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Funeral of boxing legend Cooper
2011-05-18 11:12:31
18 May 2011 Last updated at 15:08 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Sir Henry Cooper: Funeral of British boxing legend Heavyweight boxing legend Sir Henry Cooper died in Oxted in Surrey on 1 May aged 76 Continue reading the main story Related Stories In pictures: Sir Henry Cooper's funeral Your memories of Sir Henry
Hundreds of fans have paid their last respects to heavyweight boxing legend Sir Henry Cooper.
Mourners lined the streets of Oxted, in Surrey, where Sir Henry died at his son's house on 1 May aged 76.
They bowed their heads as the cortege bearing Sir Henry's coffin draped with the Union flag passed by on its way to a private funeral in Tonbridge, Kent.
The former British, Commonwealth and European champion fought 55 times, knocking down Muhammad Ali in 1963.
London-born Sir Henry, who won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award twice, was knighted in 2000.
'British icon'He lived in the Kent town of Hildenborough for many years, where he was chairman of his local golf club.
He was known affectionately to his fans as 'Our 'Enry'.
Percy Battershill, 69, from Mitcham, was among the fans watching the cortege, and described Sir Henry as simply "the greatest".
He said: "He could knock a man out with one punch. He didn't have to go 10 or 15 rounds, and on top of all of that, he was a gentleman.
"He could walk with the crowds, talk with the kings and he never lost the common touch."
Tony Lawson, 60, an electrician and former amateur boxer from Dulwich, south London, said: "He was a boxer's boxer, he had style. He was my hero as a kid and he's still my hero now.
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