The gloves worn by Henry Cooper when he became the first boxer to put Cassius Clay down on the canvas during their match at Wembley Stadium 18th June

The gloves worn by Henry Cooper when he became the first boxer to put Cassius Clay down on the canvas during their match at Wembley Stadium 18th June 1963, a pair of red boxing gloves by Baily's of Glastonbury, mounted in the glass fronted wooden case in which the gloves were mounted and displayed at the famous Thomas A'Beckett pub in the Old Kent Road, London, with two title plaques inscribed THE GLOVES THAT DID NOT SPLIT; USED BY HENRY COOPER, IN HIS FIGHT WITH CASSIUS CLAY, HENRY IS THE FIRST MAN TO PUT CLAY DOWN, WEMNLEY STADIUM, 17.6.63 [sic], 41 by 36 by 15cm., 16 by 14 by 6in.; sold with a file of papers relating to the provenance including a photograph of Henry Cooper presenting the gloves to a Sunday Express reader who won them in a newspaper competition in 1996, two letters from the Sunday Express to the competition winner, and a Phillips auction catalogue from 11th May 1996 relating to the sale where the newspaper purchased the gloves Please note that the creator of the display case plaque mistakenly listed the fight date as the 17th June, rather than the 18th. Cooper and Clay met at Wembley Stadium, London on the 18th June 1963 in what was billed as ''An eliminating contest for the Heavyweight Championship of the World''. In the final moments of the fourth round Cooper famously dropped Clay with his trademark left hook, known as ''Enry's 'Ammer''. Unfortunately for Cooper, his opponent's armpit caught in the ropes going down, which prevented his head from striking the canvas covered boards which made up the floor of the ring (something which could easily have knocked him unconscious). Clay stood up and started slowly towards Angelo Dundee who - in violation of the rules - guided him into the corner. At first Dundee talked and slapped Clay's legs, but after a still-dazed Clay misunderstood and tried to get off the stool Dundee used smelling salts in a serious violation of the rules. (British rules did not allow any stimulant but water.) Dundee has since claimed to have opened a small tear in one of Clay's gloves and told the referee that his fighter needed a new pair of gloves, thus delaying the start of the 5th round. Cooper always insisted that this delay lasted anywhere from 3-5 minutes and denied him the chance to try to knock Clay out while he was still dazed, although tapes of the fight suggest it only gained Clay a few extra seconds. Cooper started the 5th round aggressively, attempting to make good his advantage, but a recovered Clay effectively countered and Cooper was hit high on the face with a hard right which opened a severe cut under his eye. Referee Tommy Little was ultimately forced to stop the fight due to Cooper's excessive bleeding, with Clay declared the winner by TKO. Provenance: On the first floor of the Thomas a Beckett pub was a gym where Sir Henry Cooper former British, European and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion trained six days a week. Beryl Cameron-Gibbons was Europe's only female boxing promoter and landlady of the Thomas a Beckett for sixteen years until 1983, though she had lived there for twenty three years. In 1984 the pub licence was taken over by the ex boxer/manager/promoter Gary Davidson who also turned the pub into a museum and boxing hall of fame, housing a collection of memorabilia including the gloves being sold in this auction. When Billy Aird, the former professional boxer, took over the Thomas a Beckett, the boxing collection was consigned to Phillips Auctioneers and sold on 11th May 1996. The Cooper gloves were sold as lot 112 and purchased by Sunday Express Newspaper who offered them the following month as a reader's competition prize. The gloves were personally presented to the winner by Henry Cooper.