson retired at the relatively early age of 28, and ran a butcher shop in Surrey. He died from cancer on 14th July, 1999, aged 65. He was married to Betty Richardson with one son, Gary and one daughter Lyn, from which he has six grandchildren.

In his 47 professional bouts, he won 31 (24 on knock-outs), and lost 14 (4 on knock-outs). Two of his bouts were drawn.











Billy Walker former English Heavyweight boxer. He was born in London in 1939 and turned professional in 1961 after 39 amateur bouts. His nickname was “Golden Boy”. His professional record was 21 wins (16 by knockout), 8 losses and 2 draws. During 1967, he fought for both the British and European titles, losing to Henry Cooper (Great Britain) and Karl Mildenberger (West Germany) respectively. After he retired from the ring in 1969 he appeared in several English movies and TV shows. His autobiography "When The Gloves Came Off" ISBN 978-1-86-105970-3 was published in 2007.

Early Life
William Walker was born in Stepney, in the East End of London on March 3, 1939. He is the youngest of three brothers. During World War II, his father served in the Royal Air Force and the boys lived with their mother in Bedfordshire, and later in Ilford, Essex. He left school at 16 and started working in the printing business. Later a friend introduced him to a higher paid job as a porter in London’s historic Billingsgate Fish Market. He was also a bouncer and part time DJ at the Ilford Palais dance hall which was managed by Jimmy Savile at the time. He joined a West Ham boxing club to keep fit, and was eventually persuaded to spar with other members and found that he had the talent to box competitively.

Amateur Career
Walker’s older brother George had been a successful light heavyweight boxer and persuaded him to enter the sport, with the ambition to eventually turn professional. With his natural ability, and George’s guidance, within three years he had won the British (ABA) Amateur Heavyweight title. Soon after a spectacular first round knockout of 6’4” (1.93m) American Cornelius Perry in an international tournament broadcast on national TV, promoters were competing to sign Walker to lucrative contracts. About this time the media started calling him “The Golden Boy” and “The Blond Bomber”. Billy Walker had two other brothers, one named Ernest Walker, also a boxer, and Charlie.

Professional Career
With brother George as his manager, Walker embarked on a professional career that in six years would see him challenging for both the British and European titles. With his curly blond hair, boyish good looks and all action style the public flocked to see his fights. George invested the purses in a string of night clubs and restaurants and soon the brothers were rich. Billy Walker moved to London’s West End and mixed with society’s elite. On one occasion he was presented to Her Majesty the Queen, who told him that she enjoyed watching his fights. This was during London’s “swinging sixties” and Walker took full advantage of his wealth, fame and good looks to have fun with a series of beautiful women. Nevertheless, Walker stayed focused on his boxing career and the fans continued to love him. Although he never fought in the USA, during his career he stopped rated American heavyweights Charlie Powell, Bowie Adams, Ray Patterson and Thad Spencer inside the distance. In spite of a few weeks coaching at Harry’s Gym in Harlem, Walker’s defensive skills remained marginal and some of his later fights against world class opponents had to be stopped due to cuts and excessive bleeding from his nose. In 1969 at the age of 30 he retired from the ring, a very wealthy young man.

Business Life
When Billy Walker retired from boxing, George Walker continued to run their business empire as though it was his alone. This soon led to disputes and eventually they parted company. Billy Walker retained enough assets to live very comfortably, but changing financial conditions a few years later forced him to look for other income. He moved to Jersey, a tax haven in the English Channel and became a successful property developer. George Walker went on to became a tycoon in the UK gambling and movie industries with his Brent Walker Group but he too suffered a reversal of fortune and was last known to be living in Russia.

Personal Life
In 1968, Billy Walker married Susan Coleopy and they had two children, Daniel and Clare. They divorced in 1977. In September 1979 his girlfriend Chrissie gave birth to a son, Warren, but she opted to raise him on her own. They are still on good terms. He married Jackie in 1981. They also had two children, Kelly and Tom, but divorced in the 1990s. In 1997 he married Patricia but she died of cancer in 2003. Walker is now happily married to his fourth wife, Susan, whom he had known from his time in Jersey about thirty years previously. They live in Essex. He has been active on the speaking circuit and is an honorary steward for the British Boxing Board of Control. He recently collaborated with the Kray Twins’ confidante and writer Robin McGibbon on his autobiography “When The Gloves Came Off”. It was published in 2007.